When the world you live in consists of a new Disney masterpiece every few years, it can be easy to think of Disney as a consistent creator of animated classics. They have been the most consistent source of animated films worthy of praise yet this material has not been constant. Disney, like all companies and artists, has suffered its own slumps.
During the most recent slump, which started as early as Pocahontas or as late as Tarzan, depending on your taste, has gotten worse until the seemingly final traditionally animated feature, Home on the Range, was released. The film is surely one of the worst that Disney has made and was the final nail in the coffin of traditional Disney. For the next few years, Disney attempted to make CGI films similar to those of their property, Pixar. Some were successful (Bolt), some were decent (Meet The Robinsons) and some are best forgotten (Chicken Little). After a lot of changes in the power at Disney, they tried to bring back traditional animation with The Princess and the Frog. This was still not their best effort and many had begun to lose hope in Disney once again after the new hope had been found.
However, this was not the moment to lose hope. For in 2010, Disney finally found what it had lost in Tangled, a movie that had suffered through a lot of development pains, which made me wary of whether it would be worth even seeing. I am so pleased that I did though, because it is truly the beginning of a new Renaissance for Disney. But what makes Tangled such a perfect film for Disney?
It’s common knowledge that Disney’s favorite characters tend to be princesses. Rapunzel, the star of Tangled, is no different. It’s a fairy tale that most people have heard of and are familiar with to a degree. It’s the tale of a girl who is trapped in a tower and is waiting to be freed. At its core, Tangled is a romance between Rapunzel and the action hero created for the film, Flynn Rider. They create a romance that is the core of many other Disney classics, most easily linked to Beauty and the Beast, for they both see each other in a different light than the rest of the world and find a deep understanding for each other, which nobody else can see.
However, Tangled also has the comedy elements of past Disney fare, including sidekicks, Pascale the chameleon and Maximus the horse. The film manages to not feel trapped in another era by combining the comedy sensibilities of past Disney features with the modern self-awareness of films, like Shrek. Yet it doesn’t veer too far off the track of what Disney is known for and keeps with the feel of a proper Disney film.
The true backbone of the movie that defines it all is the music, which is true for any Disney musical. From the opening number of When Will My Life Begin that clearly defines the wants and needs of the heroin and shows us where the plot will lead to Mother Knows Best, a villain song that recalls Poor Unfortunate Souls. The songs also take a comedic turn in I’ve Got A Dream that mixes the comedy with a wistful feel of the hope found at the soul of Disney.
The clear musical highlight of the film is I See The Light. The song is the classic romantic theme found in Disney features throughout the years from A Whole New World to Something There and many other songs that show the blossoming romance between the two leads. The song is classically beautiful and the sequence that accompanies it in the film is so beautiful and heartbreaking that I dare you to not be touched.
Although you expect this to be the emotional peak of the movie, it keeps you hanging for another 20 minutes or so and continues the action and emotion to bring you to the happy ending that everybody expects in a Disney movie. They manage to keep it interesting by employing story points that I believe originate in the fairy tale but are not as familiar to us that we get bored with them.
Tangled is exactly the film that Disney needed at this point in time to bring them back to their prime. It’s a comedy, a musical, an action adventure and a movie that is full of heart. Each character fits perfectly into the plot and feels familiar without feeling overused. The soundtrack is one of the best that Disney has used since their Golden Ages of the past. If Disney continues on this path, animated features will be filled with the happiness and heart that they were in the early 90’s and back in the days where Walt was alive.
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