DMCP - Tangled #47-63

For Disney's 50th Animated feature, they went back to what they do best - Fairy tales. This time up, Rapunzel. All the signature Disney touches are there: Independence minded princess, a wicked villain, silly sidekicks, animal friends, and animation that is second to none. For all the strides made by Dreamworks recently with How to Train Your Dragon and King Fu Panda, they can't touch the beauty of the lantern sequence in Tangled.

Tangled has a lighthearted sense of fun about it, without being too cutesy. It strikes that magic balance between childlike playfulness and an adult sense of story and character. The witch in Tangled marks a very mature step for Disney. She is a complex and cerebral villain who almost never shows her wicked side. Instead, she is a masterful manipulator, charming others to do her dirty work. Her treatment of Rapunzel is so disturbing because it is so calculating. She uses feigned love and passive aggressive tormenting to keep Rapunzel as emotionally locked up and she is physically. Rapunzel is so damaged by her mother that the very act of leaving her tower sends her into Bi-polar fits. It's a funny scene, but it underscores the years of emotional abuse. In fact, Mother Goethel has more in common with the modern parent than a mustache twirling villain. While kids are enjoying a fun fairy tale adventure, parents are treated to the dark side of being an overprotective parent, trying to reclaim their youth at the expense of their child's development. Mother Goethel is a 21st Century villain who would be quite at home on an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. (I wonder if the writer's room was down the hall from the latest Disney Channel auditions, it makes sense that those who work at the Mouse House see an overabundance of this behavior.)

Apart from the deeper meaning, you also get a lot of pretty great sight gags (including a sword fight with a horse and a frying pan), and the dude from Chuck makes a great Flynn Rider. Mandy Moore is perfectly charming as Rapunzel, and her voice is ideal for the light and fluffy songs in the movie. While the movie is technically a musical, the songs are not very memorable. That's not to say they're bad, they just fit so snuggly into the story that you can watch it and forget anyone was every singing. The only stand out number takes place in a scary tavern in the woods with a bunch of criminals with hearts of gold.

Also, because of the ending, my wife now has princess hair, and that's awesome.

9/10