Three words to describe "Tangled"... Disney is back!!!

Rating: 9/10 (6 December 2010)

About fifteen years ago, give or take, Disney decided to go in a different direction without the audiences really noticing it. It's only after watching "Tangled" that you come to your senses and grasp that something had been truly missing all this time.
It's like going to your favourite restaurant and ordering your favourite dish that has, over the years, progressively gotten worse. But the changes were so subtle and gradual that you never realized it. Then one day the restaurant goes back to cooking it exactly the way you had it the first time. Suddenly you remember that flavour, that aroma, that delicate complexity which made you fall in love with it in the first place.
The increasingly dimming light that had been the Disney "magic" is shining brightly once more... with "Tangled".
The story (No spoilers here): After going through a Disney style makeover, "Tangled" is a remake of the classic tale of "Rapunzel" containing a balanced yet powerful mix of adventure, humour, emotion, and song. Yes I said "song". In many ways "Tangled" is a musical. But for those of you who just rolled their eyes in disappointment; worry not. The songs are few and far between, well placed and serve the purpose of adding dramatic effect to the given scene. And they're pretty darn good. Think classic "Beauty and the Beast" style though not as catchy as the likes of "Aladdin".
With a place for everything and everything in its place, "Tangled" is very well paced with an engaging story line. And despite the few key departures from the original fairy tale the Disney version is seamlessly woven together by strong characters and ageless dialogue.
The Characters: Voiced by the multi-talented Mandy Moore, and with her naïveté, curiosity, lust for life and lack of experience in... anything for that matter, Rapunzel is a Disney princess you instantly fall in love with.
As the viewer your heart instantly goes out to her and even though, I hope, not many of us know what it's like to be trapped in a tower by means of psychological abuse, you somehow relate to her and want her to fulfill her dream, trifle as it may be in nature but very important to her given her psychology.
Flynn Ryder, the leading man and love interest voiced by Zachary Levi, is very likable and has almost the same screen time and character importance as our princess. Something that, as far as I remember, has not been done before in a Disney feature. Characters like The Beast came close but not quite like Flynn.
Other than the brilliantly written and acted character of Rapunzel's mother, who I will not go into as not to spoil the plot, there is also whole spectrum of characters that add colour, companionship and challenges to our heroes' journey.
The Age Range: Anybody from a three year old to a hundred will find something to enjoy and love in "Tangled".
I think anyone over a hundred years old will not get the concept of 3D animation and wonder why the "people" in this talkie are so colourful (sorry grandpa just kidding)
Final words to Disney: OK, Disney you've had your fun, you've experimented with different directions over the past decade or so, you've gotten it out of your system... Hopefully "Tangled" is proof to you that you should stick to what you've always done best musical based, emotion packed, humour filled, classic fairy tales.
I hope you continue down this long forgotten path... it works, has always worked and will definitely always work.