Rapunzel

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

I know the early drafts of Rapunzel were going for more of a modern take on the story. I hope it doesn't become grounded in pop culture 2010 ala Aladdin in early 90s pop culture.

[Silver]

If Repunzel is half as successful as Aladdin, then I'll be in shock. That film has become very beloeved by all ages reagrdless of of it's pop culure refrences. I think a better comparison to make would be to Hercules. Now that film is ingrained in the 90's. It's not very appealing to many people anymore. I could easily see this film going down that path.

[Little_Cassie]

i read that Alan Menken (I know i didn't spell it right) is suppost to be writing music. There is hope! This will disneys 50th animated movie, a huge milestone! I still don't want to give up on this movie

[Butterscotch]

Jun 14, 2010 1:13:53 GMT -5 Silver said:

If Rapunzel is half as successful as Aladdin, then I'll be in shock. That film has become very beloved by all ages regardless of of it's pop culture references. I think a better comparison to make would be to Hercules. Now that film is ingrained in the 90's. It's not very appealing to many people anymore. I could easily see this film going down that path.

Really? IMO, Hercules has aged slightly better than Aladdin, since the pop culture references in Hercules are more general than Aladdin's. I think a more apt comparison might be The Aristocats. It's a fun movie, but the slang! Oh, the horrible, dated slang!

[Silver]

Butters- I do agree that The Aristocats is quite dated as well. But I still find it enjoyable. Maybe this is another boundry Disney is trying to break. A film that contains many refrences to a certain time frame. Yet people still continue to find it memerable despite that setback. But like The Aristocats, it doesn't generally have a special place in the hearts of it's audience.

This is what Aladdin has achieved that many of the later Disney films haven't. It has a great legacy. Viewers of all ages come back to it because it has a good story that was captured well on film. It's not the brightest jewel in Disney's crown, but it still shimmers. Even today as I speak to people or read reviews on the internet, the film still garners a mostly positive response. For many that I know of (Depending on the age) either don't recognize refrences,still enjoy them or just simply don't care. It remains appealing to many because at the center of this film has something timeless and meaningful. As opposed to the more recent films that have been stamped "Entertaining but Forgettable."

Obviously I can't judge from a trailer alone if this is how the outcome will be for Repunzel. But based on the track record for the last 10 years at Disney Animation. The quality of writing and direction has dropped immensley. If Repunzel is the next mega-hit, then I'll be the first to admit my first impression was wrong. I really do want Traditional Animation at Disney to be at the Gold Standard again. Those are the types of films I want to watch in the Cinema and bring home on DVD the day it's released. I would love to have that classic felling again. However most my first impressions from trailers for the past several years have been right on the money. Right now this film is coming across to me as an average piece. My inklings arn't very positive.

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

Based on the reaction I'm seeing to this trailer on other sites, this film is in trouble. The purpose of a teaser and/or trailer is to convince potential moviegoers to see the movie. And I don't think this one is convincing people to see it. If anything, it's actually convincing people not to see it. As excited as I was about this film, the trailer managed to instantly lower my excitement level because something felt off. Disney has a lot of work to do to convince people that this film will be worth seeing, regardless of how great it may actually be once it is actually seen.

As for Aladdin, I love the film. It's one of my favorites, but the humor has rooted the film in the early 90s. So while it remains a great film, the humor keeps it from being timeless. That does not make it a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but as we become further and further removed from the early 90s, it will be harder and harder for the film to stand alongside the other great Disney films from that time.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of TLM and the 15th anniversary of TLK. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of BatB. As much as I love Aladdin, it has not aged as well as those other 3 films, solely because of the humor. While I will continue to love the movie, I don't think my children will love it as much because they don't understand it.

[Silver]

I'm going to give a brief a opinion on the Aladdin topic as I don't think this is the place to disccuss it. I'm just going to close it out. I think we should agree to disagree on this subject BRP. Obviously what we see in the legacy of the film is quite different. In my opinion though, I can still see a bright future for this film. Was it or will it ever be the on the shelf with the critically acclaimed Beauty and the Beast. No. But I still see it going down in history as a "Gulity Pleasure with Good Quality" as opposed to the more recent Disney films. Which I would classify as " Average to Poor Quality." I think Aladdin has done well with it's aging process for the genre it is. A Buddy Comedy with Heart. Unlike The Lion King which has dropped far more when it was first released with a positive response. (If you'd like to continue discussing this topic with me, let's take it over to the Theatre section)

