Things start to get hairy: a review of "Tangled" (may contain minor spoilers and/or nuts)

When it comes to Disney, I have EXTREMELY high expectations, especially when it comes to their classic line. Upon seeing the commercials for Tangled, I knew right off the bat that it would not meet these expectations. While it was better than I thought and I can’t honestly say I didn’t enjoy it, I felt that it was far from Disney’s best and was not worthy to be included in the classic list alongside films like Fantasia, Robin Hood, and Lilo and Stitch.

The first thing that irked me when I saw the commercial was the fact that it’s CGI. To me, Classic Disney is traditionally animated, or Pixar (though I wouldn’t include Cars, but that’s another rant…). The second thing was the modern music in the trailer. I heard an electric guitar and cringed. I went to the theatre with an open mind however, and was relieved that the music was not modern. However the singing was obnoxiously frequent in the first half of the movie, and I thought it was very out of character for Eugene (what kind of name is that for the “Prince”, anyway?!) to sing half of a romantic duet. Blech. But the thing I found MOST annoying was Maximus. I would have let slide the “Sit….Drop it!”, and even the tail wagging I could reluctantly forgive, but the sniffing drove me up a wall!!! Good land! If Disney wanted a really big dog, they should have cast a Great Dane, or better yet, a Wolfhound! Finally, on a smaller, extremely picky note, I did not like how Rapunzel’s hair looked after it was cut. It was FAR too modern and failed epically.

To be fair, Pasquel (or however you spell it) was absolutely adorable and made up for a LOT of the film’s shortcomings. Eugene was refreshingly realistic (although Disney needs to quit telling little girls that a handsome, dashing, adoring, perfect guy is going to sweep them off their feet, because it frankly does not happen in real life), and I admit to laughing out loud when he and Max were hitting each other on the bridge. Rapunzel was thankfully NOT Mary-Sue or standard in any way – she was neither the obnoxious damsel-in-distress, nor the even more obnoxious absurdly “strong” female. I did like the style, particularly the GORGOUS coloring. Very warm and deep – I REALLY wanted to be in that forest, too! I won’t be paying to see it again, nor will I be buying the DVD, but I may borrow it if the library gets it. To sum it up, not a winner, but worth seeing at least once. As for those poor siblings whose little sister becomes obsessed and makes them comb her hair for hours while she sings the flower spell over and over again…you have my sincerest pity.