Tangled! (The Artist Formerly Known As Rapunzel)

[Margos]

Can't they just open with the title and start with the story? Or is that too predictable?

I'm with you, KubrickFan. I don't see why they can't just take Monty Python's advice and "Get on with it!" The opening doesn't have to be anything unusual. Maybe something like BatB, or maybe even something like TLM: a tiny bit of exposition, and then "dive in" headfirst!

[robster16]

Remember that piece of artwork people talked about, being part of the Disney exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art? Well, here's a slightly better look at that picture:



it comes from this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1KfO8_wLA

[PatrickvD]

It looks quite nice. But seeing as it's concept art there's not much to discuss.

[Margos]

It's a foggy picture, but she looks beautiful! Well, she is a Disney Princess, and she'll be beautiful anyway.... And I know it's only concept art, but still, it gets me pumped for this movie!

[robster16]

btw, tomorrow, christmas day german tv channel ARD will be broadcasting a new fairytale special about Rapunzel. They filmed new fairytale interpretations and the one with Rapunzel will be aired on friday 25th of december 2009, at 15:45 o'clock, so for all the german, dutch, belgian, swiss, austrian and other viewers who can receive the ARD it's a nice way to refresh your memory about the original tale...

[Just.A.Friend]

It just seems so odd to me that the next Disney princess isn't going to be hand-drawn.. we'll be seeing hand-drawn Snow White and Cinderella and the normal Disney Princess group with a 3D Rapunzel? Seems really odd.

I know its a little biased, but I would just be so much more excited for this movie if it were 2D animated. But as it stands, Rapunzel can just blow away while I wait for Snow Queen for all I care.

[Neal]

New plot description!

RAPUNZEL
In theatres on November 12, 2010 (limited), November 24, 2010 (wide)

Director: Byron Howard, Nathan Greno
Cast: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy

Walt Disney Pictures presents RAPUNZEL, an action-packed, swashbuckling, animated musical comedy about the girl behind 70 feet of magical, golden hair. A princess stolen from her parents’ castle as a baby, Rapunzel (voice of MANDY MOORE) is locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure. Now an imaginative and determined teenager, she takes off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade with the help of a dashing bandit (voice of ZACHARY LEVI). With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair… lots of hair. With original music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, this comedic re-imagining of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale comes to theaters in Disney Digital 3D™.

http://smartcine.com/blog/2009/12/19/wa ... 10-movie-p review/

[Sotiris]

Nice find, Neal!

It doesn't sound bad although I find the phrase ''comedic re-imagining'' a bit worrisome.

[Super Aurora]

Nice find, Neal!

It doesn't sound bad although I find the phrase ''comedic re-imagining'' a bit worrisome.

And yay for mentioning that Alan Menken will be providing the music!

Comedic re-imaging probably won't be much different from what Little Mermaid became or Aladdin or Hercules became. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Poody]

It just seems so odd to me that the next Disney princess isn't going to be hand-drawn.. we'll be seeing hand-drawn Snow White and Cinderella and the normal Disney Princess group with a 3D Rapunzel? Seems really odd.

I know its a little biased, but I would just be so much more excited for this movie if it were 2D animated. But as it stands, Rapunzel can just blow away while I wait for Snow Queen for all I care.

I'm pretty sure there will be 2D clip art drawings made of Rapunzel for the Princess line. They already do that with a lot of the Pixar and other 3D animated films.

[Disney's Divinity]

Most of the 2D pictures I've seen on merchandise of Mike, Sully, Marlin and Dory have kind of looked...bad. Regardless, the characters definitely don't/won't look the same as in the film, which is definitely a drawback.

Anyway, I was glancing over the Rapunzel wikipedia page for whatever reason, and I noticed a lot of stuff I hadn’t heard before, mostly involving:

• Rapunzel – Mandy Moore
• Flynn Ryder – Zachary Levi
• Madame Gothel – Donna Murphy
• Narrator – Kevin Linehan
• Grandma Claire – Pam Hyatt
• Young Flynn Ryder – Matthew Gray Gubler
• Young Rapunzel – Erin Fitzgerald
• Mother Amy – Carolyn Lawrence
• Grandpa Franklin – Peter Sallis
• Father Sam – David Schwimmer
• Muffin Man – Jim Cummings
• Darker the Warlock – Kevin Michael Richardson
• Uncel Jordan – John Goodman
• Flynn's brother – Derek Stephen Prince
• Rapunzel's sister – Edie Mirman
• Bill McKnight – David Cross
• Professor "Timothy" Boomerang – Jason Alexander
• Molly McKnight – Susan Sheridan
• Aunt Sally – Carol Burnett

Who are all these characters mentioned here? And how have I not heard of them before? I would call it complete BS, but it’s mixed in with some truth (the first three). I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing Carol Burnett, Jason Alexander and John Goodman in this film, though I would hope they’d have larger parts than Winfrey and Goodman’s characters did in TP&TF.

