20 Weeks of Disney Animation: ‘Tangled’

Disney followed up The Princess and the Frog with another princess movie, the first of its kind to be completely CG: Tangled. The studios’ 50th animated film follows in the tradition of the princess movies of the 1990’s, even bringing back Alan Menken to write new songs for the film. Featuring a top notch voice cast including Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Broadway legend Donna Murphy, this movie was not to be missed upon its release in 2010 and continues to hold up today.

Read: Disney History – TANGLED

It is surprising that it took The Walt Disney Company so long to make a film based on the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel. Walt Disney himself wanted to make it but, along with Beauty and the Beast, never got around to it during his lifetime. Fortunately, the animation department has long outlived him and continues to thrive even in the midst of new technological innovations such as CG animation.

Speaking of CG, Tangled is a film that is perfectly matched with this kind of filmmaking. Though I generally prefer traditional hand drawn animation, I absolutely believe that there are times where other kinds of animation work to the benefit of the story at hand. When story and animation coming together in a perfect marriage, the result is a beautiful one. That is not more true than in Tangled. There are a plethora of gorgeous shots in the film- from the floating lanterns to Rapunzel’s beautiful yellow hair, the visuals are a knock-out.

However, the beauty of Tangled doesn’t end there. Disney brought all of their best tropes back for this film, featuring a new twist on a classic story, great humor, and amazing music. In addition, the characters are unforgettable and I predict that the magic of Tangled will continue to live on alongside the other great Disney princess films of the past.

Live-action remake: In 2020, we exclusively reported that a live-action adaptation of the Rapunzel story is in development at Disney. However, it is unknown if this film will tie into the Tangled franchise or if it is even a remake of that specific property or an entirely different adaptation. As far as we know, it is planned to be a theatrical release and not a Disney+ film.

Tangled in the theme parks: The Disney parks have diligently incorporated Tangled into their parks, with themed restaurants, stage and fireworks shows, as well as meet and greet characters.

Spin-offs: In 2012, a sequel short, titled Tangled Ever After, premiered with the reissue of Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The short takes place after the events of the film.

In 2017, an animated original series premiered on Disney Channel. Originally titled Tangled: The Series (the title changed to Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure after the first season), this show takes place after Tangled but before the events of the 2012 short. The pilot for the show was a television film called Tangled: Before Ever After and also aired on Disney Channel. The show ran for three seasons and concluded in March of 2020. Rather than the CG animation of the film and short, the series takes a more traditional approach and has the appearance of 2D animation.

Tangled is available to stream on Disney+.

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