Tangled Before Ever After

I know, right? There's a Tangled sequel? Why is no-one talking about this? Where were the adverts, the cinema showings?

Well... Tangled Before Ever After is a Disney Channel film, 55 minutes long. It's technically a sequel, but made with budget pleasing 2D animation rather than the gorgeous 3D of the original, and it tells the story of "what happens after tangled, but before the wedding and the happily ever after". Hence the title, I suppose?

Anyway, in the spirit of "I loved Tangled" and "I'm trying to give Disney films a go before judging them", and with a small optimistic "I hate happily ever after stories, so maybe this will suit me well", I am going to watch it. But, because I hate anything that seems like it might involve a gratuitous "wedding, settling down, and they all lived..." yada yada yada sequence, I am also going to review it as I go.

Full disclosure, I have never seen this film before. I know next to nothing about it, and what I write will be based on first impressions only. If you want to watch it too, I found it on Youtube, I'm sure there will be other places too.

So, we begin.....

We start with an expectation subversion. Or, well, maybe not. Some people who we know live at the palace are being chased by palace guards. Unless something very dramatic happened since the last film, this is a game or some minor shenanigans. Sure enough.... they're going to visit a wall

Um... probably not that one. They look at the view, then the guards catch them and take them back to the city. A song plays in the background as we see them doing sweet, "we are the heroes of this story" things, sniffing flowers etc. before being ushered back to the palace. 

Let's talk about the song. I actually quite like it, it's full of anxiety about Rapunzel's new position, having to look nice, wear makeup, remember her servant's names... It makes me think of "Mother knows best", where Rapunzel's innocence and ignorance are pointed out by Gothel and used to fore Rapunzel to stay away from other people. nice to see the same kinds of ideas re-emerging. Still, ... I have "Mother knows best" on my swimming playlist. This won't make the cut. Maybe it's because it'sit's in the character's head, not being sung by her live, but it just lacks impact. 

Then Rapunzel is left with her... handmaid, I suppose? Who....

calls her "Raps". Wow. So....

Raps. 

Besides it just being wrong, Rapunzel hasn't even been in the city long enough to be officially welcomed yet, but has still had enough time to make a friend who is familiar enough to call her Raps? 

RAPS??????

OK, I'll try not to hate this.

But I do.

And I hate Cassandra too, the lady in waiting, as I've decided to call her. Already insisting Rapunzel be more dedicated to princess hood, reminding her of her responsibilities...

I can deal with her Dad though, he reminds her that all eyes will be on her, but says he'll be there to help and to support her through this whole thing.

Eugene is... Eugene. Enjoying the good life. Getting ready to propose. He, who has actually spent time on the run, struggling to survive and experiencing life, appreciates a chance to relax and just enjoy the way things are. Rapunzel, we know, is worried about being tied down and taking on responsibilities. These conflicting views couldn't possibly cause a problem later? 

Surely not...

Anyway, the plot advances... a black rat with red eyes steals a poster with the coronation date on it! Oh no!!!!! 

Well, I'm sure this is just a common or garden sewer rat, and nothing bad will possibly happen....

Oh. He's taken it to a mysterious "Lady Cain" and her henchman, who live in a room in the sewer. 

Again, definitely not evil.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel is repeatedly showing how a lifetime alone does not immediately make her well suited to princess-hood. This kind of feels like "The Princess Diaries". Princess lessons from July Andrews may be in order.....

Oh look, our first moments with Eugene and Rapunzel alone. Eugene is happy with his life experience, Rapunzel wants "more". She just doesn't know what. Cassandra trips Eugene into the water. For fun. Maybe I do like her and her evil ways....

And she makes Rapunzel leave a romantic moment with Eugene to "rest for her morning off".

It doesn't look like she gets time off though, she spends the day in town surrounded by guards stopping her from doing anything fun.

Rapunzel's frustration grows, and Cassandra offers to sneak her out. Yes, she is evil. 

And that evening, at a royal banquet, Eugene proposes. Odd, I thought he was waiting for the coronation. Still.....

It's all going well until he starts talking about how he wants to never leave the castle and he wants to grow old looking after her there, never leaving, no adventures. so she says no and walks out.

And she's going out for a "walk". With Cassandra. who is heavily armed.

Why does this not seem like it's going to end well?

Eugene bribes his way into Rapunzel's room, and Pascal mimes a conversation from behind a screen.

Big emotional moment and only one of the main characters is there. Anyway, the deception is soon discovered, and Eugene rushes off to find Rapunzel.

Now, Lady Cain's henchman is back to explain the plot to a group of potential baddies. nice ;little recruitment drive. Apparently Lady Cain was knocked down by the king after Rapunzel fled, she was branded "undesirable" along a lot of others, apparently. Not really sure what that means.

