Disney Stays Relevant in a Feminist World with Tangled

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2010)

With Tangled, Disney finally gets with it and recognizes that third-wave feminism is here to stay, forever. The Disney princess has gone from demure, subservient beauty to confident, robust and self realizing beauty. No longer will Rapunzel hide in the corner when an an uninvited intruder scales her tower and climbs through her window. Instead, she repeatedly knocks him unconscious with an iron skillet, locks him in a closet, ties him up with her hair in a chair, interrogation style, and then forces him to agree to a deal. In the process, she directly contradicts her faux mother's deepest fears and warnings about leaving the tower. Nope, this is not your 20th century Disney princess. Its the 21st century Disney princess. This is one tough young woman who sets her own destiny, although not without deep-felt feelings of ambiguity and guilt about disobeying mother's orders (albeit a faux mother who definitely does not have the best interests of the young Rapunzel in mind).
For the lesser sex (aka, male homo sapiens), sit up and learn a few lessons. In spite of the string of garbage you have consumed from Pixar for the last 12 or so years, the modern world is not a series of testosterone-laden misadventures. Nope, to compete in this world, you had better learn to value and depend on Rapunzel's golden fleece as Flynn Rider does throughout this movie, particularly during the action sequences. In fact, you are only a secondary player in life.
It is fortunate that Disney chose Rapunzel, its 50th animated feature, to stay relevant. This film will likely go down as its greatest triumph, much better than those male-dominated also rans, such as the Lion King or Alladin. The visuals are strikingly gorgeous, perhaps even better than Miyazaki. It uses a rich cadre of characters and formats to present the content, including slapstick, mime, melodrama, Broadway musical, action, occasional Faustian undercurrents, and so forth. It pulls all the right emotional strings, supported by a wonderful musical score. With two great feminist movies in a single year (Rapunzel and Alice in Wonderland), Disney stays relevant, and gets my vote.