---
title: "Tangled"
year: 2010
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/tangled"
fi1m_score: 75
critics_score: 70
critics_reviews: 22
published: "2026-09-17T06:38:37.538099+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T06:38:37.735707+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Tangled (2010)

Directed by Byron Howard, Nathan Greno · 1h 40m · MPA PG · Animation, Family, Adventure

**Fi1m score: 75** · Critics 70 from 22 reviews

*In a sentence:* Seventy feet of hair, one frying pan, and a horse who should have his own film

> Disney’s Rapunzel is bright, quick and better-hearted than its smart-alec trailer suggests, with a properly frightening mother in Donna Murphy’s Gothel and one sequence, the lanterns, that earns the whole evening. The songs around it are thinner than the studio’s best.

## Synopsis

A drop of sunlight grows into a flower that heals whoever sings to it. The old woman Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) has used it for centuries to stay young, and when a sick queen is cured by it and gives birth to a golden-haired girl, Gothel steals the baby and raises her in a hidden tower. Eighteen years later Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) has seventy feet of magic hair and has never set foot outside. Every year on her birthday lights float up over the distant kingdom, and she wants to see them. Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a thief on the run with a stolen crown, climbs into the tower, meets a frying pan, and finds himself hired as her guide.

## Review

Byron Howard and Nathan Greno’s *Tangled* takes the Grimm tale of the girl in the tower and gives it a thief, a horse and a frying pan. Dan Fogelman’s screenplay is out to prove that a Disney princess can be made in computers without losing the singing, and mostly it proves it. This is a quick, bright, good-hearted 100 minutes with one sequence near its middle that we would put beside anything the studio made in the 1990s. Around that sequence the film is good rather than special, and we are content with good.

The first ten minutes are told as a bedtime story, in narration, and they set up a villain the film then honours. Mother Gothel has found a flower that keeps her young, lost it to a sick queen, and stolen the baby who inherited its power. Donna Murphy plays her as a stage mother who has learned that a kiss on the forehead and a joke about your weight can be delivered in the same breath. Her song, “Mother Knows Best”, is the best written thing in the film: a lullaby that is also a list of everything wrong with you. We found her unsettling in a way Disney villains rarely manage, because there is no spell involved; she is simply a parent who will not let go.

Flynn Rider is the film’s hedge. Zachary Levi voices him as a man who has read his own wanted poster and enjoyed it, and the early scenes lean on his smirk and his narration as if somebody upstairs was nervous about selling a princess to boys. The banter is the film at its thinnest. It improves once Rapunzel has hit him with the frying pan, tied him to a chair with her own hair and struck a deal, because from then on he has something to lose and Levi can stop performing. Mandy Moore gives Rapunzel a bounce with a bruised streak underneath it, and the scene in which she leaves the tower and swings between elation and guilt every fifteen seconds is funny and true.

The animals do a great deal of the work. Pascal the chameleon and Maximus the palace horse never say a word and get most of the biggest laughs; Maximus, a horse who behaves like a police sergeant, is worth the ticket on his own. Douglas Rogers’s production design covers every wall of Rapunzel’s tower with her paintings, so the paintings tell us she has been climbing the walls for eighteen years before anyone says so. The kingdom is a walled island city reached by a stone bridge, and the hair, all seventy feet of it, is animated as rope, lasso, bandage and curtain. Tim Mertens cuts the chase through a collapsing dam so that we always knew where the water was.

Then the lanterns. On Rapunzel’s birthday the kingdom releases thousands of lights into the night sky, and the film puts her in a rowing boat under them. It moved us more than we thought possible from a scene we had already seen in the trailer. It is the way the first lantern rises in the distance and she turns, the way the water fills with reflections until the frame is more light than dark, and the way Alan Menken’s “I See the Light” is allowed to sit quietly instead of building to a Broadway finish. For four minutes the film stops being clever and is simply lovely.

Menken and Kevin Kliesch share the music credit, and the rest of the songs are the film’s soft spot. Rapunzel’s opening number lists her chores with charm and is forgotten before it ends. The thugs in the pub, voiced by Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambor and others, get a number about their secret dreams that is an old joke told at length. Ron Perlman’s Stabbington Brothers are a threat the plot needs and never bothers to write, and M.C. Gainey’s Captain of the Guard is a moustache. The second half takes turns we will not describe, and one of them is rushed.

