Wednesday 26 January 2011

Tangled

How many of us have heard about the story of Rapunzel? Not too many in this part of the world I am sure but its quite a staple diet for kids that are growing up across the world. But why is it that no one has thought of making it into an animation movie yet? (I maybe wrong and am free to be corrected and informed). It is such a beautiful fairy tale that has everything from “Once Upon a time….” All the way to “……. And they lived happily ever after”. And it also has all the excitement and the adventure that you can expect out of a classic fairy tale.


The baby Princess Rapunzel (Mandy Moore when she grows up) is a very lucky girl. She receives healing powers from a magical flower. The power resides in her golden blonde hair. But the magical powers are lost if someone would try to cut it and it would no longer remain golden blonde. Also, she has to sing a particular song to activate (sorry about the words) the magical powers. Knowing this, the evil Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) kidnaps the princess and takes her away into a hidden tower. Obviously Rapunzel is not allowed to get out of the tower and spends her entire life to date and her hair has now grown long… really really long. Thanks to that, Mother Gothel has continued to remain much younger than what she is.

Rapunzel spends her time in the tower doing a variety of things that include reading, painting, brushing her hair, reading, painting, brushing her hair, reading…. Oh I have already mentioned that haven’t I? Her favourite companion is her super cute chameleon, Pascal. Everyday Mother Gothel comes over to give her food and get her to sing so that she continues to remain young. Rapunzel is about to turn 18 and wants to get out of the tower, not because she is craving to escape but because she wants to see the lanterns that go up every year on her birthday – this time in person and not from her tower window. The Mother Gothel will have nothing of it. But she obviously hasn’t prepared herself for Eugene aka Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) and the Snuggly Duckling Gang and of course the horse that behaves like a dog, Maximus.

The Director due of Nathan Greno and Byron Howard come together for the first time after Bolt which was a decent animation movie. But they seem to have come a long way together. Along with Disney they give us one of the better animation movies of the year. Oscar stuff – No. Super Enjoyable – Yes. Great music which is a hall mark of Disney and has got Tangled its only Oscar nomination this year. The makers of Gulliver’s Travels should have a dekko @ Tangled to understand how the essence of a classic is maintained despite the fact that we are in the 21st century. Trust Disney to give a classic its due. Yes, there is the odd use of the colloquial modern day language such as “Don’t freak me out”. But the essence remains unchanged. Extremely entertaining and a must watch with the kids – adults with a liking for animation would enjoy it. 6.5 on 10 is what I say.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi385091865/

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