When I was a little girl, before Disney had the long string of Princesses for girls to choose from, Cinderella was the one everyone loved. Unlike Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, she wasn't a princess to begin with. She was a mistreated girl who worked hard yet never let it crush her dreams, and then with the help of her fairy godmother met her Prince Charming and fell in love. Most little girls loved the story and, at least in some way, identified with Cinderella.
The movie has just been released again for the Cinderella: Diamond Edition on Blu-ray, featuring a digitally remastered version of the film along with loads of extras.
I watched it again with my daughters and realized how much of the movie I had forgotten. Everyone remembers the iconic fairy godmother scene, and of course Cinderella at the ball, but both of these happen much later in the movie than I had recalled. The stepmother's cat, Lucifer, has a larger role than I remembered, as he and the mice take up a large part of the subplot, even involved in the final rescue attempt to unlock Cinderella from the tower.
The movie has a slower pace than many of the newer Disney films, a hallmark of the time it came from. A lot of time is spent showing the audience the daily life that Cinderella endures, giving us plenty of information to make our minds up about the nature of her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Even the songs are slower and dreamy in quality. It was fantastic to relive my memories of the film while watching it with my two daughters.
Beyond the film itself, the Diamond Edition Blu-ray is filled with additional fun. The best extra (in my opinion) is the addition of the Tangled Ever After animated short. If you liked Tangled, you'll love seeing how their wedding day was nearly a disaster but, like many moments in Tangled, all turns out OK in the end.
There's also a never-before-seen alternate opening sequence, showing a series of storyboards that detail one proposed opening for Cinderella, and two deleted scenes. I also really liked the feature on the new Disney Princess Fantasyland being built at Walt Disney World. The amusement park is expanding to bring the worlds of Disney Princesses to life and it looks amazing. The first section just recently opened - I can't tell you how excited I was to see the new attractions, especially since we're planning our first family trip to Disney in the spring!
This Blu-ray also includes the Disney Second Screen experience - you can download the app onto your computer , iPad or iPhone and then sync the app with the start of the movie when you're watching it. This lets you interact with the film as it's playing: see additional information about scenes, play games and more.
Overall, the Cinderella: Diamond Edition Blu-ray is a great addition to any collection. It's fantastic nostalgia for parents and grandparents, and a sweet fairy tale for kids. Who doesn't wish their fairy godmother might pay them a visit someday and make all of their dreams come true? OK, it's probably won't happen, but that's no reason to stop dreaming, right?
Cinderella is available on DVD and Blu-Ray just about everywhere now for a limited time before it's back in the vault again!
PS - Want some coloring pages for your kids, too? Click the button below for some free Cinderella coloring sheets!
Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this Blu-ray to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed here are my own. And if I could get a wish granted from my fairy godmother, I'd ask her to cover the costs of our trip to Disney next year, because vacations aren't cheap.
Note: Please welcome my husband, Aaron, as he shares his review of The Avengers. We were given preview passes earlier this week, and he's been counting down the minutes until he could tell the world about this film! I agree with nearly everything he says here - this is a must-see.
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The road to The Avengers begins back in 2008, when Marvel Entertainment announced the creation of their film division. No longer would we see Marvel's comic-book heroes brought to life on screen by third parties – instead the publisher would produce their own films in-house. First up was Iron Man, and frankly, it was a gamble. Let's take a mostly unknown superhero, gather high-profile actors to play the supporting cast, and stick Robert Downey Jr. in the lead.
It was incredibly risky. There were any number of reasons it could have failed. But it didn't. Instead, it launched Marvel Studios as a powerful entity in its own right, and soon after, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and finally, Captain America: The First Avenger followed.
And all of it leads up to this. As the four title heroes, joined by the Black Widow and Hawkeye, and assembled by Nick Fury, Chief of S.H.I.E.L.D., band together to stop Loki and a horde of invaders in Marvel's The Avengers.
The Film
The film picks up where we left off at the end of the previous films, with Thor returned to Asgard, Loki banished, Captain America newly re-awakened in the modern world, Doctor Banner in hiding, and Tony Stark doing whatever he darn well pleases. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been studying the Tesseract, last seen in the hands of the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, and then being studied by Dr. Selvig at the end of Thor. Loki returns, steals the Tesseract, and begins a reign of terror. At which point Fury realizes that he needs the team of heroes, and one by one, brings them into the fold.
