AND SOMETIMES IT'S ABOUT RE-VISITING OLD FRIENDS: "TANGLED"

But of course Christmas is also about traditions. It’s about coming back to your roots (family meetings being a key personification of this fact) and all things being equal it’s about spending some family time, having way too much good food and having a bit of a rest at the end of the year before you embark on doing the whole thing all over again. It’s good to have familiar things around one at times like this. That’s why “Christmas films” is an entire genre; the themes are familiar but we watch them time and again and we all have our favourites we will never, ever tire of. That’s why we love Disney movies at Christmas time. And that’s why, much to my joy, there was a whole slew of re-runs on television of the year’s films. I had missed quite a few. Tangled was one of them. We all love our fairy tales right? That’s what Disney basically does – tell us fairy stories. What it has been very clever about doing though, is taking the classic fairy stories we all know and love and putting a spin on them. The stories keep up with the times, they fit in with the lives of the younger generations – lives a million miles apart from ours at their age. And yet, somehow, we all crowd round these films and enjoy them. Yes I am a massive fan of Disney. And Pixar.

Tangled is the story of a beautiful princess. When this princess was born, she had one magical quality : her hair. Her hair not only grew whenever she sang, it had the ability to heal and rejuvenate the people around her. The only pre-requisite is that the hair stays on the princess’ head as the moment it is cut, it loses its’ magic. Now of course this is an incredible resource for anyone – but a particularly wicked witch decides that she wants the hair all for herself. So the takes it. Princess and all. Having taken it/her as a baby she also has the time to make up a cover story. As far as Rapunzel is concerned the witch is her mother, the outside world is a very dangerous place – she has never left her isolated tower in her life – and her existence will be entirely lived out in that tower. Except, you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men; so will go the witch’s plans. For all her conditioning and upbringing, Rapunzel still dreams of the outside world. This year she is turning 18 and despite all her mothers’ tactics she dreams of the outside world. And she is getting a little too big to be contained in the tower… However, for all her strength of character Rapunzel has never, ever lived in the outside world so she will need a guide. And she will get a guide in the shape of a passing rogue, Flynn Rider… But is the outside world all Rapunzel dreams of and more? Or is her “mother” actually right? Is she really simply too ill-equipped for the outside world?

I love what the film has done with the classic story of Rapunzel on so many levels. I mean, fairy stories have such a lot to work with though, don’t they? First of all, fairy stories only provide the bare essentials about their characters. No backstories, no actual character development, they are just dropped in fully formed and our imaginations have to do the rest of the work. This story gives Rapunzel a personality. And it is by no means perfect. I mean yes, she is a Disney princess so she has the “makings” of perfection (as it were), but to start with, she is far, far from it. On the outside world Rapunzel really struggles to cope. And like a lot of us who leave the safety of our family home to face the great “outdoors”, she has to grow up very quickly. This point is precisely why Tangled is so easy to empathize with. It is, essentially, about leaving home. A universal theme everyone can empathize with and we have all struggled with. For all the magical elements, the songs and comedy, it’s about taking those first faltering steps out of the nest… And the best part of it? This is a Disney fairy tale… So guaranteed happy ending in the end (oh come on, that’s not a spoiler). The film is, in short, a warm, relatable modern fairy tale. Our heroine is a Disney princess with just a spot of relatability (is that a word? It should be!) and it guarantees a new meeting with old friends – a bit like Christmas itself.