Tangled
Year: 2010
Rating: PG
Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours
Tangled (2010) is one of those movies that hit me at a vulnerable time in my life. Shortly after I bought it on Blu-Ray, I ended up watching it at least once for ten days straight. I had the soundtrack memorized and I still cry at the pivotal scenes. I danced to the lantern song at my wedding as the first dance with my wife. Clearly, I’m going to give this movie full marks here, but even over a decade later, I think it holds up.
After college, I moved out of my home state and was finally living on my own. Even with a good job and a handful of new friends, I related to Rapunzel’s (Mandy Moore) first song of the movie: When Does My Life Begin? There were societal expectations that I didn’t feel like I met, so seeing Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) grow to accept non-toxic masculine traits—thanks in part to a musical tavern full of roughnecks—helped encourage me to keep going on the path I was on.
Some people argue about which Disney villain was the most evil, and I argue it is 100% Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy). Using manipulation and gaslighting to keep what she has obtained through ill-gotten means, Gothel is a terrifying look into people who exist in the real world. The emotional abuse Rapunzel suffered might initially seem fun, but Tangled goes all in to show what it looks like to break free from this kind of imprisonment. While many movies feature self-sacrifice, Tangled does it in the best way. Don’t take it at its Disney cartoony facade, Tangled is a deep and life-affirming film that everyone should watch.
An animated film that’s deeper and more real than most give it credit for, I give Tangled 5.0 stars out of 5.
This movie also appears in Cinema Connections
#313. Grimm Fairy Tales
#314. Stockholm Syndrome
