Tangled

This is Disney's 50th animated feature. It's a very traditional Disney film, which I love. There are no 'pop culture' references. No clever insinuations for adult audiences. Just good old-fashioned story telling and the film is all the better for it. It's the tale of Princess Rapunzel, gifted with magical healing hair, stolen from her Royal parents by a vain old woman who wants to stay young forever. Rapunzel is kept in the tower and emotionally blackmailed by her 'mother', until her yearning for adventure becomes too strong, and a roguish young man falls into her life, quite literally. The film then follows the usual pattern, towards, and I don't think I'm going to spoil anything here, a happy ending. There are lots of fun visual characters, the adorable chameleon, never far from Rapunzel's side, and the brilliant show stealing Maximus, a Royal Guard horse that thinks he's a dog. The rogue, 'Flynn Rider' is voiced by Zachary Levi, of 'Chuck' fame and the voice of Rapunzel is Mandy Moore, no hugely famous voice-overs, which again, is a good thing. The graphics are just beautiful. We went to the 2D version, I'm not a big fan of 3D. The only gripe I would have is the character of Flynn Rider. In every story before, when the leading man is a 'rogue' that is what he is. Aladdin was a really good guy, who just stole to eat, but nothing else, which made him a diamond in the rough. This guy is actually a thief, and stole from Rapunzel's parents no less, with no remorse. He still got the girl. A sign of the times maybe? At least they didn't give him earrings. Or a tattoo. This time. Overall, a lovely film, pretty good for littlies and older kids. Not in the same league as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, or The Little Mermaid, but some catchy tunes and a nice tale. RAPUNZEL: Go and see it, let your hair down. 6/10.