Anyway, Rapunzel flees down a secret passage, while Eugene explains to the king that Rapunzel wants to be alone. The King tells Eugene he'll discuss the botched proposal "much later". In an ominous way.

Rapunzel, as in the first film, is completely unable to avoid problems etc. Also, Cassandra has a cute animal sidekick, an owl who acts as lookout for her. Called "Owl". And Maximus is along too, he does the "horse pretending to be a dog sniffing people out" thing, despite clearly being able to see the people he's sniffing for. Because that's what he did in the last film, I suppose. There's another horse too, the one Rapunzel was riding earlier. Not really sure what part it has to play, whether it's sentient, or what. Anyway, Rapunzel is riding Maximus now, and the other horse isn't obviously offended. 

Oh! Half way through, and the Queen speaks! About two lines. Then the King has a flashback to losing Rapunzel the first time. The Queen doesn't speak again. 

Another song. This one.... not sung by any of the characters. I don't think. And in a pop-y style that sounds odd when all the other songs have been in the style of the first film, and either sung by or "thought-sung" by the characters on screen. It's surprisingly somber for a song about adventures and trying new things. Also, Rapunzel proves she is a Disney princess by charming every animal she encounters and making them do her will. Of course. And she climbs down and over the wall by swinging on a long, golden rope. The horses magically follow, of course. Cassandra reminds Rapunzel not to tell anyone she took her outside Corona, which is the name of this place by the way. And the other horse is called Fidela, and needs Maximus to watch her. So.... sentient? Not?

And it turns out Cassandra brought Rapunzel here for a reason, to show her a load of spiky things. which are meant to be "beautiful". But sort of aren't. They shatter steel, and look incredibly menacing. And apparently, this is the place where the flower grew. Wait, wasn't that meant to be a long way away? Somewhere really hard to find? They've made this journey in a few hours, tops. Amazing how geography can change for plot convenience, isn't it?

Anyway, Rapunzel touches one, there's an explosion thing, her hair turns gold and the spikes start growing everywhere, chasing them! Cassandra kicks a tree to cause an avalanche, which... works, I guess. And now Rapunzel has her full golden head of incredibly long hair back. 

Now... I was starting to like the 2D animation. But the hair looks flat and lifeless compared to the beautiful, deep image created in the first film. It looks less real than all the other hair in the film, really breaks the picture for me. 

Anyway, we'll have to leave that aside, as the spikes overcame the avalanche and are still coming after them.They run along the unsteady bridge back towards the horses, and Rapunzel's hair catches on the bridge. Cassandra has to run back as it collapses to free it, casting aside her shattered (but probably still quite sharp?) sword. Cassandra gives up part way and returns to Rapunzel, holding onto her as....

Maximus! Maximus does a thing!

(I love Maximus. Sentient half human half dog half horse creatures are my favourites.)

Maximus frees Rapunzel's hair, but they're now trapped on the collapsing bridge! Maximus does a magic runny Lord of the Rings thing to drag Rapunzel to safety, and the other horse grabs Cassandra. 

Cassandra proclaims she "said I could get you out and back without anyone noticing", an ambitious statement as you are a)stuck on the wrong side of a big wall, b) have just unleashed a terrifying magic thingamabob, and c) haven't yet snuck back into the castle without anyone catching you. But still.

Rapunzel is worried that her Dad will notice the loads of hair on her head, and guess that she snuck out. Why his first thought would be "her hair grew back, she must have broken curfew!" I don't know. Anyway, they now have a struggle to sneak back in because of extra guards because coronation.  And there's no other way in... apart from swinging up a tower with long golden magic hair. 

Maximus (oh yeah, he's captain of the guards) goes in the inside way, dismisses the guards and meets Rapunzel and Cassandra inside. We don't get to see any epic hair-swinging action? Oh well, it would probably have looked disappointing block-y anyway. Now...

Wait, what? Rapunzel wants to cut her hair off again?

Why?

So her Dad doesn't know she went on a walk?

Her hair has magical healing powers. She could save loads of lives with it. She can do awesome swingy things with it, and use it as an emergency night light. Not to mention, cutting off her long awesome hair still leaves her with... a massive pile of inexplicable hair!

So they try to cut it off and... the scissors shatter. Phew. Almost major "I hate Disney plots" moment coming on. Well averted. Bravo.

So they, desperate to cut off long hair, use every available sharp thing, almost killing Rapunzel in the process of destroying all metal cutty things in Rapunzel's room. And now Cassandra emotionally blackmails Rapunzel into hiding the hair from Eugene. Or trying to, they fail dramatically. 

