ChickFlix » Disney http://chickflix.net Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:59:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Tangled http://chickflix.net/2010/12/tangled/ http://chickflix.net/2010/12/tangled/#comments Sat, 18 Dec 2010 22:00:46 +0000 Mainstream Chick http://chickflix.net/?p=4782 I finally got around to seeing Tangled, and that’s only because my 11-year-old niece was willing to see it a second time around. She is, most definitely, its target demographic – but I really liked it too. Tangled is a fun, sweet fairy tale flick reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. But instead of Beauty’s Belle living in her “small provincial town”, you’ve got Rapunzel holed up in a tower in the middle of the forest somewhere. Both are sort of rescued by guys, but when push comes to shove, both gals can kick some butt (only with much more grace and musicality).

As the story goes, Rapunzel is a princess stolen from her crib by a nasty old woman who knows that the child’s hair holds magical powers. The evil “Mother Gothel” raises Rapunzel in an isolated tower until one day – around her 18th birthday- a hot young fugitive thief named Flynn Rider stumbles upon the tower. Rapunzel conks him on the head a few times with a frying pan then cons him into being her guide on what’s supposed to be a quick adventure into the outside world. Danger ensues – and of course, so does love.

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi voice the main characters, and they certainly make a cute animated couple. The songs aren’t particularly memorable but they do help the story along and the movie is well-paced overall at 100 minutes (the threshold for the Disney-audience attention span, and lately, mine as well!). Tangled is on par with last year’s The Princess and the Frog only it’s not quite as dark and scary for the younger set.

Young girls don’t have all that many movies to choose from these days. So Tangled is a definite winner for the gals and hopefully the guys as well. Adults will like it too. Bonus.

]]> http://chickflix.net/2010/12/tangled/feed/ 1 The Princess and the Frog http://chickflix.net/2010/01/the-princess-and-the-frog/ http://chickflix.net/2010/01/the-princess-and-the-frog/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:22:30 +0000 Mainstream Chick http://chickflix.net/?p=1827 I finally had the chance (i.e. excuse) to see this movie when my 10-year-old niece decided she wanted to see it for a second time. After all, there’s just something intrinsically appealing about a good ol’ fashioned, hand-drawn Disney princess fairy tale and the promise of a “happily ever after.” The Princess and the Frog follows the standard formula of the princess classics, but with a few modern twists. Our heroine is a hard-working, African-American waitress named Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) who dreams of opening her own restaurant in the great city of New Orleans. Her fate gets tied, however, to that of an arrogant, lazy Prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) who’s been turned into a frog by a sinister (and potentially scary to little kids) voodoo doctor. When Tiana kisses the frog and becomes one herself, she and Naveen hop along the bayou in search of a mystical woman who may be able to make them human again. Along the way, they befriend a cajun firefly and a trumpet-playing alligator and of course, fall in love.

The movie is not perfect, by any means. It treads dangerously close to some potentially negative stereotyping. And it lacks the big, memorable music numbers of Cinderella, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and the like. But it’s nice to see Disney add a black Princess to its royal roster, and the movie does have a delightful, toe-tapping soundtrack, especially if you like jazz and blues. You may not remember the songs next month, but you’ll enjoy yourself in the moment – along with the little princesses in your life.

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