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Tangled

Courtesy of Disney, we have family passes for their latest animated film, a re-imagining of the Rapunzel fairy tale, Tangled.

Critics and audiences have loved it! In Tangled, a bandit (Zachary Levi), hides out in a mysterious tower and is taken hostage by Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), a feisty tower-bound teen with 70 feet of magical, golden hair. With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort set off on an action-packed escapade.

This is our interview with producer Roy Conli (originally published on 18/11/2010).

Each generation tells stories “slightly differently”, according to Roy Conli, the producer of the upcoming Disney version of the Rapunzel fairy tale, Tangled.

“If you look at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it’s speaking to a 1930s crowd; The Little Mermaid to a 1990s audience and Tangled is talking to this generation,” Conli told Encore.

So what does an animated film need to talk to its audience in 2010?

“Visually, you must tell the story with the amount of action that audiences are looking for and expecting. In terms of characters, you must develop relationships that are familiar and represent what’s happening in today’s world.

“We wanted to ensure that our Rapunzel was an empowered person, that her relationship with the male lead Flynn was that of equals. We didn’t want a passive princess, like in the 40s or 50s. And back then the sidekicks were always the ones driving the comedy, so this time we wanted the male hero to be the entertaining one,” explained Conli.

The exhibition Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales opens today at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. Conli will be one of the guest speakers, and will offer a masterclass alongside animator Glen Keane on November 19.

“I’ll discuss the structure of an animated film and how we build it, and Glen will take people through the animation process. He’s one of the foremost animators at Disney; he animated characters such as Ariel, Beast, Pocahontas, Tarzan, among others. He is also linking the past to the present; Glen was very involved, working with the 3D animators in the development of the style and process of Tangled,” explained Conli.

Dreams Come True looks at the art of Disney animation, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to Tangled (released in Australia in January 2011). Conli believes his latest film lives up to the standards of Disney’s classic animated films, drawing visual inspiration from them – Pinocchio and Cinderella in particular – and integrating those styles into a CGI world.

“In this exhibition you’re looking at the cementing legacy. We’re the 50th film and we’re at the forefront of that legacy; Tangled stands up from an artistic standpoint to all the great films that Disney has made.

“Visually, people will definitely feel in Tangled the sense of those great films from the past. We wanted to make sure this project could sit on the shelf with those films of the 40s-60s, to have that classic feel, but also make it for a modern audience,” he explained

According to Conli, there was no pressure from Disney to create a film to sell any type of consumer product, including the company’s Princess brand.

“We’re referring to Rapunzel as a CGI heroine. Princesses have in fact become a Disney brand, but we as filmmakers don’t want to connect her at the moment to that brand. The desire to lump it into a formula of ‘this is what a princess movie should be like’ is a mistake.

“When all is said and done, we’re never pushed to do anything that would promote any type of consumer product. We’re allowed to tell stories the way we want to tell them,” explained Conli.

The producer dismissed claims that the title change – from Rapunzel to Tangled – and the adaptation of the classic fairy tale – giving the character of Flynn more prominence instead of making Rapunzel the ‘star’ of the film, as seen in the trailer – had been done in order for the film to appeal to boys.

“We built the film around two equals; it’s a dual protagonist story. It was an artistic decision,” he said.

Tangled is now in cinemas.

To win, email encoregiveaways@gmail.com and tell us, what fairy tale should Disney adapt next?

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