There are subplots a-plenty, as each hero has at least one bit of baggage to unload. The Tesseract itself changes hands several times, the heroes suffer several major setbacks along the way, but when all is said and done, the Avengers assemble to fight off Loki and his army. And what we get along the way is one of the greatest superhero team stories ever told on film.
There was reason to doubt. Joss Whedon, despite being a geek god, has only one feature film director's credit to his name. Could a film balance four superheroes who had each carried their own film, in addition to adding in two more? Would the threat feel like it was big enough, especially when it used a villain who had been defeated by a single hero in a previous film? Would characters be shoved off to the side? Fortunately, Whedon and company rose to the challenge in answering each of these questions, and the film comes together beautifully.
In the end, we're left with a film that feels far shorter than its' 2 hour and 24 minute run time – not because anything feels rushed, but because it grabs you by the collar and never lets go as it races towards the climax.
The Good
There are so many excellent moments in the film, it is hard to narrow this down. “The Good” could easily cover most of the entire film. Let's start with the cast.
Five of the six heroes who make up the Avengers have played these characters before, although Scarlett Johannson's Black Widow and Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye only appeared as supporting cast members of earlier films. Wisely, the film gives us a lot of time getting inside their heads, and in many ways, this film could have been the basis for a Black Widow feature. Robert Downey Jr. gives us the same effortless charm that has made us love his Tony Stark since the beginning, Chris Evans' Captain America gives us both the somewhat naïve “Man out of Time” vibe, while still providing inspiration and leadership to the team, and Chris Hemsworth looks like a Greek (or Norse) god come to life. Samuel L. Jackson returns as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, supported by fan-favorite Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and newcomer Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).
The real gamble in casting was Mark Ruffalo. As the third Bruce Banner to hit the big screen in the past decade, he could easily have been the weakest link. Instead, as both Banner and as the Hulk (who bears a greater resemblance to Ruffalo than any earlier Hulk did to its' respective actor), Ruffalo steals the screen whenever he appears. Not a small man, Ruffalo manages to make himself small and cowed by the world around him – and his fear of the beast inside. When the Hulk is unleashed, he commands attention, and ends up with two of the funniest moments in the movie.
Whedon's trademark elements as both a director and a screenwriter are on display in this film, in terms of the overall plot, and most importantly, his characteristic witty dialogue – not to mention the ample amount of screen time devoted to the Black Widow. What is a pleasant surprise is that, while his trademarks are there, they're not pushed front and center. This feels like “The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon” instead of “Joss Whedon's The Avengers.”
Loki's plot is also suitably epic. His alliance to the alien invaders makes this feel big, and there is every reason to believe that if the team cannot stop the invaders within New York, the world will soon fall.
Visually, the film feels big. This is not a small, personal drama. This is about six superheroes saving the Earth. And that scope is conveyed both through dialogue, action, sight and sound.
The Bad
The Avengers is not perfect. While I was extremely pleased with the film, it never had a moment where it blew me away. There's nothing completely new here. We've seen these heroes before. We've seen a team of heroes before. We've seen comic characters brought to life in a way that doesn't apologize for being based on a comic.
The Avengers kicks it up a notch, and does so masterfully, but it doesn't bring anything entirely new to the table. This is not a mark of shame. There is nothing wrong with setting out to make a great action film that honors the source material, gives us a tight plot, good characters, and keeps us entertained for two and a half hours, and succeeding admirably. If it fails to do something “new”, that speaks to the strength of the superhero film over the past decade rather than a weakness in the film.
And yet... I somehow wanted more. More of what I don't know, but I wanted something more.
There is also a lack of female characters in the franchise – which is surprising considering the prominence of Black Widow, the addition of Maria Hill, and the return of Pepper Potts. All three of these women (and the amazing actresses who portray them) are excellent – but I'm fairly sure that they never exchange a line of dialogue with each other.
My other gripe is the use of the alien race chosen for the film. They are remarkably generic, and despite the stinger during the credits (because there is always a stinger in the Marvel films), they never feel unique or important. This is a shame, considering that the Marvel universe is ripe with interesting alien races, any of which could have served as Loki's army.
