Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

As a fan of the original Tangled, I was curious where they were going with this series. Happy to say if you're a Tangled fan the series follows the film almost seamlessly.

First there's the TV movie, Tangled: Before Ever After, which I personally didn't care for too much. It was a bit too hammy and moralistic, low on humor and cliché. "Stubborn princess disobeys father. Father doesn't understand stubborn princess." We've seen this story play out so many times.

Now the SERIES on the other hand really gets things going. I would still recommend watching Before Ever After because you get explanations for some major plot elements of the series.

First there's the humor. I think Tangled the Series is really funny. It's anchored by being set in a renaissance / medieval period and it manages to work the period into its humor, which is really great because it reminds me of things like The Princess Bride or Monty Python and the Holy Grail, other films that did well with not taking the setting seriously. That's a huge plus for Tangled.

Then there's the voice cast which is awesome since it's being helmed by the original voices. You never get a sense that you're not seeing Rapunzel or Flynn being the way they are, and the voices really help with that. In fact one of the best things about Tangled is that we get to see more of Flynn and especially Rapunzel. As much the film developed her character, it was still limited by the runtime. The series really fleshes her out and we have a more defined idea of who Rapunzel is. Flynn was always flashy and we get a lot more of Flynn, the arrogant side and the deeper "Eugene" part of him. Although we really should be calling him Eugene since that's what he goes by in the series. There's also a new character who is just fantastic, Cassandra. The banter being Cassandra and Eugene is one of the running jokes that the series plays with really well. As a trio, they work really well together.

It's also nice to see Rapunzel and Eugene "dating" in a sense. Since the film went by so fast, we have more of a chance to see what their relationship is like.

So far I've been really loving this. It's like an expansion pack of the original movie - more insight into the kingdom, more insight into the characters and a bigger setting to play around with.

When I initially saw the trailers advertising that Tangled was becoming a cartoon, my immediate thought was that it would be a superfluous cash grab. I was surprised to find a show that, while aimed towards younger audiences, is actually rather entertaining with a pretty good story arc. It is a kids show, but it's a pretty good kids show with good animation and solid music

I didn't think that I would enjoy this series, as I thought Disney was again milking and squizing the last bit out of this cow. At some points in the series it did become a bit too long and slow. Life lessons for parents and kids are ok. Overall a nice storyline, nice twists and ok character developments. The ending was decent.

The episodes in the Tangled Series are very creative & engaging. Our whole family (even daddy) looks forward to watching them. It is entertaining for kids, teens & adults. The characters are fun-loving, and the humor is delightful...it's a great way to unwind from a long week of work, school, etc. PLEASE KEEP THEM GOING.

This series is great and this is why:

1. Animation

Many people complain about the 2D style... Let me tell you something: this is so much better than the cheap CGI alternative they had. There was no way to create more than 1500 minutes of footage for the whole series in the same style as the movie, which is the most expensive animated movie of all times. Great character design, top quality facial expressions, beautiful backgrounds and colors. The choice was perfect!

2. Voice Actors

We've got the original cast from the movie plus Jeremy Jordan, Eden Espinosa and James Iglehart, among others. They bring TTS characters (old and new) to life, displaying all kind of emotions flawlessly. And their voices... OMG! Wich leads me to the following item.

3. Songs

Alan Menken and Glenn Slater came back to write the songs and it really paid off: Waiting in the Wings (which got an Emmy), Nothing Left to Lose, Crossing The Line, and the list goes on. The songs are beautiful, move the plot forward, bring character depth and the animation on them is just amazing.

4. Writing

The mythology, the expanded universe, the world building and all the characters are amazing. Not to mention these guys had it all planned out right from the start (I can't say more without getting into spoilers)

Watch it!