Back to the subject of Repunzel. The problem I find with the trailer is it doesn't get a strong grip on how the story will unfold. It demonstrtaes plenty of gags and action. Where's the substance though? If you take a look at the classic Disney trailers or Pixar trailers. The editors do a great job at capturing the audience's imagination and alluring them in. A good comparison would be is how some people read a menue in a resturant. You read the description of the choices, and there's one the stands out above the rest. Your instincts feel confident this will be a wonderful meal that will have your taste buds yelping. Once the dish arrives and you start to dig in. You feel as though you're overwhelemed because it was far better then what you have ever imagined. The experience was one of the finest in your life and will be treasured. That's how I compare when speaking of the classics in Disney and Pixar.

On the other hand you have the meal where you decide to take the chance on something that isn't giving you much hope. Yet you try it anyway hoping to be more optemistic. It arrives in front of you and the pit of your stomach is hesitant to give it a shot. You do it for the sake of it anyway. It turns out to be very bland. Not terrible as you may have originally thought. But you reconsider if you could have chosen another option that you had more confidence with. Something that would have turned out to be worth the price. That's my intial reaction to how this film could result in.

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

I think you've described the concerns of many upon seeing the Rapunzel trailer. Frankly, if not for the fact that I'm a huge animation fan and love the concept art I've seen for this film, the trailer would have completely wiped out my interest in seeing this film.

I just hope the trailer is not a sign of things to come.

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

I'm slightly rethinking my assessment of the trailer after seeing it on the big screen with Toy Story 3. The audience was laughing out loud at the trailer and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

However, they were confused by one thing. When it became clear that the story was that of Rapunzel, everybody couldn't figure out why they were calling it Tangled. And when they heard the reason, they couldn't believe it.

Not much has changed, but in all honesty, if the general public now wants to see this film because of this trailer, I can live with it. I just hope the story has as much heart as the classics.

[Silver]

Really?^^ The audience I was sitting in didn't seem too invested in the trailer. In fact it was one of those trailers where more people were chatting and getting settled while waiting for the film to come on. I made sure to pay extra attention to the audience around me. Very few seemed to be considering this film as a future option at the Cinema. It's obviously too soon to get a proper reaction. But it's not much in the way of reassurence for Disney persuading an audience to see this film.

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

Interesting. What was the general audience at the theater when you saw it?

[Silver]

I went to the latest show at my theatre. It was an audience of mostly of teenagers and college-age students. There was still a fair amount of middle aged couples and parents with children. But the 16- 29 generation was the dominant turn out. (Exellent for Pixar though!)

[Briar Rose's Dark Knight]

That makes sense. I went to an 8:00 screening with a lot of families. It may even be that Rapunzel got more laughs than the forthcoming DreamWorks animated film with Will Ferrell at my screening. I definitely think the name change is doing a lot more harm than good.

Disney needs to understand that those cheapquels and the pink frilliness of the Princess Empire are what has done the damage to their brand. No amount of name changes will fix that.

[Little_Cassie]

When I went to see Toy Story 3, there was definatly interest in Rapunzel. It was a late night show so mostly teenagers were in attendence. I do remember some people being confused, which did have to do with the name change. I know some people who like Disney ( not as much as me though) and were conserned, although they seemed intersted in the movie. I defiantly think it is to early to tell though...

[SpellWovenNight]

The entire theatre I was in was in unison during this trailer. It got the best response from the "smoldering look" and lots of chuckling at the whole ninja hair fighting scenes. My friends - who aren't as big of Disney fans than I am - automatically said that we were going to see it, and it wasn't because it was a Disney Fairytale/Musical film either (that's why they wanted to see PATF). They thought it looked like fun. As much as I like to think that the rest of the world think like them - I don't they do. I have high standards for Disney, and right now the trailer doesn't even come close, but I am going to see it because it's Disney. The rest of the world as higher standards for films in general - I don't think it's going to fare any better than PATF. I know a lot of people went and saw PATF because it appeared to be the like the films of the golden age - the first one in a long while. Tangled on the other hand doesn't appear any different from the other various animated films out there today. It doesn't help that, at my theatre, Legend of the Guardians also had a trailer which showed more heart and soul than Twisted - which is kinda what Disney is famous for.