Also, I read other things, like “Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy have replaced the originally announced Tony award winners Kristin Chenoweth, Dan Fogler, and Grey DeLisle respectively.” I realized Chenoweth had been replaced, but I didn’t notice that 2 other, already-cast actors had been replaced as well. The film has definitely changed. Also, I felt a little saddened noticing “Bastion” was replaced with “Flynn.” A trade down for sure.

It also mentions that Menken styled the music somewhat after 60s rock. Now, I think I’ve heard that before, but for some reason I’d forgotten about it. Not that I have a strong idea of what 60s rock sounds like, that definitely sounds strange. Though I guess he’s trying to do something new/fresh from the past.

[yukitora]

If only walt produced Rapunzel in the same way he produced Sleeping Beauty. Would've bankrupt disney fo sho.

[SpringHeelJack]

Yeeeeeeaaaahhh I'm gonna say apart from the first three names it's pretty much all some guy with too much time on his hands.

[Margos]

I'm with SHJ on this one. "Muffin Man!?" Puh-leeze! About a month ago, that same page insisted that Wayne Allwine was to play a character named "Sandy Plankton."

But, yeah, I don't think that all 2D versions of CG characters have been bad. The best example is usually the Disney Fairies, who often (not always, but often) look pretty darned good in a 2D rendering. The reason why some of the Pixar characters don't is because they are transformed into a more stylized design, whereas Tink's gang are drawn in a "classic Disney" style that supports Tink's own original design. If they do that instead of the stylization, it should be just fine.

[toonaspie]

Most of the 2D pictures I've seen on merchandise of Mike, Sully, Marlin and Dory have kind of looked...bad. Regardless, the characters definitely don't/won't look the same as in the film, which is definitely a drawback.

Anyway, I was glancing over the Rapunzel wikipedia page for whatever reason, and I noticed a lot of stuff I hadn’t heard before, mostly involving:

• Rapunzel – Mandy Moore
• Flynn Ryder – Zachary Levi
• Madame Gothel – Donna Murphy
• Narrator – Kevin Linehan
• Grandma Claire – Pam Hyatt
• Young Flynn Ryder – Matthew Gray Gubler
• Young Rapunzel – Erin Fitzgerald
• Mother Amy – Carolyn Lawrence
• Grandpa Franklin – Peter Sallis
• Father Sam – David Schwimmer
• Muffin Man – Jim Cummings
• Darker the Warlock – Kevin Michael Richardson
• Uncel Jordan – John Goodman
• Flynn's brother – Derek Stephen Prince
• Rapunzel's sister – Edie Mirman
• Bill McKnight – David Cross
• Professor "Timothy" Boomerang – Jason Alexander
• Molly McKnight – Susan Sheridan
• Aunt Sally – Carol Burnett

Who are all these characters mentioned here? And how have I not heard of them before? I would call it complete BS, but it’s mixed in with some truth (the first three). I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing Carol Burnett, Jason Alexander and John Goodman in this film, though I would hope they’d have larger parts than Winfrey and Goodman’s characters did in TP&TF.

Also, I read other things, like “Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy have replaced the originally announced Tony award winners Kristin Chenoweth, Dan Fogler, and Grey DeLisle respectively.” I realized Chenoweth had been replaced, but I didn’t notice that 2 other, already-cast actors had been replaced as well. The film has definitely changed. Also, I felt a little saddened noticing “Bastion” was replaced with “Flynn.” A trade down for sure.

It also mentions that Menken styled the music somewhat after 60s rock. Now, I think I’ve heard that before, but for some reason I’d forgotten about it. Not that I have a strong idea of what 60s rock sounds like, that definitely sounds strange. Though I guess he’s trying to do something new/fresh from the past.

I've seen fake cast lists appear on wikipedia before so I'd take this with a grain of salt unless there's actual reports from Variety or whatever on the actual production mentioning these names.

