Menswear - The Founder

18 The Founder | Wednesday 23 February 2011
E X T R A
Film
Hannah Riekemann
Disney, as in old Walt, has been a
constant source of speculation as
to whether he really is cryogenically
frozen and if so, when he is
going to make his re-appearance.
One can almost hesitantly say that
the return of the ‘proper’ Disney
film was what many of us craved
after years of, to be fair, rather good
movies. I was horrified to learn that
many people of our generation have
never seen an old-school Disney,
no 3-D CGI thank you very much!
It is a shame especially as many of
us regard Disney films as a corner
stone and key developmental
process that is as much a tool in
class (comparing the 18thcentury
to modern Disney characters) as
well as an icebreaker at parties. As
a firm champion of the better form,
I was delighted when The Princess
and the Frog came out last year and
positively leaping with excitement
when I learned of Disney’s newest
venture Tangled.
I was rather disappointed at first I
must confess. The opening credits
looked suspiciously like a touch of
CGI had been added to the mix but
then soon realised that the animator’s
pencil drawings were visible.
Phew! Tangled tells the story of
Rapunzel, albeit a highly modified
one, who is stolen away from her
royal parents by an evil gypsy intent
on using her hair for regeneration
purposes. Sound familiar? On her
18th birthday, Flynn Rider the thief
Review: Tangled
steals away into the tower to escape
from Royal Forces and manages to
get Rapunzel to escape with him
so that she can view the Chinese
lantern display. What ensues is the
usual boy/girl dilemma complete
with all the songs you could possibly
ever want to sing along to.
Indeed I must confess that I did try
much to the amusement of the Flatmate
who ended up patting me on
the head before turning resolutely
back to the screen. The dialogue
is witty and incredibly sharp with
laugh out loud moments that leave
you gasping, tears running down
the cheeks et al. It may not be a
*****
total Disney classic but it proves
that Disney can create a winning
formula without relying too heavily
on Pixar for the extra bits. The plot
relies on the old fairytale without
trying to be ‘cool’ and including
popular modern day references or
songs that will date the film as was
the case with Shrek. The revival
of the fairytale for Disney’s 50th
animation is ingenious and intelligent,
returning to the classic story
telling that made the studio famous.
They have carefully placed hooks at
agreeable points so as to keep you
entertained and the dam-busting
sequence leaves your heart in your
mouth; the fact that the characters
are animation is of little consequence.
Rapunzel, voiced by Mandy Moore,
is the typical teenager, although
she has never previously left her
tower, and the see-sawing emotions
she displays will be scarily familiar
to those of us who had similar
arguments with our parents. One
slight niggle may be that Moore
sometimes gives very little depth in
certain scenes but this is swiftly rectified
by the excellent Flynn Rider,
Zachary Levi, who shows that the
narcissistic thief does have a background
that leaves one reaching
for the Kleenex. We get characters
who have a little heart and soul,
returning to the classic Disney of
yore. The real star of the film, in
my opinion, is Rapunzel’s sidekick
chameleon who picks up the slack
left behind in the scenes and despite
having no voice, proves to be
the voice of reason; his expressions
left me falling into my seat grasping
my sides. You can almost see the
spin-offs that this little chameleon
will be getting soon. The evil gypsy
is as dark as the villains of old and
her regeneration, using Rapunzel’s
hair, is as terrifying as Ursula in The
Little Mermaid.
Now this may not prove to be a
classic Disney film with proper
old-school hand drawn animation,
but it does show a link can be
made between CGI and animation
without losing the integrity of the
story. I absolutely adored the film
and would happily go and see it
again and again. Embarrassingly I
nigh on floated out of the cinema
still singing the songs to myself and
flicking my hair about; it makes
every girl feel like a princess. I
felt sorry for my Flatmate who
trailed behind me watching with an
amused stare as I joined the countless
little girls who were similarly
twirling about pretending to be
Rapunzel. Tangled is seriously good
fun and I would even go as far as to
say a strong contender for winning
in this season’s award ceremonies.
All I can say is please go and see
this film and remind yourself of
believing in your dreams.