GET “TANGLED” UP IN HAIR-RAISING 3D!

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and the superior quality of Disney Digital 3D™, audiences around the globe will get a chance to enjoy the fun and excitement of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider’s wild adventure in Disney's “Tangled” in a totally immersive way.

            Director Byron Howard notes, “Seeing the film in 3D allows viewers to experience the story and action in a way they never could before. Instead of just seeing castles as painted backgrounds, the kingdom suddenly becomes a real place. The forest is real, with dimensional dust mote particles floating in the shafts of light. The audience is totally immersed in the same environment as the characters.”

            For Robert Neuman, the film’s stereoscopic supervisor, “Tangled” presented many exciting opportunities for great 3D effects and marked the latest step in the evolution of 3D filmmaking at Disney. He and his team were involved from the earliest stages of layout and worked closely with the directors and various technical departments (lighting, effects, etc.) to take maximum advantage of the process.

            “One of the reasons that ‘Tangled’ lent itself so perfectly to 3D filmmaking is that hair can be very effective in this medium,” says Neuman. “You feel the separation of the strands of hair and the volume. And there are some fun 3D moments where Rapunzel’s hair is lowered down from the tower. The directors wanted to have a dynamic angle on the shot and have the hair either going straight away from the camera or straight towards it. They really embraced the 3D process and worked hard to create compositions that would work well dimensionally.

            “This film represents that latest evolution for 3D here at Disney,” continues Neuman. “We’re using depth more artistically than ever before, and we’re not as concerned with the literal transcription of depth between camera and projector as we are the interpretation of it.”

            For “Tangled,” Neuman and his team made extensive use of an innovative technique known as multi-rigging. Disney has been the first to use this process that basically takes a more theatrical approach to adding 3D by using multiple pairs of cameras with varying interaxial distances within a scene. Scenes are divided into various groups of elements, based upon their distance to the camera. For example, the foreground may be photographed with one set of cameras to achieve a desired depth and effect. The subjects or characters would be photographed with another set of cameras with the interocular distance dialed in to best results for that level. And the background would similarly be given the depth it needs. All of those elements would then be sandwiched together in the compositing stage to create something that would be impossible in reality but highly effective to the visual storytelling.

            Among the film’s most spectacular 3D scenes are the opening horse chase in which Flynn and the Stabbington Brothers are racing through the forest hotly pursued by the king’s guards, Flynn’s prison break (with its use of long corridors, repeated arches, and volumetric shafts of light), the flooding of the cave with Flynn and Rapunzel trapped inside, and the spectacular lantern scene.

            Summarizing the 3D efforts on the film, Neuman concludes, “We’re taking something that looks great to begin with in 2D and adding this little something that flips a switch in the audience’s mind that tells them, ‘This is something more than just light being projected on a wall; this is an extension of reality that I feel I can reach into.’ The ability to take those amazing images and actually ‘plus’ it is quite gratifying. This has been Disney’s most ambitious 3D effort to date, and we’re really proud of the way it came together.”

            Opening on Feb. 2 in Digital IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and regular format, “Tangled” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

ZACHARY LEVI PROVIDES VOICE OF DASHING BANDIT IN “TANGLED”

The ultra-confident bandit Flynn Rider is his own biggest fan, and he has long relied on his wit, charm and good looks to get out of even the stickiest situation.   Zachary Levi (TV's “Chuck,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”) provides the voice of Flynn in Walt Disney Animation Studios' enchanting comedy adventure “Tangled.”

Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider in Tangled

            Flynn is a thief looking for the one last, big score that will allow him to finally live the life he’s always dreamed of. He's never been closer to having it all when he meets Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), an odd girl with ridiculously long hair. An unlikely alliance with this girl from the tower sends Flynn on the adventure of a lifetime. “He’s a dashing bandit,” says Levi, “but I like how they turned it on its head—he’s a selfish thief while at the same time being a very charming dude. Comedy plays a huge part in this film, which is so much fun.”

            Levi says, “I have always been a huge fan of animation and have genuinely wanted to do a voice for Disney my whole life. Donald Duck was my favorite and I was convinced at one point in my life that I would try and get a job talking like him. There’s a level of energy that you have to bring to the recording process, and you really have to just let loose and put a lot of emotion into what you’re doing. I love that this film is such a great comedy adventure that takes you through a whole world with all kinds of different landscapes and characters. There are chases and fights and a little bit of magic. Mostly, there’s a real connection between Rapunzel and Flynn, some great one-liners and lots of heart, which makes the movie so real and memorable.”

