Movie: Tangled
Finally out in Australia! Admittedly, I should probably have picked a better time to see it than 10am on a school-holiday weekday, as there was the requisite crying baby a couple of seats over, but fortunately the rest of the kid-packed cinema wasn't too bad.
As for the movie itself - HIGHLY recommended. It's Disney, but it almost feels like a bunch of fans set out to create a great Disney-style movie without letting themselves be held back by stodgier Disney clichés. It flows fantastically, and even the obligatory songs aren't too disruptive to the narrative. The romance isn't in-your-face schmoopy, but it carves out the slow, gentle arc of the story while the details bounce around in character scenes and physical comedy. The horse doesn't get a single line, but provides most of the laughs purely through facial expressions, body language, and being more competent than most of the human characters.
(The chameleon animal companion could probably have been dropped, as it doesn't really add anything of note to the story, but then it wouldn't be Disney.)
Interestingly, the movie does make reference to quite a number of minor points from the Grimm version of the tale, including the importance of a plant to Rapunzel's birth, the name of the witch, song as a plot point, tears, Rapunzel being responsible for her liberator's new view on the world, and hair severing indicating a major dramatic climax.
Additionally, there are references to Barbie as Rapunzel (Rapunzel's talents at painting) and the 1990 Timeless Tales version (what the witch does to the hero at the end).
And who noticed that the voice actors included Hellboy and Jaws?
As for the movie itself - HIGHLY recommended. It's Disney, but it almost feels like a bunch of fans set out to create a great Disney-style movie without letting themselves be held back by stodgier Disney clichés. It flows fantastically, and even the obligatory songs aren't too disruptive to the narrative. The romance isn't in-your-face schmoopy, but it carves out the slow, gentle arc of the story while the details bounce around in character scenes and physical comedy. The horse doesn't get a single line, but provides most of the laughs purely through facial expressions, body language, and being more competent than most of the human characters.
(The chameleon animal companion could probably have been dropped, as it doesn't really add anything of note to the story, but then it wouldn't be Disney.)
Interestingly, the movie does make reference to quite a number of minor points from the Grimm version of the tale, including the importance of a plant to Rapunzel's birth, the name of the witch, song as a plot point, tears, Rapunzel being responsible for her liberator's new view on the world, and hair severing indicating a major dramatic climax.
Additionally, there are references to Barbie as Rapunzel (Rapunzel's talents at painting) and the 1990 Timeless Tales version (what the witch does to the hero at the end).
And who noticed that the voice actors included Hellboy and Jaws?