I am seriously killing myself trying to find the poster of this. I know it's out there somewhere...
Now if you’ve paid attention at all over the last few years, you’re well aware that I’m a big fan of Disney movies. Sometime during the latter half of the Disney Renaissance (which is the period of 1989-1999, or ‘The Little Mermaid’ through ‘Tarzan’), Disney tried to shift gears and get away from the stuff they do good, and we were given crap like the very deplorable ‘Brother Bear’. Seriously, I would rather sit through a Uwe Boll film festival than sit through that dreck again. Sometime after that disaster of a film, the Then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner came forward and said that 2D animated movies were dead, and that Disney would push forward with 3D animated films in it’s place. (This has since been rescinded with the appointment of Stanley Iger and John Lasseter into the creative roles at Disney.) This however, was not much better, as movies like ‘Chicken Little’ and ‘Valiant’ showed us that it’s not the medium of the movie, but the content that determined if it was any good. I’m going to be as blunt as I can here: For the large majority of the 2000s, Disney productions that didn’t involved Pixar and Johnny Depp… Sucked. And sucked badly. There are some wonderful exceptions like ‘Lilo and Stitch’ and the ‘Emperor’s New Groove’. But for the most part, it wasn’t really all that good. When Disney announced they were going to do a new 2D movie, a lot of us got really excited, and couldn’t wait to see the movie. We hoped Disney learned from their mistakes and could we be seeing the start of a new second Disney Renaissance.
But when ‘The Princess and the Frog’ came out, while it was nice, it felt… Off. Like it was missing something. I’m sure there are tons of people with theories on why it wasn’t a better, more popular movie, and while some have validity and some do not, I think the answer is simple: The movie wasn’t that great. It was… “Just okay”. I don’t hate it, if it came on TV, I wouldn’t change the channel. But it felt just acceptable, but not exceptional.
It was like... Sooo close. Yet, not.
I felt… Old. Like I was becoming one of those bitter cranky fanboys that hate anything that’s not from when I was a kid. (I seriously have a fear of becoming one of those people.) Seriously, you know the types. The ones that when they make a new movie or cartoon of something they grew up on when they were a kid, they get all bitter and angry about it, because it not the same. I remember a few years back, when they made the new He-Man cartoon that was on Cartoon Network, some friends of mine were literally pissed off angry because they switched the Iron Cross on He-Man’s bandolier to a more stylized original symbol. (Which I didn’t realize until later was a stylized “H”.) Or the fact that they changed the Sorceress’ costume, or Man-At-Arms may not have been Teela’s father… They ignored the fact it was actually a good show, and just obsessed over the changes. If it’s not exactly how it was when they were kids, then they’re pissed. It comes across almost like they’re not just being nostalgic, but trying to find a time machine to make them younger, to relive their youth. And I was starting to worry I was becoming like that too. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the recent ‘Star Trek’ reboot, I actually prefer the Tim Burton ‘Batman’ over ‘The Dark Knight’, and ‘Clone Wars’ has been driving me away with their sheer ham-fisted commentary about politics, as opposed to showing clones and wars in my CLONE WARS. (Seriously though, I DO like the Dark Knight very much. I just liked Batman more. That‘s all.) Yet, at the same time, when people are ranting and raving over new stuff coming up like the new Tron movie, or ‘Megamind’ or even ‘Sym-Bionic Titan’, I just sat there going… Meh. I was getting worried I was becoming that cynical bitter man-child that hates anything fun.
Then I saw ‘Tangled’.
