I was apprehensive, to say the least, when I went to see Tangled, after the disappointment that was Princess and the Frog. First, Disney's back with CGI animation, which hasn't really worked that great except, maybe to some extent, Bolt. Second, the trailers made it look really slapstick -- I'm rather wary of today's animation features that try too hard to be hip and fast-paced and silly.
I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there were slapstick and broad humor sure to make little kiddos laugh. But I was surprised by the sophistication as well. The screwball comedy between the hero and heroine is very well done; adults can appreciate that. The sidekicks, in particular the Max and Pascal, are hilarious. The hero and heroine are very likable and not flat. And there's a sense of sadness/wistfulness throughout the whole show that the adults will understand.
But what really is great is the animation. This is Pixar-worthy great. In fact, after a while I forgot it was CGI (which tends to be a bit stiff and crude when it comes to character animation). The human characters have that hand-drawn quality even though they're CG. In fact, they're more expressive than the hand-drawn characters in Princess and the Frog. The backgrounds are gorgeous (I can count every blade of grass). And there's an iconic scene where the kingdom rouses from darkness to light with thousands of floating lanterns -- it really is magical. It reminds me of classics such as Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty.
Best of all, the movie is not just all laughs and slapstick. It has heart too. Even the minor characters such as the King and Queen -- you can feel the emotions. And the romance is believable and not cheesy.
Like I said, I was very pleasantly surprised. It's something that is worthy of Pixar, and I'm glad to see Disney back on their game. While Princess and the Frog was a missed opportunity, Tangled is almost perfect.
