Tangled


Tangled is a 2010 American animated musical fantasy comedy film loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel", and produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, and written by Dan Fogelman, it stars Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy. The film tells the story of Rapunzel, a young princess with magical long blonde hair who tries to leave her secret tower. She accepts the aid of an intruder, the outlaw Flynn Rider, to take her out into the world which she has never seen.
Originally conceived and proposed by Disney animator Glen Keane in 2001, Tangled spent six years in production at a cost that has been estimated at $260 million, which, if accurate, would make it the most expensive animated feature film ever made and one of the most expensive films of all time. The film employed a unique artistic style by blending together features of computer-generated imagery and traditional animation while using non-photorealistic rendering to create the impression of a painting. Composer Alan Menken, who had collaborated on prior Disney animated features, returned to score Tangled, and also wrote the film's songs with lyricist Glenn Slater. Before the film's release, its title was changed from Rapunzel to Tangled, reportedly to market the film gender-neutrally.
Tangled premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 14, 2010, and was released on November 24 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film earned $592 million and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2010. Tangled received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the animation, and was nominated for several awards, including Best Original Song at the 83rd Academy Awards. It was Richard Kiel's last film role before he died in 2014.
Tangled spawned a franchise, including a short film, Tangled Ever After, a video game, a stage musical, and a television series which premiered in 2017. A [|live-action adaptation] is in development.

Plot

A drop of sunlight falls from the sky and produces a magic flower with healing properties. For centuries, Gothel uses the flower to retain her youth, until it is taken by soldiers from the kingdom of Corona and used to save their ill, pregnant queen. She gives birth to Rapunzel, whose blonde hair contains the flower's magic. At night Gothel sneaks into the castle and cuts a lock of her hair, but it turns brown and loses its magic. She then abducts Rapunzel and raises her in a hidden tower in the woods, keeping Rapunzel's magic for herself. Each year on Rapunzel's birthday, the king and queen release sky lanterns, hoping they will guide Rapunzel home. Unaware of her royal identity, Rapunzel grows up isolated from the kingdom, believing the tower to be her only safe home.
Growing up, Rapunzel is fascinated by the annual lights, and on her 18th birthday, asks to leave the tower and investigate them, but Gothel refuses, claiming the outside world is too dangerous. Meanwhile, Flynn Rider steals the lost princesses crown from the palace; betrays the Stabbington brothers, his partners-in-crime, and gets pursued by royal guard-horse Maximus. Flynn discovers and takes refuge in Rapunzels tower, where she knocks him out and hides him. When Gothel berates Rapunzel for mentioning the lanterns again and refuses to let her ever leave the tower, Rapunzel hatches a new plan and asks Gothel for new paint as a gift, sending her on a three-day journey. After hiding Flynn's satchel containing the crown, Rapunzel strikes a deal with Flynn, promising to return the crown in exchange for taking her to see the lanterns.
Outdoors for the first time since infancy, Rapunzel experiences conflicting feelings of excitement and guilt. Flynn takes Rapunzel to the Snuggly Duckling pub, where thugs try to capture the wanted Flynn, but Rapunzel charms them into revealing their softer sides. When royal guards arrive, the thugs help Rapunzel and Flynn escape. Flynn and Rapunzel become trapped in a fast-flooded cave; believing they will suffocate, Flynn reveals his true name, Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel uses the magic glow of her hair to reveal a hidden underwater exit, and they escape. Meanwhile, Gothel returns to the empty tower and finds the satchel with the crown and a wanted poster of Eugene. Inspired by the discovery, Gothel finds the Stabbington brothers and strikes a deal with them to find Rapunzel. That night, Gothel confronts Rapunzel alone and gives her the satchel, telling her to give it to Eugene to test his loyalty.
The next morning, Maximus tracks down Eugene and attempts to arrest him, but Rapunzel convinces them to strike a truce. Rapunzel and Eugene enter the kingdom and attend a festival in honor of the "lost princess". After a day of celebration, they sail onto the lake to watch the release of the lanterns. Rapunzel gives Eugene the crown, and they confess their mutual love. When Eugene sees the Stabbingtons on the shore, he goes to apologize and offers them the crown. The brothers tie him up, tricking Rapunzel into thinking he abandoned her. They try to capture Rapunzel, but Gothel stages a rescue by knocking them out and takes Rapunzel back to the tower.
Eugene is arrested, but Maximus and the pub thugs help him escape. Meanwhile, Rapunzel realizes she has subconsciously incorporated the kingdom's standard, a golden sun, into her artwork throughout her life. Realizing that she is the "lost princess", Rapunzel confronts and disowns Gothel. Since Gothel cannot fake her love for Rapunzel anymore, she reveals her true self. Eugene arrives at the tower, but is tricked and impaled by Gothel with her dagger. Gothel attempts to take the chained and gagged Rapunzel away, but Rapunzel promises she will never stop defying Gothel and attempting to escape, unless Gothel allows her to heal the dying Eugene. Gothel reluctantly agrees, but Eugene, realizing Rapunzel would spend the rest of her life in captivity, cuts off her long hair before she can heal him. Rapunzel's hair turns brown, and a horrified Gothel suddenly ages rapidly before falling from the tower to her death, turning to dust in the process, while Eugene dies in Rapunzel's arms. Rapunzel mourns Eugene, but one of her tears, which still has some of the flower's magic, revives him.
Rapunzel and Eugene return to Corona, where Rapunzel is reunited with her birth parents, Eugene is pardoned for his crimes, and the kingdom celebrates. Rapunzel and Eugene eventually marry.