Also, "Holy hair"... Made me giggle. Eugene is freaking out. It's funny. 

They hide it under a giant wig while Rapunzel has breakfast with her parents. While her father explains how dangerous the world can be, evil is shown happening in the city, and being stopped by Max and the guards. Her father accepts that the same guards aren't necessary to protect his daughter. Sure.

Eugene and Cassandra have a "I don't like you!" "I don't like you either!" conversation. Par for the course. 

Rapunzel's Mum finally gets a scene! She gives Rapunzel her old diaries, documenting her adventures, and giving her permission to adventure to. Two books, one full, the mother, and one empty for Rapunzel to fill. Seems like a lovely symbol. If a little Lord of the Rings.

And so Rapunzel wraps up her hair, puts on some shoes and gets ready to be crowned. While baddies, waiting in the palace cells for Lady Cain's action, whatever it is, talk menacingly about what they want to do next. 

Rapunzel doesn't practice walking in shoes before her coronation. Cain uses it as an excuse to leave and beat up some guards before releasing the trapped baddies. They enter the coronation dressed as guards, and Lady Cain takes over the ceremony. She looks kind of amazing in her "Evil villain" get up. She finally explains her motive (the big reveal scene is always a good time for exposition). Apparently her father was arrested in the crack down on crime after Rapunzel was kidnapped yada yada yada..... Anyway, her plan is to imprison the king in a small cage on wheels. Rapunzel and Eugene exchange "meaningful glances", and she reveals her hair and... kicks off her shoes? Shoes seem to play a big part in this story. Anyway, she uses her hair as a lasso, opening up the cart gate, stealing weapons... Cassandra is epic at fighting, of course, as is Eugene. Quite when that happened I don't know.... Quite when any of these characters had time to train in hair and chandelier based martial arts I don't know. Oh, and now Cain is fighting with fans. Sure. And Rapunzel sees a frying pan, conveniently positioned on the prison cart. All we need now is for Maximus to turn up...

And now it's fan vs. candlestick. The fan wielder is pinned, but throws a couple of back handsprings from a lying position.... yeah, not questioning the physics. She seizes the wooden pole that was holding the door shut, and....

Maximus comes in. With a load of palace guards. Not in time to do any fighting. Oh Maximus, what might have been.

The baddies are locked up, and Rapunzel faces her father about her hair. He sounds like he will be angry, but obviously won't end up being.... yep. Thought so. Touching moment actually. But he then forbids Rapunzel from leaving ever again, because her magic hair has returned which makes her more thief-able again. No talk of using the magic power of course, which would then devalue magical healing, save many lives and keep her as safe as possible.

Now they're discussing engagements again. Eugene agrees to be patient, they kiss. It's sweet. Then there's a reprieve of a song.. I think it's a reprieve? I don't really remember them...There's some nice imagery though. And Rapunzel is locked in a tower again with her long hair.... this story is starting to get closer to the original fairy tale than I expected.

And there's a shot of the magic spikes again and....

it ends?

Really???

Let me just google....

Oh. There's a TV series. About what happens next.

Great, so I have to watch that then?

Um... maybe not tonight. Maybe not ever. 

This is a fun watch, it really is. There are good moments here. But... I can't help but wander why? Tangled ended with Rapunzel cutting her hair off, and then going to live with her parents and Eugene. We know there is a happy ever after for them. I liked the idea that there was something else as well, some negatives, some stresses of getting to know parents you've never met. But this... wasn't what I wanted to see. Not really. The plot kind of doesn't exist, the relationship with the father is only explored in a very superficial way, the mother is there, and has nice character moments towards the end, but...

Knowing this exists to start a kids TV show makes a lot of sense. 

Is it worth a watch? Well, honestly, yes. If only because you get to see characters you know in 3D transformed into 2D, which is interesting. The characters are the ones we know and love, although they aren't really developed in this film at all, if anything they're simplified a bit. Lots of characters are introduced as if we should know them, I know nothing about Cassandra and suddenly she's one of the big characters. I do like her mutual loathing relationship with Eugene, and that they don't try to explain it. They just don't like each other. That happens, and I like seeing it in a Disney film.

So yes, it feels strange when you watch it after seeing Tangled. It's not entirely clear how long after Tangled this falls, and what has happened in that time. Obviously before some of the events discussed in the end narration, but not all of them.... You have to ignore a lot. But it's nice. Pleasant. I probably won't sit through it again, unless I want to get a closer look at the animation, or look at the TV show, but I might re-watch Tangled again.

Thank you for reading through this review, please let me know if you liked this style and would want more of it!

Muddles