Never wanted to see this when it came out...and I feel bad.

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2014)

Disney's 50th full length animated feature. And with it, they decided to head back to what Disney did best: a fairy tale. This one being based off of the story of Rapunzel. You know, the girl with the God knows how much feet of hair? Yeah, that's the one. Also, this is Disney's first time of putting 2D animation to 3D. If you can tell, the designs of the characters look like they're from 2D. I mean, Rapunzel DOES look a bit like Ariel, doesn't she? Anyway, let's jump into the story.
Once upon a time, there was magic flower that a witch, named Mother Gothel, has been using for centuries to keep herself youthful. Eventually, a kingdom grew and the queen falls ill one day while pregnant. The King's men then find the flower and use it to heal the queen, who then gives birth to a girl, named Rapunzel, who possesses the magic within her golden hair. Gothel realizes that Rapunzel is now her only way to stay young forever and breaks into the castle, kidnaps her and takes her to a tower in the middle of a wilderness, where nobody will find them. Gothel convinces Rapunzel to continue to grow her hair otherwise it'll lose its power. Rapunzel then notices that every year on her birthday, she sees lanterns flying in the sky, which are actually launched by the kingdom so that one day, the lost princess will find her way home. Rapunzel wants to leave the tower and see them, but Mother Gothel constantly forbids her from leaving—that is, until a thief named Flynn Rider, breaks in and Rapunzel convinces him to take her to see the lanterns. From there, it's a grand adventure with colorful characters, comedy and of course—romance.
This story is GENIUS and the characters are so memorable. Rapunzel is very likable. She's smart, funny, adventurous and has a real kind heart. Everyone she meets likes her, including a bunch of ruffians and a mad horse. Also, I think she is one of the best female characters ever created. I mean, yeah, she has her insecure Disney Princess moments, but later near the climax, she stands up to Mother Gothel, who emotionally abused her for so many years, and she SCOLDS her when she learns who she really is. So yeah, I think she's a well written character. Flynn Rider is also likable. Most of the time, he's played for laughs, but aside from being a snarky ladies' man, he has his development. Throughout their adventure, he starts to have feelings for Rapunzel and hell, he ends up saving the day at the end. Also the romance is good. Yeah, it's a typical Disney-not-even-a-week-later-romance, but in the end, you don't really care. In fact, they don't even get married. At the end, he PROPOSES to her. Even the comedy is hilarious. There's a horse named Max, who comically plays the "Captain Ahab" character, who is obsessed with hunting Flynn. Whenever you see him and Flynn together, it's just hilarious.
How's the music? While I DON'T think it's the best soundtrack from Disney, it has a beautiful score "I See the Light" and I think it's one of Alan Menken's finest work. Even when its playing, the animation is glorious when you see the floating lanterns. And speaking of the animation, another brilliant moment is when you see Rapunzel's parents, who never say a word in this movie, but when they're crying, it's REALLY powerful. You can see the pain in their eyes like they're about to give up on the search for their daughter.
The villain, Mother Gothel, is also a great character. She's cunning and manipulative like pretending to be Rapunzel's mother, but she can also snap at anytime, asserting her psychological abusive relationship with Rapunzel. And at times, she can actually be pretty funny. But aside from that, she can get pretty dark, like when she straight up STABS SOMEONE IN THE BACK. Yeah, blood and everything. How often do Disney villains stab someone in the back?!
So is this movie ENTIRELY flawless? WellI only have two problems with this movie. Flynn Rider's real name is revealed to be Eugene Fitzherbert. Honestly, I don't see a point in him having an alias. When we were introduced to this character, we fell in love with Flynn Rider, not Eugene. In popular media, he's known as Flynn Rider. Hell, people remember him as Flynn Rider. I guess you could argue that him confessing his real name was a sign that he's growing more feelings for Rapunzel, but then again, that's kinda a nitpick. My other problem is the marketing. For example, look at the trailer. The one where it ONLY showed the comedy. That didn't look like a Disney film, it looked like a crappy romantic comedy made from Dreamworks. I'm sad to say I fell for this at first and I didn't bother seeing Tangled until years later and— heh, wasn't that a mistake. Plus, this movie didn't become number 1 at the box office until its SECOND WEEK. The marketing also didn't really say much about the return to the classic Princess fairy tale, they only showed the comedy relief and Flynn Rider being a smartass and that was about it. If the marketing for it was to say that it's one of Disney's finest since "The Lion King" or "Beauty & the Beast", people would be more willing to see it.
I wish that this movie got more attention than most others, but it does have quite an audience. Most say that this movie is far from the films that were made in the Renaissance era, which really shocks me because this one is SO good. The characters are great, the story is great, the villain is great, it's really a gem. I've sat down and watched it numerous times and when it comes again, I will gladly watch it from beginning to end.