Title: Tangled (2010; based on the fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm)
The Plot: A princess whose hair possesses magical
healing powers is imprisoned in a forest tower; on the eve of her 18th
birthday, she escapes and experiences life for the first time, with the help of
a wayward thief.
The Songs: "Incantation Song," "When
Will My Life Begin," "Mother Knows Best," "I've Got A
Dream," "I See The Light," "Something That I Want"
(performed by Grace Potter)
A Little History: Animator Glen Keane pitched his ideas for Walt Disney's 50th Animated Classic in February of 2003, tentatively
titled Rapunzel Unbraided. A veteran of over 26 years at Disney
(animating everyone from Elliott the Dragon to Tarzan to Ariel in The Little Mermaid), Keane was initially skeptical of the CG format, feeling it was "rigid" and
"unpleasant to look at." In April 2003, however, Keane hosted a seminar called
"The Best of Both Worlds," at which he announced his intention to blend 2D and 3D animation together, "to bring the warmth and intuitive feel of the hand-drawn to CGI." The animators
were inspired by Jean-Honore Fragonard's 18-century rococo painting "The Swing," and set out to
copy its depth and dimension for the film. Most of the technology needed to
accomplish this didn't exist, however, and had to be modified or created
from scratch. Rapunzel's hair, for example (all 70 feet and 100,000 strands of
it!), was almost impossible to render via computer; a team of ten software engineers led by UNC graduate Kelly Ward took six years
to write the appropriate code, and in March 2010, were finally able to update their existing
hair simulation software, dynamicWires, to replicate the exact sort of movement they wanted. The 3D
team took a more aesthetic approach, relying exclusively on a
process called "multi-rigging," which uses multiple virtual cameras
to create the illusion of depth in a scene. Over
45,000 lighted lanterns are featured during the "I See The Light"
sequence; likewise, over 3,000 characters are in attendance at the Kingdom Dance - the largest crowd in any Disney movie. (During the scene at the Snuggly Duckling, Pinocchio can be spotted in the rafters lounging near the ceiling.) Though Keane
and fellow animator Dean Wellins were originally hired as directors, Keane
suffered "non-life threatening health issues" and had to step down in October
2008, while Wellins moved on to other projects. Nathan
Greno and Byron Howard (Bolt) were announced
as their replacements soon afterward, and changed the title of the film from Rapunzel to Tangled, to the chagrin of many critics. Composer Alen Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater returned to songwriting duties after previously working together on Home On The Range (2004). Kristin Chenoweth, Dan Fogler and Grey DeLisle were rumored to play Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and Mother Gothel, respectively, until Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy were cast instead. The final budget for Tangled is estimated around $260 million - the most expensive animated film of all time. It opened November 24, 2010, in the U.S. and grossed $591 million worldwide. Though nominated for Best Original Song ("I See The Light") at the 83rd Academy Awards, it was (mysteriously) denied a nomination for Best Animated Film. A six-minute sequel titled Tangled Ever After debuted in January 2012, accompanying the 3D re-release of Beauty And The Beast.
How It Broke New
Ground: Disney's first
CGI fairy tale film to be animated entirely by computer, and the first animated
Disney "princess" film to receive a PG rating from the MPAA (all
previous "princess" films were rated G). Disney animators also
made exclusive use of "multi-rigging" - the use of multiple 3D
cameras to add depth to backgrounds, foregrounds and characters in relation to
each other.
How It Holds Up
Today: And so we come
full circle. The studio that heralded the art of 2D animation, celebrated the
form for over sixty years, tried (and failed) within that time to shy away from
the princess/musical format which made them so popular in the first place, and
resisted the temptations of CG animation for the better part of the past
decade, now combines their old-school sensibilities with newfangled computer
graphics, and wouldn't cha know it, a new kind of classic is born. Tangled has all the benchmarks of
typical Disney fare: the reclusive heroine who longs for something
"more," the studly romantic suitor who wins her love and affection,
the Broadway-belted musical numbers that hammer home all the Big Emotional
Moments. But Rapunzel is no mere pushover princess, surviving by her wits and her wiles and positively crush-worthy to boot; her would-be BFF, Flynn Ryder, is both a
thief and a fraud (adorably, Rapunzel calls him
"Eugene," his real name); and the songs by Alan Menken and Glenn
Slater are just as clever/ subversive as their score for Home On The Range. Even the animation itself turns convention on its head,
blending 2D and 3D elements together like an 18th-century painting sprung to
life (deeper discussion of Fragonard's "The Swing," meanwhile, is
bound to bring up all sorts of questions the filmmakers probably aren't prepared to answer.) The movie's loveliest moments, though, are the quietest
ones: a nighttime vigil with literally thousands of floating lanterns, a
tearful reunion between father, mother and daughter (SPOILER!) in which 18
years of heartbreak are mended in a single embrace. Leave it to Disney to make
us fall for the formula all over again, at a time when we needed it most -
respecting the glories of their past while pointing us toward a bright and
boisterous future.
Grade: A-
__________
It's interesting to"hear" the history behind the animation process. It's also funny to find out what it could have been named. I totally agree with the A- grade, this was a great movie, if still formulaic. 😊
ReplyDeleteThat's what makes Disney so great, and what will continue to make them great... a touch of the familiar updated for the here and now! Here's looking forward to the ups and downs of their NEXT animated fifty! And thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteGood post. I really enjoyed tangled myself. I also liked how all the trailers for the movie made it seem more like an adventure, and showed it from Flynn's perspective more than hers. It made the movie seem like it could be a boys and a girls film. I have to say that Frozen has taken the same approach to the animation and film making and has a lot of the same elements to it. They did some unexpected things in that story as well that I really enjoyed. The short "Tangled, Ever After" is just plain awesome!
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