Tangled

Whatever people say, I love animated movies, light and fun and they basically make me feel good like a, well like a kid. 

There’s something in fairy tales that sort of makes us happy. It maybe sugar-coated a lot, but it does gives a person a sense of optimism. Like they’re always a happy ending.

I love stories by the Grimm Brothers. I used to read them all the time when I was kid. I’m kinda bummed that my mom might’ve donated it or worse sold it to someone. Well if she did, then some other soul is enjoying my Grimm’s Fairy Tales and I guess that’s alright.

I have always loved the story of Rapunzel but now that I have seen Tangled, well let’s just say, I kind of like that her hair, which is the main feature of the story, had a purpose.

If you’re weird and does not know the story of Rapunzel, to summarize it:

A couple was about to have a child, the mother looked over the wall into their neighbor’s garden where a witch lived, and saw she grew beautiful rampions (thus the name Rapunzel) and wanted it, saying if she couldn’t have it, she’d die. The husband fear of his wife’s death, sneaked into the garden and stole the rampions only to be caught by the witch. They made a deal, and in return for the rampions, the husband must give their child to the witch after it is born.

The witch then took care of the child, a girl, took care of her and when she was a little older, the witch locked her up on a tower, making the girl grow out her hair, and used it as a means to get into the tower.

A prince happened to pass by the tower and heard Rapunzel’s singing (why is it that every fairy tale character has to sing) and saw her in the window and fell in love with her. He saw how the witch climbed the tower and tricked Rapunzel into thinking he was the witch. At first, of course, she was shocked but they immediately fell in love with each other and think of a way to escape.

One day, Rapunzel let slip that she had been seeing someone and the witch cut her hair and took her to t

he desert. The prince came back to the tower only to find the witch, he tripped (or the witch pushed him) and he fell to the ground from the tower. He survived the fall, but the thorny bush as the foot of the tower punctured his eyes and he lost his sight.

He wandered aimlessly until he walked into the desert where Rapunzel had been living with their children. Rapunzel saw what had happened and cried for her prince. Her teardrops fell into his and healed him.

They went back to his kingdom and they loved happily ever after.

Ok, so maybe I didn’t really summarize it, well I tried.

Anyway, they changed a lot in the movie. Like there’s no prince but a thief, Rapunzel turned out to be royalty and most significant change, her hair had a purpose. 

The original story of Rapunzel seemed more like a mere story, nothing magical about it, but this is Disney, what kind of story would it be, if it wasn’t magical.

[Spoiler Alert]

Rapunzel is a princess save from birth by a flower made from a drop of sun. This flower possesses magical healing abilities and can also make one immortal. A woman (the witch) found the flower and had kept it to herself, keeping her young for hundreds of years, until one day the soldiers discovered the flower, gave it to their ailing queen, who was pregnant with Rapunzel, and healed her. The magical abilities of the flower then transferred to Rapunzel’s hair. When the women(Mother Gothel) learned of this, she tried to cut Rapunzel’s hair, but when she did, it turned brown and ordinary, she then stole Rapunzel, locked her up in a hidden tower. 

Now each year, on the princess’ birthday, the king and queen release hundreds of lanterns into the night sky, as they did on the day the princess was born, wishing that one day it would return their princess to them.

And that’s where the story starts.

[End of Spoiler]

The characters of this version is just so lovable, at first I thought I was going to hate it because I really hate it when movies deviate too much from the original story. But this one actually had meaning to it.

With this one, it gave the story depth and it made a lot more sense. 

Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy, for me, are great choices for their roles. Most of the time, I imagined Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, as a real living Rapunzel. 

Although Zachary Levi’s Flynn Rider character is miles apart from his Chuck character, it’s still pretty good. I honestly think that Flynn Rider a.k.a. Eugene Fitzherbert is one of the most attractive and appealing animated Disney character, ever. Well, I kinda liked Aladdin too, but that’s another story. I guess maybe because he’s not a prince and just because of that he seems so real. Neither of them really act like royalty and weird.

There were a lot of good moments there. I guess my favorite part is everybody’s favorite part. The Lantern scene.
   

The most magical scene I have ever seen, and it’s not even magical, but it was pretty amazing.

As I have said, I loved the characters. 

Flynn Rider, the charming thief. Rapunzel, the grounded princess. Mother Gothel, the complicated abductor and her wavy tone. Pascal, the adorable chameleon bestfriend. Maximus, the half-horse half-dog, dependable sidekick and of course…the frying pan.

For more on the characters, this here, gives more people and their descriptions

Anyway, bottom line is, there are a lot of good elements that make this movie a must-watch. It’s kinda sad, that this may be the last princess movie for Disney. But I have to hand it to them, It may be their last, but they may have saved the best for it. 

So go watch Tangled now (if you still haven’t)!