Because
there’s more than one kind of heroine, I’ve expanded my tour of female-led
stories to include Disney films – movies I missed for now, but maybe I’ll
revisit some of the oldies-but-goodies later.
Tangled is terrific, an entertaining
movie with fun characters, gorgeous animation, and an intriguing slant on an
old tale. It’s also further proof that,
while Frozen is excellent, Disney
wasn’t languishing creatively before it came along.
In this
version of the story, Rapunzel isn’t snatched in retaliation against a
rampion-stealer; instead, due to some expository acrobatics, her golden hair
has healing/rejuvenating powers, and the self-serving Mother Gothel steals the
infant princess for unlimited access to eternal youth. Likewise, the length of her hair is tied to
more than ascending towers via human rope ladders. The magic in her lovely locks is
intrinsically tied to Rapunzel herself, and the power instantly seeps out of
any strand that’s cut. So, Mother Gothel
keeps her follicle fountain of youth locked in a tower to use whenever it suits
her, and Rapunzel grows up largely alone, trying to convince herself she’s not
dreaming of everything outside her window.
Except,
every year on her birthday, thousands of floating lanterns fill the sky. Unbeknownst to Rapunzel, they’re a memorial
sent up by her parents, a last-ditch hope that their little girl will see it
and return to them, but she can’t shake the sense that they have something to do with her and is
desperate to see them from the ground.
So, when a dashing rapscallion named Flynn tries to use her tower as a
hideout, she talks him into acting as her guide for a trip to the world below. This is where the main action gets cooking –
sheltered, stunted Rapunzel takes her first steps on solid ground and, over the
course of her quest, starts to see what she’s really capable of.
It’s a
pretty rich story, with humor, action, and pathos all heaped generously into
the mix. Mandy Moore’s Rapunzel is a
winningly social-illiterate delight, an odd combination of optimistic sunshine
and hardcore Stockholm syndrome. Her
journey, both her literal mission and her inner discovery of her own strength,
is really compelling. Her ever-evolving
relationship with Flynn (played by Zachary Levi with cheeky, roguish charm) is
peppered with amusing banter, and it’s neat to see them grow and change over
the course of the film.
Oh, and
I love the animation. A lot of it is straight-up beautiful,
especially the floating lanterns and the magic effects of Rapunzel’s hair. And speaking of Rapunzel’s hair, its
animation allows for a lot of extra shading to her character; it’s practically
prehensile with how she can twist and manipulate it, using it in myriad ways
for clever and creative problem-solving.
That’s just fantastic to me.
Rapunzel’s story tends to be one of passivity and victimization, a
captured damsel waiting for rescue, and her only real distinctive feature is
her ludicrously-long hair – a detail wrapped up in how she looks instead of who
she is. Tangled, however, is all about action and taking charge of one’s
own life, and even her hair becomes, not just an organic accessory, but a tool
she can use to further her goals. How
great is that?
Warnings
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