Review by John M. Delia, Jr.
Perfect for children Rapunzel returns to the home screen with “Tangled: Before Ever After”, a fun filled animated film. The animated feature has been rated TV-Y7 for a bit of bedazzling and bungling by the dastardly Lady Caine and her henchmen, but for the most part its fun for the younger set.
Coronation day is upon Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) and the whole kingdom can’t wait for the big event. While her suiter and one true love Eugene (Zachary Levi) has been trying to get her attention, he’s even striking out. Her “Lady in Waiting†Cassandra (Eden Espinosa) has too much for her to do than to be flitting around with Eugene.
In the meantime Eugene has been building up for his proposal of marriage and Rapunzel would like nothing more. Except a band of Pirates are creating a stir throughout the kingdom, her hair has been enchanted and the devious Lady Caine (Laura Benante) has reared her head looking to get revenge in King Frederic (Clancy Brown).
The kids will be engrossed in the adventure, especially the young girls who would love to be a princess someday. The film gets very complicated, but the youngsters won’t mind because it all comes out good in the end.
There are to lively major songs in the film that were not in the original Tangled movie that was released in theaters 2010. The songs were written and composed by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. They are “Life After Happily Ever After†which is the subtitle of the movie and performed by Mandy Moore, Zachery Levi and Clancy Brown. The second song “Wind in my Hair†is performed by Mandy Moore. Both are two nice toe tappers and moms should enjoy the tunes that will probably get stuck in their heads well beyond getting transfixed by them during the TV movie.
BONUS FEATURES:
There are four Tangled animated shorts that are cute and funny and play automatically following the movie.
Bonus: 4 Tangled Mini Movies
“Checkmate†Pascal tries to get Maximus to play chess with him.
“Prison Bake†Atilla tells a story that happened in his past.
“Make Me Smile†Rapunzel tries to get Old Lady Crowley to smile.
“Hare Peace†Feldspar the shoemaker is in a pickle and Rapunzel tries to help him out by caring for his elusive little rabbit.
“Tangled: Before Ever” After has been rated TV-Y7 for the adventure that includes some scenes that may be a bit scary for the very young. The film follows the original Tangled time line 6 months later. Since it was released 6 years ago, you may want to play the original movie which is available on DVD and Blu-ray prior to this one so the kids will remember the characters.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fun adventure for the youngsters. (for Kids 4 out of 5 stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Ashley Judd, Clancy Brown, Sean Hayes
Director: Tom Caulfield, Stephen Sandoval
MPAA Rating: TV-Y7
Genre: Adventure, Children, Animated, Music
Running Time: 52 min.
Video Release Date: April 11, 2017
Original TV Release Date: March 10, 2016
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: English 2.0 Dolby Digital
Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Number of Discs: 1 Disc + a Diary inside Box
Distributed by: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Released in: DVD only