I shouldn’t have been surprised by my 4 and a half year old’s choice when we asked her what movie she’d like to see. After all, she is obsessed with princesses despite our best efforts. The blonder the better. So when we asked her, she responded Tangled, which is Disney’s latest instalment in its seemingly endless supply of princess stories.
We had decided to take her to the theatre for the first time over the holiday break. She’d been to see some concerts (for instance, The Doodlebops) and some musicals (The Adventures of Sir Franklyn or something like that….I remember a turtle and a sword), but the only feature length movies she’d seen were at home. The thing is, though, that she doesn’t particularly like watching the Disney movies we have. She much prefers stories of kids who face up to the everyday challenges of being kids. Poko, the claymation series about a boy, his dog and his stuffed monkey is one of her favourites, as is Max and Ruby about a girl and her younger brother (who are rabbits incidentally). Many of the Disney films we have are too scary for her with parents who die violently (Bambi and The Lion King, to name but two) or they have very scary villains (which is just about all of them). So she only ends up watching parts of them.
Despite this aversion to watching a complete Disney film, my daughter has become entranced with the world of Disney. She can name all the princesses, for instance, even though she’s only ever watched (most of) Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. I once asked her what princesses do and she answered “Sit around in the castle.” This is hardly the goal I want for my daughter. I’ve tried countering with, “But Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) is adventurous. She goes through the scary forest and rescues her dad.” My daughter answered, “yeah, but then she just stayed in the castle.” Very astute.
So when she asked to go to see Tangled, which is an update on the Rapunzel story, I was a little hesitant. However, it seems that Disney has learned from some of the critiques that have been levelled against its films in recent years. But the premise of a blonde haired princess kept in a castle until being rescued did not hold much promise for me.
But like good liberal parents, we decided we’d honour her request, go see the movie and then try and ruin it for her afterward. Little did we know that we’d find ourselves enjoying it as well.
The movie itself, like all Disney films, is beautifully done and the world is fully brought to life in vivid texture. When I could pull my eyes away from the screen, I enjoyed watching the rapt look on my daughter’s face as she took it all in.
Yes, there is the villain’s attempt to disrupt the family unit by snatching the young
Rapunzel from her family, but it is not as traumatizing as some other films (Nemo, for instance). Goethel, the villain, wants to keep Rapunzel to herself because Rapunzel’s hair has magic qualitites that help keep her young. Goethel, who perhaps not accidentally looks a little like Cher, goes from aged to youthful several times throughout the film. She lies to Rapunzel and has her believe that she is Rapunzel’s real mother and that the outside world is very scary.
Rapunzel is curious about “floating stars” that appear each year on her birthday. The stars are in fact floating lanterns that her parents the king and queen light to remember their lost daughter. The townspeople also send off thousands of lanterns in a spectacular display. With the help of a thief, Flynn Rider, she escapes and learns that while the world is dangerous, it is also worth the risk.
Rapunzel definitely fits into the adventurer princess category. She is very handy with a skillet, for instance, and can protect herself with it in many cases. When she is outnumbered by baddies, as she is in the scene in the Snuggly Duckling pub, she manages to win the nasty looking patrons over to her side by inspiring them to think about how important it is to live your dream. I think my favourite was the thug turned mime. The musical scene that follows is one of Disney’s best of late for its energy and sheer absurdity.
Before we get carried away: Yes, Flynn saves her and yes, she and Flynn live happily ever after. But it is more complex than it might at first seem. He had just been stabbed by Goethel and was dying. Rapunzel promises to stay with Goethel if she’ll let her use her hair to heal Flynn. Goethel agrees, but Flynn cuts Rapunzel’s hair so that she’ll be free, thus sacrificing himself. With the hair’s power destroyed, Goethel ages a couple hundred years in a matter of seconds and turns to dust. Flynn seems to die, but a tear drop from Rapunzel (perhaps the last of her hair’s power) brings him back to life. So the happily ever after ending comes only after each person offers to sacrifice themselves. The superficial beauty of Rapunzel’s hair is seen as only that – a surface appearance that is not essential to the love Flynn feels for her.
Overall, the film is entertaining. Would I see it if I didn’t have a young child? Probably not. However, I enjoyed it for its humour, the memorable characters and especially for the fact that I didn’t even have to ruin it for my daughter!
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