Voice cast

Non-speaking animal characters include Rapunzel's pet chameleon Pascal, and Maximus, the horse of the head of the palace guard. Other non-speaking roles include Rapunzel's parents, the other Stabbington brother, and Ulf the Mime Thug.

Production

Origins and conception

himself had first attempted to adapt the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel into a feature-length animated film during the 1930s and 1940s, but Disney's efforts never fully materialized because the original story was considered too "small". The concept behind Tangled originated from The Walt Disney Company supervising animator Glen Keane in 1996. In 2001, Keane pitched the idea to then–Disney CEO Michael Eisner who approved it, but requested the film to be computer-animated. However, Keane was hesitant as he felt computer animation was not quite as fluid or organic as traditional animation was. In October 2003, the film was announced as Rapunzel Unbraided as a computer-animated feature scheduled for a 2007 release, which Keane described as "a Shrek-like version of the film". According to Ed Catmull, Eisner himself had proposed using modern-day San Francisco as the initial setting of the film. The story initially centered on two teenagers, Claire and Vince, who live in San Francisco and are transported into the fairy tale world, where they inhabit the bodies of Rapunzel and her prince Beau. Rapunzel and Beau themselves are turned into a squirrel and a dog. In July 2004, Reese Witherspoon and Kristin Chenoweth were in talks to portray roles, with the latter intended to voice Rapunzel. In October 2005, Dan Fogler was slated to provide a voice.
In reflection, Keane said of the original plot, "It was a fun, wonderful, witty version and we had a couple of great writers. But in my heart of hearts I believed there was something much more sincere and genuine to get out of the story, so we set it aside and went back to the roots of the original fairy tale." In November 2005, Unbraided was pushed back to a summer 2009 release in order to give Keane "more time to work on the story." In January 2006, the film was then shut down about a week before Catmull and John Lasseter were placed in charge of the studio, and one of their first decisions was to restart the project and ask Keane to keep going with the film. It had originally been announced in April 2007 that Annie-nominated animator and story artist Dean Wellins would be co-directing the film alongside Keane.
On October 9, 2008, it was reported that Keane and Wellins had stepped down as directors due to other commitments, and were replaced by the team of Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, director and storyboard director, respectively, of Disney's 2008 animated feature Bolt. Keane stayed on as an executive producer and animation supervisor, while Wellins moved on to direct Tick Tock Tale. After the film's release, Keane revealed that he had "stepped back" from the role of director because of a heart attack in 2008.