Tangled

One of the best films ever produced by the Walt Disney Animation studios, hitting all the marks in areas of story, character and animation design and development. For a basic synopsis of the plot click here. Definately see as a 2D film, not 3D, to full appreciate the details present in the layouts and characters.

Although created as a CGI animation film, the masterful influence of 2D animator and Disney legend Glenn Keane is clearly evident as the CGI created characters exude more movement and humanity than other computer generated humanoids have done in previous and current films (Shrek, Megamind, Toy Story).

Perhaps one disappointing area for me personally was the villian. Rapunzel's mother, clearly heavily influenced by the look of diva Cher, seems to lack the pizazz for which other Disney villians are famous. Although she must hide her true identity from her 'daughter,' I felt that the audience could have been given a more in depth look at the pure evil and selfishness obviously lurking in her soul.

My only other gripe about a film that had an exceptionally tight storyline, great soundtrack, solid supporting characters, beautiful environments that were conceptually complimentary to the plot development and associated themes; was the character's eyes. At times the size of the eyes compared to the dimensions of the head made the characters look like cupie dolls and in a film with so many intense closeups, eyes should not cross- its very distracting.  

Stand out character performances were the comical sidekicks Pascal the 'frog' sorry Chameleon and the unlikely ally Maximus the lead horse of the King's army. Both remained non speaking parts which really forced the animators to explore comedy through movement and also establish a connection with the audience through nuances and a simple look.

Overall, Tangled is a masterpiece, an instant (14 years in the making) classic that I loved. If Disney continues in this direction then maybe there is hope that disasters such as Disney's Home on the Range are a thing of the past.