Raputangled

[pedroluchini]

I'd heard that the trailers for Disney's Tangled were lying, and that they completely misrepresented the actual tone of the movie. I was glad to find out that the rumors were correct!

You have no idea how sick I am of the post-Shrek tween-baiting slang-laced pop-culture anachronistic mess that passes for CGI animation nowadays. Tangled manages to

Comments

[cal]

I was also of the opinion Tangled was much more enjoyable than The Princess and the Frog. The only thing that sorta got on my nerves with Tangled was that the animation kept using this "things will move very fast and then stop completely" effect. Flynn falls very fast, until he hits the horse and all his momentum stops. The guys in the tough guy bar swing weapons around very fast until they abruptly stop. It's not something I caught on to until I watched it a second time but once I realized it was there I felt it was overused. It's definitely something that would only work in CGI and not traditional animation.

[pedroluchini]

Yeah, that's what I meant by "caffeinated squirrels." I suppose it's a misguided attempt to make the movie funnier because it's all so ZANY and WACKY, but it didn't work in Madagascar and it still doesn't work here.

I recently read somewhere that the next Disney animation (the one based on The Snow Queen) will be CGI too. I've got mixed feelings about it, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt... while still holding out for a 2D movie someday.

[cal]

Also what was great about Tangled compared to Frog was that the animal sidekicks kept their mouths shut and didn't talk. They still had personalities and occasionally did things, but they let the focus be on the humans. Whereas in Frog you had the Jazz Alligator and the Firefly eating up time... and while Tangled takes place in a vague setting that's never definitely defined except as sorta Medieval-ish, Frog took place in New Orleans. The setting is a bit like a character in itself that also demands more attention from the story. (I have a friend who grew up in the area who told me there's a ton of subtle little jokes in the movie that reference different things that natives would know, but anyone who isn't wouldn't get at all.)

[pedroluchini]

Overall, I guess we could say that "imitator" animations have an over-reliance on gimmicks. Look at the animals, they're so cute! Look at the musical numbers, they're so extravagant! Look at the setting, it's so Cajun! Look at the movements, they're so wacky! Look at the jokes, they're so anachronistic!

Pixar rarely stoop to such levels and it's why they produce consistently great movies (Cars 2 notwithstanding). Tangled toned the gimmicks down significantly, and became a better work because of it.