Finally, and this is entirely a personal preference, but for me, the 3D was an unpleasant addition to the film. 3D often makes a film get blurry during the action sequences, and that was on display in full force during the final battle between the Avengers and the alien forces.
Final Thoughts The Avengers is an incredible film. It is tightly scripted, deftly plotted, smartly written, brilliantly directed, amazingly well cast, and just a lot of fun. This is everything we want a summer blockbuster “popcorn” film to be. It shows off the strengths of its cast, and of Joss Whedon as director, script-writer, and ensemble builder.
As alluded to above, stick around through the credits. There is not one, but two “stingers” during the credits. The first hits midway through the credits, and gives us our hint to the villain of the next The Avengers film (and there will be one, be assured of that – with Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 both on their way, we can expect Marvel to announce plans for the next Avengers before 2020). I won't ruin the reveal, but it won't come as a complete surprise to anyone who has read Marvel Comics, or has paid close enough attention to the previous films. The second stinger occurs at the very end, and may be the funniest moment yet in any of the Marvel features.
Is it my favorite superhero film of all time? I'm not sure. Not yet. But I am certain I loved it, and will be seeing it in the theaters again.
If you're not already singing the theme song to the Muppets in your head, then you must not have grown up in the US in the 70's or 80's. As a child I loved the Muppets. They were funny, they had great music, and they were a gentle yet smart show for a child to watch, with endearing characters and creative puppetry. (Or muppetry, as the case may be.)
We have some of the old show on DVD, and the kids have watched several of the Muppet movies, including Muppet Treasure Island and A Muppet Christmas Carol. So when it was revealed that a new Muppet movie was being released, I was thrilled at the chance to go see it in the theater with our daughters.
We did go see it, and loved it other than missing the last 10 minutes due to an accident in the theater. We never had another chance to go see it, so instead I anxiously awaited the release of the Blu-ray.
Well, that day is here, and I couldn't be happier! The Muppets was released last week, and in true Muppet fashion they went over-the-top to produce an extravaganza of a product. The Wocka Wocka value pack includes not only the Blu-ray and DVD copies of the movie, but also a digital copy for your computer or tablet and a copy of the soundtrack, along with a ton of extras including commentaries, deleted scenes, the "Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History)" and much more.
The story of this Muppet movie takes place long after the Muppets fame has faded. Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, goes with his brother Gary to Los Angeles to visit the Muppet Studios, only to find it falling down and about to be bought out and torn down by greedy millionaire Tex Richman. Walter makes it his mission to find Kermit and round up the old Muppet crew to convince them to put on a Muppet telethon to raise the money to save the Muppet Theater. (And I'm sure you can guess that there's a happy ending and the Muppets are reminded just how much people still love them.)
We were so happy to finally see the last 10 minutes of the movie. Like the old Muppet Show, there were several celebrity guest appearances and lots of music, including the Academy Award winning song, Man or Muppet. And the movie proved that the Muppets are timeless - even when competing with CGI graphics and blazing special effects in other movies, our daughters fell in love with the Muppets just like we did when we were kids. The humor is silly, with plenty of moments breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the audience, the songs are sweet and keep everyone humming along, and adults will love the nostalgia while kids develop their own relationship with Jim Henson's greatest creations.
As for the extras on the Blu-ray: you need this set for the blooper reel and the theatrical spoof trailers. Oh, the other extras are great, too, but I guarantee you'll be watching these two features more than once.
There are many movies that I like that I really don't need as a part of my collection. The Muppets, however, is one I absolutely recommend to own. If your house is anything like mine, this movie will get a lot of play time, and the extras make it even more fun. (See how fast you end up having a sing-along in your car to the soundtrack!)
The Muppets is now available at Amazon and most major retailers.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this Blu-ray set to facilitate my review. No further compensation was received and all opinions stated are my own. Also? My favorite Muppet is still Animal.
There comes a point in every mom's week where she can no longer watch another cartoon or kid show without feeling the urge to pluck her eyes out. This is often solved by scheduling a movie night, or just watching a romantic comedy or costume drama DVD after the kids are in bed.
Well, if you like costume dramas, I've got the movie that will serve as a remedy to any amount of preschool programming.