[tsom]

Casting Call:

TO: ALL CONCERNED
FROM: JAMIE ROBERTS (CASTING DIRECTOR)
DATE: 4-03-09
SUBJECT: “RAPUNZEL” CASTING AUDITION INFORMATION

Attached, you will find character breakdown, sides and song information for
roles that are currently casting. If you have any questions, please call me at
818.460.9690

RAPUNZEL
• Prepare three (3) audition scenes. Dialect: Standard American.
• Prepare any one (1) singer/songwriter style ballad of your choice. Think, for example:
Joni Mitchell, Neko Case, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Carole King, Tori Amos,
Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones.

Female 18-25, sweet, naïve, funny, witty, quirky and smart with a great singing voice. Not your typical noble Disney princess, just days away from her 18th birthday, Rapunzel is a teenage girl in conflict with herself. Having been locked away in a tower for her entire life, Rapunzel is grateful and loves her overprotective mother who has devoted herself to her. She enjoys life in the tower, spending large portions of her days expressing her creativity through her paintings, which line the walls of the tower and reveal a truly gifted artist with a deep intellectual curiosity. But precisely because of this creativity and curiosity, Rapunzel is (for the first time) beginning to question what else is out there, and more specifically, why it is she feels a need to know. It's an urge that this girl, now on the cusp of adulthood, doesn't
fully understand... but she has a hunch, just a hunch, that there's something more inside of her, and something more outside the walls of the tower awaiting her.

MOTHER GOTHEL
• Prepare three (3) audition scenes. Dialect: Standard American to Mid-Atlantic.
• Prepare any one (1) ballad that best showcases your ability and vocal range.

Female 40-65, funny but controlling, manipulative, and over-protective with a great singing voice. She's all of our mothers - but worse. Backstory: Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel from her rightful parents eighteen years ago, and has kept her locked in a tower ever since so that the world won't steal the power from her magical hair. As for the power of that hair,Mother Gothel keeps herself young and ageless. While it's easy to see Mother Gothel as a Mommy Dearest villain (and she is), she's more complex than that. She really does LOVE Rapunzel, or at least thinks she does. She sees herself as Rapunzel's protector and believes, that she has to live forever because no one will ever be able to protect or love Rapunzel the way that she can. Thus, we have the most co-dependent mother-daughter relationship in history. And when the teenage girl begins to separate herself, Mother Gothel slowly descends into madness... and will stop at nothing to get her little girl back in her tower.

FLYNN RIDER
• Prepare three (3) audition scenes. Dialect: British (RP or Queen’s English – posh
upperclass).
• Prepare one (1) singer/songwriter style ballad. Think, for example: Cat Stevens, John
Mayer, James Taylor, Ryan Adams, Jackson Browne, Harry Chapin, Rufus Wainwright,
James Blunt and David Gray.

Male 20-35, BRITISH, real comedic timing, confident, and charming with a great singing voice – think young David Niven meets Ferris Bueller. A dashing swashbuckler and gifted horseman, Flynn Rider has long been able to get himself out of the trickiest of situations by simply flashing his famous smile and saying, "Hi. Flynn Rider." Plain and simple: he's a thief. If you ask Flynn what he wants out of life, he'll tell you point blank - money and the freedom to travel the world as he pleases in luxury. He's unbelievably close to having it all... and the only thing that stands in his way is one odd girl with ridiculously long blonde hair. And when it comes to Rapunzel, none of Flynn's usual tricks seem to be working. Even though Flynn is continually getting throttled by everyone he comes in contact with - physically, verbally, and emotionally - he never once loses his confidence or swagger... which only makes us love him more.

[Margos]

Wow! Just from those descriptions, I am in love with all of these characters! My one concern is that Flynn may be just a little too Naveen-esque. That isn't a problem, considering how marvellous Naveen is. However, it seems a little soon for such a similar character. I also find it interesting how they specified that he is British. Can we safely assume that this tale will be set primarily in Germany, however, just based on fairy-tale bakground, similar to Snow White?

[tsom]

According to Zach Levi, Flynn will be speaking with an American accent. We'll just assume it takes place in a European country, but with no distinct accent.

[Margos]

Aww, that's ashame. British accents are my favorite! Oh well.

[PatrickvD]

Mother Gothel sounds like she could be a fascinating villain. This description of her story arc also explains why the song she sings to Rapunzel is called "my forever" and why/how it takes on a different meaning when Rapunzel sings it to Flynn.

I'm very excited about this film. I think it's gonna be knocked out of the park.