Against [*Beauty and the Beast*](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast), which Menken also scored, this is smaller, and it knows it. Against the wisecracking cartoons of the decade before it, it is warmer and better made, and it never once winks at the parents over the children’s heads. Take the children and stay for the lanterns; you may find you were not doing it only for them.

*Fi1m score 75, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come away pleased, and the praise settles on the same things. The animation is the department most often singled out: the quality of the light, the movement of the hair, and the lantern sequence above all. Mother Gothel is widely called a memorable villain, and the horse and the chameleon are credited with stealing scenes. The broad view is that Disney has found its way back to the fairy-tale musical it used to make, with a quicker pace and a drier tone.

The reservations gather around the songs, which many find serviceable rather than memorable, and around the banter, which some find glib, with the leads bland beside the supporting cast. The spread is wide. The Guardian calls it leaden and cynical, raiding weaker Shrek ideas; NME sees a dated throwback beside Pixar; Eye for Film finds it flat and short of wit. Oddly, the dissenters cannot agree whether it is too modern or too old-fashioned.

### Reviews we read (22)

- **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (85/100, inferred): This is the best-looking Disney film since Sleeping Beauty, with gorgeous light, action sequences and a modern tone that still feels like classic Disney. It benefits from strong character development for Rapunzel and Flynn plus a memorable villain in Mother Gothel. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/tangled-review/)
- **Total Film**, Jonathan Crocker (85/100, inferred): Disney delivers its most enjoyable animated film since The Emperor's New Groove with this smart, emotional and action-packed Rapunzel retooling. It excels in mother/daughter dynamics, vibrant visuals and standout animal sidekicks. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/tangled-review/)
- **The AV Club**, Tasha Robinson (B+): It's a rambunctious modern fairy tale full of chases, smart banter and big emotions that feels like a Pixar product, with luminous animation and nuanced characters. The critic calls it a respectable coda to Disney fairy tales, done right despite familiar formula. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/tangled-1798166623)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (80/100, inferred): The film succeeds after a shaky start by balancing adventure, romance, and sweetness, with strong computer animation and memorable sequences like the lantern scene singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-et-tangled-20101124-story.html)
- **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (4/5): Describes it as a resounding success with polished storytelling, witty scripting, and relatable emotions that appeal to all ages, praising the action sequences and uplifting moments. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-rp5nmp/tangled/)
- **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's blend of classic sentimentality and contemporary elements in this Rapunzel update, highlighting its engaging storytelling, strong character work, and rapturous 3D sequences like the lantern scene. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/tangled/5020316.article)
- **Slant Magazine** (80/100, inferred): It's a remarkably sincere and heartfelt rendering of the classic fairy tale, a faithful adaptation and allegory for growing up that rejects sarcastic pop-culture smirkfests. The critic singles out the impressive 3D animation, music, and sensual awakening moments enhanced by the format. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/tangled/)
- **The Independent** (80/100, inferred): Disney has finally remembered how to make a proper cartoon with this joyous Rapunzel retelling full of action, humour, romance and show tunes. It updates the classic formula with contemporary mother/daughter dynamics while remaining satisfyingly Disney-ish. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/tangled-nathan-greno-amp-byron-howard-100-mins-pg-barney-s-version-richard-j-lewis-134-mins-15-2198231.html)
- **The Times** (80/100, inferred): Tangled revamps the Rapunzel story into a winning combination of naivety, optimism and spirit, with impressive animation, strong vocal performances and effective 3D use despite some image dulling. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tangled-3-d-kctglztjpd0)
- **Vulture** (75/100, inferred): It's a goofy good time with a jolly vibe of people goofing on the Brothers Grimm, full of felicitous touches and strong voice work especially from the villain. The critic notes it's no big deal but nowhere near as hard on the eyes as the Shrek movies. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2010/11/movie_review_tangled_is_no_big.html)
- **The New York Times** (Critic's Pick): The critic finds the film a tastefully modernized version of classic Disney storytelling, a lavish romantic musical fairy tale that updates familiar magic without losing its essence. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/movies/24tangled.html)
- **The Telegraph**, Tim Robey (70/100, inferred): The film offers a savvy sense of humour and serviceable songs while remaining a traditional romance at heart, with strong supporting characters and a memorable villainess. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8286988/Tangled-review.html)
- **Variety**, Justin Chang (65/100, inferred): Old-fashioned storytelling prevails over sassy attitude in this revisionist Rapunzel tale, which is snappily paced with musical pizzazz but hampered by glib banter and uneven visuals. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/tangled-1117943999/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (60/100, inferred): The critic finds it a passably entertaining but not exceptional Disney animated feature, a hodgepodge of old and new techniques. He praises the villainess's incisive portrayal and the flawlessly prettified rendering of nature and characters. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/tangled-film-review-42752/)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (3/5): The review finds the film brisk and witty but notes it veers between charming and glib, with bland leads, ultimately entertaining but far from classic Disney. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/tangled)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (40/100, inferred): The critic finds Disney's Rapunzel update leaden and uninspired, raiding weaker Shrek ideas and featuring laboured Broadway-style songs in what feels like a cynical money-machine. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jan/27/tangled-review)
- **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (4 out of 5): The critic finds Tangled a strong step forward for Disney, praising its modern take on the Rapunzel story, strong characters, supporting voices, and especially the stunning visuals and action pace. Minor complaint about the songs not matching previous highs. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/tangled-review-2/)
- **Collider**, Bill Graham (70/100, inferred): The critic finds that Tangled successfully balances modernizing a classic tale with Disney traditions through strong characters, expressive sidekicks, fluid animation especially the hair, and versatile Menken score. The mixture of tones occasionally feels off but the heart and fun carry it through. [Read](https://collider.com/tangled-review-movi/)
- **Digital Spy**, Simon Reynolds (70/100, inferred): It's a lively and fun swashbuckler with good voice work and striking moments, but the songs aren't as memorable and it lacks the heart and soul of Disney's best. Overall, shows the studio finding its way back to form. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a289654/tangled/)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film pretty to look at but flat and lacking in character compared to The Princess and the Frog. Its earnest, straightforward fairy-tale approach is ultimately beguiling despite the squareness. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-tangled-is-safe-disney-princess-stuff-20101122/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (30/100, inferred): The film feels curiously flat despite its CGI and 3D elements, with missed opportunities and a lack of magic or wit in the script. Praise goes to the non-speaking animated characters like the chameleon and horse that steal scenes. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/tangled-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **NME**, James McMahon (30/100, inferred): The review sees Tangled as a dated, fusty throwback compared to modern animation like Pixar's, criticizing the formulaic elements, emphasis on the male lead, and lack of innovation, though acknowledging some charm as a signpost to Disney's lineage. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-movie-11826-320470)