I first heard about the movie Anonymous just before it was released to theaters. The film poses a question that some scholars have debated for years: who actually wrote Shakespeare's plays and poems? It's always seemed unlikely that the barely educated son of an illiterate glove maker could go on to write some of the greatest plays in history, filled with incredible details about lands Shakespeare never saw and history that he likely never learned.
While most academics still accept that Shakespeare wrote his own works, there are some who believe that it was actually a member of the nobility who wrote all of them using Shakespeare's name. During that time period, it was considered scandalous for a nobleman to write plays for the general public, so should he wish to do so he would have to do it secretly under a different name.
Anonymous is a fictional what if? story that assumes that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, was the true Shakespeare. The film often jumps back and forth through time, featuring Edward as a younger man, dreaming of poetry and writing while flirting with the younger Queen Elizabeth, and then Edward as the disillusioned older man, looking for a way to express his political opinions and incite change in the country and finding that means of expression through secretly play writing for the London stage.
Woven in the fiction is a wealth of historical fact, however, and the movie brings the characters and world of Elizabethan England that some of us vaguely remember from history books to life in stunning detail and complexity. The visuals presented in this film are breathtaking, with every aspect of the world displayed in painstaking detail, from the crowded, dirty city of London to the manicured estates of the nobility.
I should add at this point that the movie is not as historically accurate as you might think it to be. It's a story pursuing a theory in history, and as such that story takes many liberties with the source material. (In other words, don't let your teens watch this to pass their world history test.) But where the details may be fictional, the sensibilities, politics, and culture of that moment in time are preserved and resurrected on the screen.
Amazingly, for a movie about Shakespeare, there isn't a lot of screen time for the man himself. When Edward de Vere asks the writer Ben Jonson to get his plays onto the stage under Jonson's name, Jonson hesitates and Shakespeare is only too happy to step forward and accept the applause. In this story, Shakespeare isn't the noble genius we may consider him to be, but rather a drunken, scheming actor ready to blackmail a nobleman to get the fame and fortune he wants.
The cast is made up of both newcomers and legends. The older version of Edward de Vere, played by Rhys Ifans, is a delicate balance of a man crushed by past rejection yet, deep down, still filled with the passion that drove the actions of his youth. Vanessa Redgrave plays the older Queen Elizabeth, while Redgrave's daughter Joely Richardson is the younger version of Elizabeth. Each brings to the character a depth well beyond the classroom description of the "Virgin Queen" of England.
My one complaint with the film is that if you don't already have some knowledge of the material or of some of the history, it can be difficult to follow through the dizzyingly large cast of characters. I love Shakespeare and Elizabethan history was the focus of my first college degree, so it was easy for me to keep up, but others may occasionally feel lost in the details. I can't even fully explain the story in this review because there are so many layers involved!
Still, it doesn't detract from the basics of the story and may leave some viewers wanting to seek out more information on these historical figures. Anonymous may not change your opinion on the subject of who actually wrote the works of Shakespeare, but it will entertain you with an intriguing theory on what could have been, provide a beautiful study of Elizabethan England, and possibly even invite some debate among friends about who was the "real" Shakespeare.
Anonymous is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. The Blu-ray features extended and deleted scenes, a featurette on Shakespeare, commentary with Director Roland Emmerich and Writer John Orloff, and more. The DVD has some of these features, too, but if at all possible, get the Blu-ray. The high-definition treatment is really a must to appreciate all of the gorgeous detail in this film.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this movie to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed here are my own, and your opinion of dramas with men in tights may vary. I especially have a love for movies featuring the Earl of Oxford because my husband played the character when we were once actors at the Ohio Renaissance Festival many years ago. True story.
I've been waiting for Disney's Tangled to come out on Blu-ray and DVD for what seems like forever. After seeing it twice in the theater, I was hooked on the story and couldn't wait to add it to our library. Well, now that day has arrived, and as of today Tangled is available for purchase everywhere.
What's that? You missed out on seeing Tangled in the theater? Well, let me explain why you must add this new classic to your collection!
The story synopsis from Disney is this: When the kingdom’s most wanted—and most charming—bandit Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) is taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a feisty teen with 70 feet of golden hair who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, the unlikely duo sets off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade filled with adventure, heart, humor and hair—lots of hair.
