Tangled – a Classic Disney Movie

My husband and I saw Tangled this weekend in 2D and we LOVED it. We are huge Disney fans, so the instant we saw there was going to be another Disney musical over a year ago, we knew we would have to check it out.

It did not disappoint. The story is based on Rapunzel…but just based on it. There were quite a few differences that I don’t want to go into because I don’t want to spoil anything. I just want to review some of my favorite parts of the movie.

1. Music

The music in this is great and makes me think of the music from the movies in the 90s, probably because it was done by the uber-talented Alan Menken who also wrote the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Hunchback, just to name a few! The songs fit the story, we really well performed (who knew Zachary Levi aka Chuck could sing?) and there was one that could become a Disney classic!

2. Villain

My husband said something along the lines of “A Disney movie is only as good as its villain”. I tend to agree with him, and the villain in this is perfect. She is sarcastic, manipulative, greedy, and a little scary (but not too much for kids). You understand her motivations for everything she does. Her song “Mother Knows Best” sent a chill down my spine!

3. Animation

It wasn’t hand-drawn, but that is okay for this movie. The computer animation was up there with the Pixar films. In the previews, there was a computer animated movie with some of the worst animation I have seen. Luckily, Tangled has some of the best. We will go back and see it in 3D in a week or two.

4. Voice Actors

They played them perfectly! I didn’t think “oh that is Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy” at ALL. They were their characters and they fit them perfectly. Mandy Moore was a fantastic choice for Rapunzel. Originally, there was talk of one of my favorite actresses, Kristin Chenoweth being the voice of Rapunzel, but I am glad she was’t, I really don’t think it would have fit

5.  Characters

The characters were so well done. I really understood all of them and thought they were well-developed. Rapunzel was spunky and a little shy, but ultimately was a strong young woman who cared about more than the cute guy she was traveling with. She is a great addition to the Disney Princesses. Rider/Eugene was also a really well-developed character. He is like Aladdin in many respects, but was also an individual. The other characters were great too – the horse, the chameleon, and the bad guys with fun dreams were awesome as well!

If you like Disney at all, make sure you go see this fantastic movie!