            “When Zac came in to record, he immediately understood who the character was,” says co-director Nathan Greno. “He was this likeable swashbuckling thief and he could really pull it off. Zac really helped us find the character. Once you’ve got the character’s voice going, you know exactly what to do with him in the next sequence. He was so effortlessly funny and clever, and it was exactly what we needed for Flynn. The character is kind of a bad boy, and yet you feel like you want to hang out with him. We were a little bit nervous when it came time to ask if he could sing, but he blew us away with his singing performance.”

            Asked how does Disney turn well-known fairytale of Rapunzel upside down, Levi explains, “It’s a really cool—I hate using words like `hip' and `modern'—I’ll say relevant take on an old classic. I like how they turned it on its head a little bit. I don’t believe that Flynn was a part of the original story, but that’s one of the improvements. And Flynn helps get Rapunzel out of that tower so they can go on this really dynamic journey together.

            “It’s not about a damsel in distress who needs to be saved,” continues Levi. “It’s about a young woman who has dreams and aspirations and needs a partner in crime to help facilitate that throughout the course of the film. So you get all kinds of adventure with someone who’s as unrefined as Flynn is; he’s a thief. They get into a lot of trouble. 

There’s a lot of people chasing them for different reasons. Flynn can’t help but put his foot in his mouth over and over and over again. And yet, because of Rapunzel’s goodness, she can see past all that and still see the good guy that’s there, and that helps him change a lot too. Plus, there are near-death escapes at least every ten minutes, great animal characters that bring so much life and comedy to the film, swash-buckling, and swinging from either hair or ropes or vines or what have you. There are great chases, great fights and battles. And it’s in 3D. So all of your thugs and ruffians are just jumping off the screen at you.”

Now showing across the Philippines in Digital 3D and regular cinemas, “Tangled” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

Disney's Tangled

It's been a while since Disney based a story from a classic tale in tradition of The Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast. Tangled is based on a classic tale of Rapunzel, a girl with a long hair, imprisoned in a tower. The tale expanded further with good results just like any Disney classic tale. 

In the story, Rapunzel dreams of leaving the tower without her mother knowing and enlists the help(or forced him to help) of a dashing thief, Flynn Rider. The villain is not like any other villain that Disney had. The villain was like any antagonist from a soap opera but just as manipulative. 

Like any Disney heroine, Rapunzel's character is very modern or ahead of their time which is not usual for their time period and very feministic. Examples of Disney women empowerment are the following: Belle's(of Beauty and the Beast) pursuit of knowledge and Jasmine,that she should decide who to marry. Like her predecessors, Rapunzel seeks to experience a world outside her tower even if her mother forbids her to. Tangled's humor is also smart and wholesome since this is a family movie. 

As any Disney tale flick, you can expect some music from Alan Mecken, who brought you your favorite songs since The Little Mermaid. The music in the film can be enjoyed watching only when viewing the movie but I can't have it like a Last Song Syndrome or LSS. It is not like when Mecken's co-music writer, Howard Ashman was still alive. The 3D is very much used in the film especially in the action sequences. I recommended this film to watched by the whole family. Featuring the voices of Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, etc. Disney's Tangled is distributed by Walt Disney Phils. and it will be shown in cinemas on February 2. Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Phils.

SNEAK PEEK: “TANGLED”

Walt Disney Pictures presents “Tangled,” one of the most hilarious, hair-raising tales ever told.

When the kingdom’s most wanted—and most charming—bandit, Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi), hides out in a mysterious tower, he’s taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a beautiful and feisty tower-bound teen with 70 feet of magical, golden hair. Flynn’s curious captor, who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, strikes a deal with the handsome thief, and the unlikely duo sets off on an action-packed escapade, complete with a super-cop horse (named Maximus), an over-protective chameleon (named Pascal), and a gruff gang of pub thugs.

Also featured in the talented vocal ensemble is two-time Tony® Award winner Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel. Ron Perlman lends his voice to a Stabbington Brother, one of Flynn’s double-crossed partners in crime, and Jeffrey Tambor and Brad Garrett provide the voices of two of the thugs Flynn and Rapunzel encounter along the way.

“‘Tangled’ is so full of hilarious characters, but it also has tremendous action and a lot of heart,” says John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. “We wanted to create a unique world and story that evoke the rich, dramatic feeling that is classically Disney, but is also fresh and humorous, and that gives the audience something it has never seen before in computer animation. The filmmakers have created a world that builds on Disney’s heritage but transports us to a land that is completely new.”

Opening across the Philippines on February 2. “Tangled” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.