I saw it on Saturday, and I saw it again on Sunday, and I want to see it a third time. I love it. Oh my God, do I love it. I cannot emphasize how good of a movie I thought it was. There was a young boy in me, just yearning to get home and draw and sketch and create. The same young boy that was there when I saw Sebastian telling Prince Eric to “Kiss Da Girl”, or seeing Tarzan rescue Jane from a horde of vicious baboons. The characters were designed amazingly, the music was charming, the story was good, and as a whole the entire movie was just… Fun. It was probably the best movie I’ve seen all year, and probably the best animated movie I’ve seen in almost twenty years. I went into the movie expecting something along the lines of ‘Enchanted’ or even at best “How to Train your Dragon”. I certainly did not expect to see what is probably now my second favorite animated movie of all time. (Right behind the Little Mermaid.) I mean, is it perfect? No. There’s no such thing as a perfect movie, except Ghostbusters. Like anything, if you go into it, like one of those cynical dicks, purposely looking for flaws, you’ll find them. But if you’re looking for a movie that is all ages, funny, clever and even enchanting… Then you’re not going to find better.
The chameleon is awesome. 
I bring this up for one reason. Not just to tell you that Tangled was a great movie and you should go see it. (You should.) But in all creative processes, creators will hit a lull point, and it happens to all of us. You have to work through the problems and figure out the solutions, and there are no magic fixes. You just gotta plow through them. Sometimes, they don’t break out of that lull, and if you’re not careful, you can start to realize that they may have ALWAYS been off their game, and we just accepted it because it was different. (See Frank Miller’s Sin City) It’s like that philosophical debate that you need evil to happen, to help you appreciate the good. If we didn’t have ‘Batman and Robin’, when we would have never gotten ‘Batman Begins’. If Van Halen didn’t give us ‘5150’, we would have never gotten ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’, and if Disney didn’t give us ‘Brother Bear’, then we would have never gotten ‘Tangled’. I used to complain about 3D movies, about how it’s not the same as 2D. I knew 3D could be well done, but I still had that stigma of “it’s cheating!” going through my head. And there was justification for it, because bad 3D is noticeably bad, as Shrek proves. I was so obsessed with them trying to get things back to how it was, when “things were good” that I didn’t even notice the “new good” that was phoenixing in it’s wake. I’m not saying newer is always better, but older doesn’t mean it’s flawless either… Otherwise people wouldn’t have stopped doing it. I don’t know. I do know that the answer isn’t status quo or going back. You got to push forward, but remember how you got there. It’s all a work in progress.
Maybe it’s the holiday season, or maybe it’s just the really good mood a certain someone put me in lately. But right now…
I feel young.
A friend and I were discussing The Princess and the Frog, and we realized that, while the story itself was pretty good, the reason it doesn’t hold up against some of the other classics is the soundtrack. None of the songs from that movie are really sing-along-able. I’ve got nothing against Randy Newman, but he’s no Alan Menken (whom we will forgive for Home on the Range).
Menken also did the score for Tangled, which is one of the many reasons I want to go see it.
In Frog’s defense… “Friends on the Other Side” is a pretty badass song.
True, and while it was in Nostalgia Critic’s Top 11 Disney Villains’ Songs, I couldn’t tell you any of the lyrics off the top of my head except for “and I’ve got friends on the other side”.
I prefer 2D over 3D only in that every company seems to be using a similar art style with 3D. With 2D there was a larger variety. From an artistic standpoint I’ve stopped seeing things in 3D that make me go “oh that’s cool” it’s just like eh, something else that large, soft, roundish and more often than not moves as if the air is as thick as pudding. Hell I really enjoyed 9 just because it was something new style wise. I don’t need some trippy 2D experiment piece I just want something a little different from what’s become the norm.
Sorry for the rant, it’s been bugging me for a while.
The chamelon and the horse were some of the best characters in Tangled. From the get go I was hype to see Tangled and I even had to talk the Mrs into it. She was glad I did. Nice nod to VH’s FUCK too!
I have never bought from allposters… but.. here is that mermaid poster
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?startat=/getposter.asp&APNum=6132918
(Actually I know of it. I’m just subtly suggesting to some certain people that Christmas is coming soon…
)
I just want to scream “Khhhhaaaaaannnnnn!” when I see those words together, but I know what you mean
I used to be this total dick that would sneer and snit at Disney movies, like I’d never been a kid or something… and then my other half’s little boy made me watch Lilo and Stitch… I blubbered like a baby at the end. I still do when I hear “No-one gets left behind of forgotten.” Now I watch them all when I get chance. I’ll have to check out Tangled when I can.
