Tangled Research

Tangled
A Walt Disney Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/

Tangled is a film by the Walt Disney animation Studios to celebrate the 50th animated classic created by the Studio. The film features a twist on the story of Rapunzel, with a young princess having magical hair stolen from her family by a witch. She is found by a fugitive man named Flynn Rider, who agrees to take her to see the lights at the castle. Accompanied by a palace horse, Maximus, Tangled features a story of love and magic. ‘When the kingdom’s most infamous - and charismatic - outlaw, Flynn Rider (voiced by Zachary Levi), takes refuge in a secret tower hidden deep in the forest, he's taken captive by Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore), a striking and spirited teen blessed with 70 feet of enchanted, golden blonde hair. Having been looking for an escape route from the tower where she's been grounded her whole life, Rapunzel makes a pact with the handsome thief and the improbable duo soon find themselves tangled up in a spectacular action-packed escapade, complete with a super-sleuth horse, a chameleon side-kick and a rowdy gang of pub thugs.’ (http://www.disney.co.uk/tangled/about.jsp) Along with many other Disney films, Tangled features beautiful animation and unique characters. As an inspiration to my work, the bright open environments and Victorian styled characters in Tangled are perfect for my research and references.

Character Design
Along with many other Disney films, the creation and design of the Characters in Tangled have a particular look. With characteristically large eyes and beautiful, vibrant clothing, the characters I am influenced by are Young Rapunzel and Maximus.

At a similar age to our main character, the design of young Rapunzel is very inspirational to the design of our main character. With large cute eyes and long hair, this character gives an air of innocence and beauty as well as being frail and small which supports how we want our main character to come across. He costume design is also influential as it is a simple long dress, with the use of bare feet connoting naïvety. Her personality also conveys her as a strong, independent character who isn't afraid to break the rules, but is also afraid of the world outside her door.

The next character I studied is Maximus the horse. Brimming with personality and character, Maximus's design is simple, with his tack extremely detailed. Looking for influence on the characters mount or spirit guardian. He is a pure white horse, connoting beauty and purity, with his presence on the screen maximised by his size and character. Maximus is influential to my design as he has a medieval England design, and as well as being large and powerful, is gentle and protective.

Environment Design

The environments in Tangled are both beautiful and vibrant, and the architecture used in the designs of both the capital and the tower show influences from Medieval England, and Victorian styles with its own fantasy twist. The reason why I chose to study the environments of Tangled is clear through the similarities of the environment to my own idea. Looking at the town (left), The use of colour and scale is important to giving the town a fantasy look. The levels in the image portray the whole town, also supporting the fantasy theme throughout. The key themes and influences from the town are purely Medieval England and this is a theme that I will take inspiration from For the design of my town and main house. 

The second environment/structure that I was inspired by is the tower where Rapunzel is kept . The design is very fantasy themed, with the pointed roof and wooden bearings creating a magical style to the design. The Medieval design shines through in the design of the tower as well, through the use of the wooden and plaster look given to the main structure at the top of the tower. The colour and foliage used on the tower gives a beautiful look and the use of height connotes power as well as imprisonment.