I Finally Saw "Tangled"!! :)

Hey guys!  I am so excited!  It finally worked out for me to go see Disney's 50th animated film, "Tangled".  I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the movie with you. 

Let me just start by saying that this movie met my high expectations.  The characters were engaging and funny, the story was entertaining, and the animation was absolutely beautiful.  I didn't see it in 3D because I just wanted to focus on the story itself the first time I saw it, so I can't tell you how it was in 3D.  Even in regular 2D, though, the movie is so lovely to look at.

I've had my concerns about how this movie would end up.  From the previews it looked like they were just trying to make another "Shrek" type movie.  It looked like a hip, modern comedy.  That's really not the feel of the movie, though.  Sure, it has its humorous parts, but it's also got a lot of heart, beautiful music, and romance.  Most importantly, it didn't delve into the crude sexual and toilet humor that the Shrek movies did.  That's something that I've always appreciated about the Pixar movies.  They didn't use crude humor to carry their movies.  Pixar every once in a while had some small things interspersed, but it was nothing like the content in the Dreamworks movies.  I'm glad to see that Disney is going the same route (having John Lasseter at the helm is a big part of that, I'm sure).  In all fairness to Dreamworks, though, their movies have cleaned up considerably (I especially enjoyed "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Kung Fu Panda", where the crude humor was toned down considerably-in HtTYD it was almost non-existent).

Another thing I really appreciated about this movie was that it really didn't have a lot of "scary parts".  The scenes with Mother Gothel were very emotionally intense and manipulative, but overall, this is a movie that could be watched almost all the way through even by my 2 year old (minus a few emotionally hard parts and 2 intense scenes).  You know, everyone keeps talking about how "The Princess and the Frog" didn't do as well as expected at the box office, which was part of the reason that Disney completely revamped "Tangled".  Several of the articles I've read said that Disney felt that the reason "The Princess and the Frog" did so badly is that it didn't appeal enough to boys.  They also mentioned the shifting target audience, as little girls are growing up faster and faster.  It's now 4 year olds and under that are the most interested in princesses.  That being the case, could one of the reasons that "The Princess and the Frog" failed to meet expectations be the demonic bad guy scenes?  I mean, if I had seen TPATF when I was a young girl, those scenes with the creepy shadows chasing Tiana and Naveen through the city and bayou would have given me nightmares for weeks.  And what about that big ram's head mask that Dr. Facilier was always negotiating with?  Not to mention the ending, where the doctor gets dragged to his own grave.  For a target audience between 2 and 4 years of age, that seems a bit inappropriate, don't you think?  My own 2 year old daughter LOVES Princess Tiana, but there's no way I'd allow her to watch the movie...I want to sleep for the next 3 months, not be up comforting her from bad dreams.  :}  Quite honestly, not even my 6 year old could handle that movie.  How refreshing, then, to have a Disney princess movie that my girls can watch most of the way through!  If Disney made more movies like this, maybe they'd do better at the box office!

I really appreciated the sacrificial love displayed by both Rapunzel and Flynn towards the end of the movie.  Love is seeking the best for the other person, by the Biblical definition.  Both characters displayed this.  I love it when movie characters make decisions that make them good role models for the young people watching them.  Although Flynn starts out as a selfish rogue, in time he begins to see Rapunzel's good qualities and appreciate her for the person she is.  He wants to do what's best for her, no matter what the cost to himself may be.  Rapunzel also grows from an unsure, frightened girl to a confident, brave young woman, willing to risk everything to save the one she loves.

And who wouldn't fall in love with the 2 animal sidekicks, Pascal the chameleon and Maximus the horse?  Even without speaking, these two did a great job stealing the show with their shenanigans.  If reptiles didn't creep me out in real life, Pascal would make me want to get a chameleon of my own. :)

Finally, I have to talk about the music.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the music was composed by Alan Menken, who brought us musical treasures from "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "Newsies", and "Enchanted", among others.  Because I grew up listening to his music, it was especially fun for me to hear it again in this movie.  Many reviews have called his score for "Tangled" nice but forgettable.  It may not be his most amazing score ever, but I really enjoyed it.  The music fit the movie perfectly.  And, just as I thought I would, I loved seeing "I See the Light" in the context of the movie.  It was beautifully sung and beautifully animated.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this movie 10 stars, and I'd highly recommend it.  For those of you who've seen it, what do you think?  Did you enjoy the movie?  What would you rate it?   

P.S.   For those of you who are interested, I've included a link to the pluggedin.com movie review of "Tangled" HERE.  Pluggedin.com is a Christian website affiliated with Focus on the Family that reviews movies, music, TV and more from a Biblical perspective.  It's also a great way to evaluate a movie before seeing it in the theater, as it tells you all of the possible objectionable content.  It's a wonderful resource for families.  Just a few warnings:  1. These reviews sometimes have spoilers, although they announce them as such in the article.  If you like to be completely surprised, I wouldn't recommend reading their articles.  2. They have several categories that list everything that happens in the movie, such as Violence, Sexual Content, etc.  In each category, they list everything that a parent might want to know about the movie.  So in the Sexual Content part, they will mention if any characters kiss or have revealing clothing.  I just wanted you to know they're not saying kissing is evil, per se. :)  They just want parents to be able to evaluate what is in the movie and decide for their own families what is most appropriate.