Funny, regarding that He-Man bit about Man-At-Arms not being Teela’s real father…some time ago I watched a bunch of old He-Man PSAs, and one of them basically said that Teela was adopted back then as well. So they can suck on that.
I never had a problem with CGI, only when it started to become a “fad”, that it would shine an unfair light on traditional cel. Personally, I’m quite rarely impressed with some of the feats shown in CGI (although I did like seeing “How To Train Your Dragon” in 3D…got a “roller-coaster” feel at one point). In cel, however that kind of stuff REALLY shows. But maybe that feeling comes from not really knowing much about the CG process.
There seems to be some kind of misconception that CG isn’t art and that it somehow is cheating. Trust me when I say, as someone who used to draw a lot and have dabbled in CG that drawing is far easier. There is a ridiculous amount of elements that have to come together to make CG look even remotely convincing. Yes, you can get around some of it by using stylized elements, but the scene still has to hold together. That’s not to say that making good cel-animation is easy. But good CG is ridiculously hard.
Thanks for sharing. I don’t normally read your posts (though I never miss the comic … ever) but I’m glad I read this one. You have pithily expressed a nagging but undefined issue that had been circling my brain for some time. I KNOW those people! They have been getting on my nerves for quite a few years.
I’m a geezer; officially eligible for AARP membership (not that I’d give those goobers the time of day) and with mileage to match. But I like to think I’ve kept up with a few things, at least as well as someone with family-and-job-and-homeowner responsibilities can.
My wife and I wanted to see Tangled last week, but our youngest daughter, whose birthday it was, prevailed upon us to see the latest Harry Potter installment. Meh. It was okay. I followed the books religiously, and was typically satisfied with them, until the last third of the last book, tfu-tfu-tfu. Certain aspects of the Wizarding World kinda got my goat, being a practical sort. I could have handled Voldy without too much trouble, even being a Muggle, with the right sort of automatic weapon. I mean, come on! A wand versus a Heckler & Koch MG4? Give me a break.
But I digress. Tangled was recommended to us VERY HIGHLY by my older daughter and no fewer than three friends. I believe we’ll go see it Saturday. (We would have sooner except that my wife is in Dead Week at the University where she is one semester away from procuring her second degree, a BS in Psychology. She’s been studying her head off, and had no time for frivolities.) Your review (geez, calling it a review is kind of damning your essay with faint praise … sorry!) only makes me that much more eager to see it. I don’t typically bother with the 3D experience because, as you pointed out, they seem to be trying too hard. I did see Avatar in 3D. Again, meh. That story has been done to death. It was a very … PRETTY film, though, and the extra dimension didn’t get in the way. Much. So if Tangled is being shown in 2D I think that’s the one we’ll see. We are both real suckers for a good yarn, and if a movie can tell a compelling story, I don’t really need for it to do much more.
Disney did some great things in that time-frame you mention. The Little Mermaid is surely one of the best, as is Beauty and the Beast. Both of those were so phenomenally superb, so infinitely better than the original stories (which, frankly, sucked hind tit) that it would suit me if the world just conveniently forgot H.C. Anderson and the benighted dweeb who first set down that French fairly tale.
Oh, and you are apodictically on-target with your assessment of Ghostbusters. The only other one I can think of that comes as close to perfection is Roberto Benigni’s “Life is Beautiful”, although it is nothing LIKE Ghostbusters. I saw it once, about seven or eight years ago. I may, eventually, be ready to see it again.
Again, thank you. Love your work.
I loved Princess and the Frog. Tangled was OK.
There seems to be some kind of misconception that CG isn’t art and that it somehow is cheating. Trust me when I say, as someone who used to draw a lot and have dabbled in CG that drawing is far easier. There is a ridiculous amount of elements that have to come together to make CG look even remotely convincing. Yes, you can get around some of it by using stylized elements, but the scene still has to hold together. That’s not to say that making good cel-animation is easy. But good CG is ridiculously hard.