15 years ago today, Disney released a modern classic that ended up sparking a whole new era for its Disney Princesses. Disney has been releasing what many consider to be masterpieces over the course of the many decades so far, and with those films have been certain eras for their franchises. Some eras of Disney films have been more successful than the others, but each one is marked by either a shift in tone or practice. But the biggest shift really occurred in the 2010s when the studio made its full swing into 3D CG animated works for its marquee titles.
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Tangled was far from the first CG animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, but it was the first Disney Princess film to be released in such a format. 15 years ago today, on November 24, 2010, Tangled kicked off a whole new era for the Princesses. Moving forward each of these films would be released in CG animation (and live-action films later down the line), and officially put an end to their 2D animated releases. It was a huge shift for the company that fans are still seeing the results from to this day.
Tangled Released 15 Years Ago Today
Tangled was the first Disney Princess film to be produced with CG animation, and it really set Disney on a whole new trajectory that they continue to enjoy to this day. It’s kind of the perfect marriage of both classic sensibilities with a more modernized look for the 2010s. Adapting the classic Rapunzel fairy tale helped the film return to the more familiar Disney roots that the studio hadn’t been exploring since the late 1990s. Though there was an attempt with The Princess and the Frog to do the same, Tangled was the one to break through.
The studio had been in the midst of releasing CG animated films with unique stories like Bolt or Meet the Robinsons in the years before, but Tangled brought the studio back to the grandiose Broadway style that fans had loved about the earlier films. Starring Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, the film introduced fans to a much more plucky version of the princess from the original story as she wanted to escape from the tower that she had been locked in for the majority of her life. And when she was finally able to do so, Rapunzel realized the magic that she was truly capable of.
It was a movie that helped Disney in a way that we’re only still figuring out in retrospect. It allowed Disney to enter into a whole new period of relevance. Because without the success of Tangled to help mark the start of this new era, we wouldn’t have had as successful future hits modeled in the same kind of form like Tangled, Encanto, and Moana. All while still leaving room for experimentation with films like Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph and more than have since continued with sequels.
What Happened to Tangled?
Although it ushered in massive success for the Disney Princesses that followed, Tangled itself sort of has had an issue with longevity. Though the film was able to continue through the incredible 2D animated TV series, Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, it never really had the chance to continue the story with an official sequel like we have seen with the others since. Rapunzel’s story was pretty much over without her golden locks, and although the character was a fun one, the magic of the idea was all wrapped up in that hair. So once she cut it off, that was pretty much a dead end from there.
There was a notable attempt to bring Tangled back with an official live-action adaptation like we’ve seen with Disney’s other animated classics, but it was cancelled in the midst of production. The live-action adaptations had begun to slow down in terms of guaranteed box office success, and Tangled was one such film that was decidedly not moving forward in the wake of that shift in interest. And according to those who were already working on the film itself, it wasn’t going to be that good of a live-action effort anyhow.
For all of its success at the time, Tangled remains an interesting piece of Disney’s history 15 years later. It had an impact on their plans for their Disney Princess entries moving forward, but it wasn’t the monster hit that they would double (then triple, then quadruple as part of a massive deal for its stars) down on years later like with Frozen. Even with all of that being said, Tangled is a perfect example of a self-contained Disney movie that remains as timeless as it possibly can. You can still check it out 15 years later, and fall in love all over again.
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