Trailer Analysis: Tangled

I make no attempt to hide my love of animated films. The first movie I remember seeing in theaters is Disney's Beauty and the Beast. They've always held a spot in my favorite movies. And with the likes of Wall-E, Up (okay...Pixar movies), The Princess and the Frog and How to Train Your Dragon - I thought we were bouncing around in a golden age of animation. So how fitting that the tale of the girl with the long golden hair should work it's way into my golden age.

I always thought the story of Rapunzel was pretty simple, so naturally, I was interested in seeing how they'd do it. Then they released these stills and I was through the moon excited.



The first tip off should have been that Mandy Moore was cast as the voice of Rapunzel. But, I kept my chin up....



And then they released the trailer. Never in the history of movies has my expectations of a film shattered so quickly. Catch the trailer here, and find my commentary after the last beautiful still.



What you just watched was indeed for a Disney movie, as a follow up to the Oscar nominated Princess and the Frog. No, that wasn't a Shrek movie, although had they titled it Shrek and Rapunzel down a 5th of Vodka (see what I did there? Cleverly incorporating the sequel number into the title) I wouldn't have batted an eye. I'll need a fifth to get through this.

Here's what went wrong:

The princess: Let me break this down for you: Rapunzel is a damsel in distress. She is locked in a tower, and thus has not gotten a haircut, resulting in some long ass hair. This is not that Rapunzel. This is the female empowerment Rapunzel. A slightly superhero-esque version of the princess. Her hair has fucking powers! With powers like that, why does she need some strapping prince to rescue her? And without that need, pray tell, what is the point of the movie?

The prince: Who is this guy? Cocky, self-centered, seems to me like he's the perfect foil for our heroine. But Disney has forgotten, in their desire to make the female strong-willed, that boys watch Disney movies too. This is not the type of guy they should grow to be. I know they've got other movies too, but come on. This guy is a joke. And the main character (as is appears in the trailer). Give me someone real.

The style: After all the hubbub about returning to their roots with hand drawn animation they give us this? You're joking me. This is a classic story and deserves to be presented as such.

The music: Reminiscent of the Smash Mouth cover of I'm a Believer in Shrek, the use of a pop rock soundtrack is wildly out of place in the medieval setting. Stick with catering the soundtrack to the era, Disney, a la the Jazzy New Orleans sound of The Princess and the Frog.

The title: Why not just call it Rapunzel? There is no brand recognition with Tangled. If it's an attempt to make the story relevant and hip, it's painfully amiss.

Mind you I had to watch this trailer several times to dissect it. Punishment I wouldn't even put my worst of enemies through.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

I went and saw Waking Sleeping Beauty this weekend. It's a limited release documentary about how Disney went from making scary movies (both in tone and in box-office returns) in the early 80's to making some of the most successful animated movies of all time.

The documentary itself was probably not the best made. It focused on the battle of egos between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Disney and Michael Eisner. It followed their rise, and each of their falls. While interesting, it wasn't what I, or anyone in the audience, went to see.

We went to see Howard Ashman (the musical genius who quite possibly saved Disney animated films) singing "Part of Your World." We went to see how they balanced working on multiple animated movies at once. We went to see the behind the scenes lives of the animators, not the behind the scenes lives of the CEOs. They're not the ones who meticulously drew by hand the countless drawings that would later end up thrown away. The parts about the animators are great. The parts about the executives, dull.

The footage is of poor quality (it seemed to be shot on a home video camera from the 80's) and out of focus, which makes it difficult to focus on the story itself. Better than the grainy VHS footage are the clips from the animated movies that we love, and the caricatures that the animators were constantly drawing to express what was going on in the company.

There were lots of moments where the audience (which was bigger than expected) laughed out loud. The timing of the editing is great, and the animators are all very funny people. I think if you worked in Disney animation, you'd have to be. The hours were terrible, the conditions were worse. I have nothing but respect for those who created the movies that defined my childhood.

Would I recommend the documentary? Sure. Netflix it when it comes out. It won't get wider than it is right now. It's enjoyable and it reminds you why you love the animated movies you love.

On second thought, maybe you should just rent Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and the Lion King instead, because undoubtedly, after hearing just glimpses of those catchy tunes, you'll wish you were just watching those.