Truthfully, that's a fairly shallow description of everything involved in this movie. It doesn't mention that Rapunzel is a princess who was kidnapped by Mother Gothel and has lived nearly all of her life inside the tower. Or that her parents still hold out hope they'll find her again one day and have a lantern lighting ceremony on her birthday each year. (You'll sob when you see this.) Or that the cast of supporting characters could include vikings who like to collect tiny ceramic unicorns. Or that Rapunzel can wield a mean frying pan.
I do love that Rapunzel is a strong female character. She's kept away from the world at a child, innocent and scared of the outside, and yet she faces her fears to follow her dreams. Along the way she encounters a lot of frightening moments, but she rises to the occasion for each - she's a good modern princess role model for young girls. (Honestly, I still am not sure why this movie wasn't titled Rapunzel like all of the other Disney princess films.)
The ultimate 4-Disc Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack of Tangled comes with the 3D Blu-ray, the standard Blu-ray, the DVD, and a digital copy for your computer/iPad all in one package. There is also a 2-Disc Blu-Ray and DVD combo as well. (Which is what I received for review.) While I don't have a 3D capable TV, I did see the movie in 3D in the theater and it was great. But the non-3D version was just as good, and on our HD TV the Blu-ray copy of this movie is simply gorgeous.
Extras packaged with this release include the making of Tangled, deleted scenes, extended songs, two alternate openings, and several teaser trailers. I really enjoyed the deleted scenes and alternate openings, including the alternate tavern name of The Jaunty Moose.
Here's a clip of one of the alternate openings included with the extras:
This is a movie that will likely endure many, many viewings in our household. Not only do our daughters like it, but my husband and I really enjoy this movie as well. When I reviewed the initial release of the film, I said that while I liked it, I still liked The Princess and the Frog better. Well, having seen it a few more times now, I can confidently say Tangled is starting to pull ahead as a favorite.
If you have the chance, add this film to your collection. Here, I'll even make it easier for you with a $5 off coupon for the 4-disc set, good for this week only.
You and your kids will love Tangled. Trust me: mother knows best.
Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this movie to facilitate my review. No further compensation was received, and no guarantee of a positive review was promised or expected. Of course, they probably knew to expect a good review when I replied back with, "Oooh! Oooh! Please let me review a copy!"
(Please welcome my husband Aaron for this guest review. He normally posts reviews at Comic Hero News, but realized that Bambi just doesn't fit in there.)
Like just about everyone over the age of 30, I grew up with Walt Disney's Bambi. The tale of the “young prince,” in the form of the newborn buck Bambi, is a heart-warming tale about growing up in the forest, with the first third of the film being filled with the innocent exploration of Young Bambi and his friends. Oh, sure, there's the throw-away line about the meadow not being safe by Bambi's mother, but most of the film is full of adorable animals, doing adorable things.
Only the most jaded soul can watch Bambi's early interactions with Thumper, Flower, and Faline without being charmed by the film. Which, of course, makes the later parts of the film, where the hunter takes Bambi's mother, and then the fire takes his home from him all the more terrifying and horrific.
It's funny, but in some ways, the fact that the characters of Thumper and Flower (especially) have become such icons, and the devastation of the forest and the death of Bambi's mother are regarded with such horror, have made most of us remember Bambi without actually remembering the film. And with good reason... Bambi has been in Disney's vault since 2007, and despite being universally remembered as a classic, most people I know are reluctant to see the film. (We owned the Platinum Edition DVD, and it has remained in the shrink-wrap on our shelf until I replaced it with the new Diamond Edition Blu-Ray).
And the thing is that this is really a shame. Because as I re-watched the film, I found myself remembering the entire middle of the film, where the Prince of the Forest attempts to raise Bambi. I watched the growth of Bambi and Faline, and their love story, and I took it in with a new set of eyes. From start to finish, Bambi is really a charming film, and the tale is one that I appreciated more seeing again.
The music in Bambi is richly complex, although none of the songs are remembered the way we remember classic songs from Disney's other tales. All told, I really found myself falling in love with this movie all over again, and for that, I'm grateful.
The Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD set is also guaranteed to please fans. Not only is the film beautifully restored into HD (compare it to the DVD – it's almost like seeing a brand new film), but all of the bonus features from the Platinum Edition DVD remain on this set. Within this set, we have two Deleted Scenes, an enhanced view with “Inside Walt's Story Meetings,” the DisneyPedia of Bambi's forest friends, and the Disney Big Book of Knowledge Game.
But what is possibly the coolest feature – and one that is new to the Disney library of films with Bambi, is the Disney Second Screen feature. Rather than having art slides, trivia questions, or games pop up on the screen as the film plays, you can set an iPad or computer up with the Second Screen, and as the film plays, you get to see a huge wealth of bonuses from the film. Sometimes this is as simple as the storyboards and concept art for the moments on screen, but often there are games, illuminating quotes, alternate camera views and the like.
The Second Screen feature is probably a bit much for younger kids to absorb while watching the film (I actually gave up using it the first time I watched Bambi for this review, and then watched the film a second time so I could play with the Second Screen). But it is perfect for older kids who think “I'm too cool for Bambi,” or for parents to keep themselves occupied as their kids experience the wonder of the film for the first or second time.
Also, it should be noted that the Second Screen feature uses audio cues to auto-sync with the film, and in my experience you had to have the TV very loud for that to work. However, the manual sync option is very easy to use if you choose that route.
Of course, as is the case with all of Disney films, the Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD Combo will only be available for a limited time, and then back into the vault it will go. No doubt, there will eventually be another release, with even more bonuses, but for now, it's hard to imagine a better way to experience Bambi than this set.
Full disclosure: I received a copy of the Bambi Diamond Edition Combo Pack to facilitate this review. No further compensation was received, and no expectations were set for a positive or negative review.
I had the chance to check out a sneak peak of the new Disney film Tangled last week, and I'll admit I was probably just as excited as many of the kids there. I'm a big fan of Disney, and many of the recent animated films have been instant classics, so I jumped at the chance to get a first glimpse at this new take on the story of Rapunzel.
The story synopsis from Disney is this: When the kingdom’s most wanted—and most charming—bandit Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) is taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a feisty teen with 70 feet of golden hair who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, the unlikely duo sets off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade filled with adventure, heart, humor and hair—lots of hair.
Truthfully, that's a fairly shallow description of everything involved in this movie. It doesn't mention that Rapunzel is a princess who was kidnapped by Mother Gothel and has lived nearly all of her life inside the tower. Or that her parents still hold out hope they'll find her again one day and have a lantern lighting ceremony on her birthday each year. (You'll sob when you see this.) Or that the cast of supporting characters could include vikings who like to collect tiny ceramic unicorns. Or that Rapunzel can wield a mean frying pan.
The movie is both funny and heart-warming, with a few scenes that brought tears to my eyes. Rapunzel is an innocent teen, both afraid and in awe of the world yet unwilling to back down from her dreams. Flynn is the semi-stereotypical self-absorbed rebel with a heart of gold. Mother Gothel ranks right up there with Ursula and the Shadowman as a creepy villain, and certainly a mother I'd never want to have.
I don't want to give away too much of the movie, but I will declare this one a must-see. Kids will love the humor, the songs and the horse, Maximus, while adults will enjoy the love story, the emphasis on family, and will cry with the realization that we someday must let our children go free into the world.
I had the chance to see it in 3D, and while it had moments of dazzle, overall I felt the movie could do just as well without the 3D. Unless you're a big fan of it, skip the 3D. Also, the movie is rated PG for some moments of violence and a moment involving death (practically nothing is rated G anymore), so use your best judgment in determining if your child is ready to see it.
I do love that Rapunzel is a strong female character. She's kept away from the world at a child, innocent and scared of the outside, and yet she faces her fears to follow her dreams. Along the way she encounters a lot of frightening moments, but she rises to the occasion for each - she's a good modern princess role model for young girls. (Honestly, I still am not sure why this movie wasn't titled Rapunzel like all of the other Disney princess films.)
Overall, I wouldn't rate it as my favorite Disney film, but Tangled earns its place in the Disney library of films. It's a great story, the music is good, the animation is lovely and the characters are a lot of fun. You won't be disappointed by Tangled.