## Details

- **Director:** Byron Howard, Nathan Greno
- **Director:** Byron Howard, Nathan Greno
- **Screenplay:** Dan Fogelman
- **Editor:** Tim Mertens
- **Music:** Alan Menken, Kevin Kliesch
- **Production design:** Douglas Rogers
- **Producer:** Roy Conli
- **Cast:** Mandy Moore as Rapunzel (voice); Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider (voice); Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel (voice); Ron Perlman as Stabbington Brother (voice); M.C. Gainey as Captain of the Guard (voice); Jeffrey Tambor as Big Nose Thug (voice); Brad Garrett as Hook Hand Thug (voice); Paul F. Tompkins as Short Thug (voice)
- **Runtime:** 1h 40m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG
- **Release (the US):** 24 November 2010
- **Genres:** Animation, Family, Adventure
- **Budget:** $260 million
- **Box office:** $592 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsYKF8ecC8g

## Where to watch in the US

- Disney+: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Apple TV: buy $14.99, sd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- BAFTA Film Awards 2011: BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Feature Film (nominated)
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 2010: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated)
- Critics' Choice Awards 2010: Best Animated Feature (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), Fi1m 91: The Menken musical this one is measuring itself against, and still the fuller meal. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md)
- *Kiki's Delivery Service* (1989), Fi1m 86: Another girl leaves home for the first time; Miyazaki lets her be frightened. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kikis-delivery-service.md)
- *The Princess Bride* (1987), Fi1m 86: The fairy tale with a smirk done properly, and the smirk knows when to stop. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-princess-bride.md)
- *Ernest & Celestine* (2012), Fi1m 84: A French bear and mouse in watercolour; gentler, funnier and half as loud. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ernest-and-celestine.md)
- *The Secret of Kells* (2009), Fi1m 76: Irish hand-drawn animation about a boy, a book and a forest that looks like nothing else. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-kells.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/tangled