Unbraided: A Blu-ray Review Of "Tangled"

***Nftysqrt*** · 03-28-2011 10:52 PM

I absolutely loved Tangled. I was fortunate enough to make it into a few different pre-release screenings and ended up seeing the film about five in its theatrical run. Obviously I'm completely excited that the film is available now for everyone to see in beautiful High Definition and 3D right within their own homes.

Despite the title I've burdened my review with, I warn at the onset that I have done my absolute best to refrain from the tired and obvious hair-related jokes to describe this hair-rising adventure. D'oh, that was the last one I promise.

There was a lot of anticipation and expectations riding on Disney’s 50th animated film. When Disney changing the name from "Rapunzel" to Tangled, it seemed liked even Disney did not know exactly what they wanted out of their milestone film.

When Tangled was first released in theaters, the ads did not do it justice either, was it a film about a girl with long hair or about this allusive Flynn Rider--giving the film a boy centric feel? To say the least, the marketing message was very much knotted and tangled in its own identity, and I certainly did not give it much hope to be a success.

But I loved it! And not only that, it was a musical! Who knew? The commercials certainly didn't let you know but it's definitely a full-blown Disney musical.

Tangled starts us off not with a princess but with Flynn Rider narrating the beginning of Rapunzel’s story. We see the birth of the princess that weakens her mother, but is then healed by a magical flower, giving her hair healing abilities.

We also learn that there was an older woman Gothel using the flower to keep herself young for centuries. When seeing that the young princess hair now has the power, she kidnaps the princess and keeps her locked away in a tower away from civilization.

Few days before her eighteenth birthday Rapunzel, growing more curious about the outside world, wants to go to the town in search for the glowing lights she sees every year on her birthday.

She asks Mother Gothel who obviously says no and get’s increasingly angry at Rapunzel for wanting to go outside. While her mother is out an unexpected visitor turns up in the tower, Flynn Rider, the suave fugitive wanted for stealing the lost princess’s crown.

After much persuasion, Flynn accepts to take Rapunzel into town so she can see the floating lights which she now knows are lanterns lit for the lost princess. Flynn and Rapunzel, have many adventures along the way to the castle, which include the comedic horse Maximus, and Rapunzel’s chameleon Pascal.

Tangled is given the light Bonus Feature option once again, but I have hope that given the success of the film Disney will release a special edition, and we will see some more. The ones included though, are very much worth the purchase.

Deleted Scenes: Three deleted scenes are included in the features. Each are in storyboard form and have voices added in. All include introductions by directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard.

Original Storybook Openings: Introduced by Greno and Howard, these original storybook openings have a classic Disney feel to them. I loved that they included this in the features. While the now opening definitely fits the film, it’s great to see some original concepts before the movie was revamped.

50th Animated Feature Countdown: Is a very short clip that shows all of Disney’s fifty animated films. While it doesn't list the names of the features, it does number them in order and sets it to some pretty music. I would have loved if they could have made this longer, maybe giving us some information about each film. But at least it’s included and it was fun trying to figure out what each film was.

Extended Songs: Mother Knows Best and When Will My Life Begin are shown here with extended versions. Both could have been used in the film and not sure why they were cut, but it’s a great addition.

Untangled: The Making Of A Fairy Tale: Is the only behind the scenes featurette for the film. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi host this feature that has some neat fun facts about the film. It is cute to see them interact with each other and seeing the personalities behind the characters.

Tangled is a perfect fit to be Disney’s 50th animated feature. While the songs were not as strong as some of the classic films this will be for sure considered a classic Disney film in the future. And if anyone has gone to Disneyland recently and seen the lines for the Rapunzel meet n’ greet you will know that she will not be going away anytime soon.

And not to worry, if your like me and do not have a fancy 3D television, this film sparkles no matter how you watch it. Tangled is now one of my favorites and will be for your family as well.