Disney’s 50th animated feature, “Tangled,” is a solid if not-quite-classic musical version of “Rapunzel,” which the Mouse House has retitled in a likely unsuccessful attempt to lure preteen boys.
In this variation, Rapunzel fits squarely into Disney’s long line of princesses, kidnapped as a baby from her royal parents by the witch Gothel, who locks her in a tower.
The magic flower that saved Rapunzel’s mother from death has endowed the daughter’s long locks with magical properties.
Besides being able to use her hair as a ladder for her captor, who pretends to be her mother, when Rapunzel sings, the strands glow, allowing Gothel to remain eternally young and beautiful.
As Disney princesses will, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) yearns for something different in her opening song — “When Will My Life Begin?”
But songwriters Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Glenn Slater give the real showstopper to Broadway belter Donna Murphy as Gothel — a warning to Rapunzel called “Mother Knows Best.”
The story’s traditional prince has been replaced by a dashing thief named Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi of TV’s “Chuck”).
Fleeing after stealing a crown from Rapunzel’s parents, he stumbles into her tower — and the two sneak off while Gothel plots to engineer Rapunzel’s return.
One of the film’s best sequences is set in a tavern filled with criminal types who break into song — and help the couple escape from royal pursuers.
The pursuers are led by a (nonspeaking) stallion who has more personality, unfortunately, than our heroes.
Visually, this toon is all over the place. Rapunzel’s glowing hair can look alarmingly like fiber-optic cable, but some backgrounds are the computer-generated equivalents of Disney’s golden-age work.
A scene in which thousands of lanterns float in the sky may be the year’s best use of 3-D — while in other places, those stereoscopic glasses mainly serve to dim the brightly colored visuals of “Tangled.”