TOT (Totally Off Tangent): Tangled: Before Ever After

So, to the 10-12 people who actually read this blog, whose readership I very much appreciate, you might recall that on my very first post I added a plus(+) to the name of the blog in case I ever decided to talk about anything not Nintendo/Video Game related.

Today I put this power into use, but just in case I decided to make this a separate part of my blog called TOT (Totally Off Tangent). This I made specifically for the purpose of talking about things non-game related. Hopefully it keeps the blog interesting and I promise it won't take away too much from the main premise of the blog. Now with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the post for the today.

I am a HUGE Disney fan, and one of my personal favorite Disney movies was Tangled. It was funny, the animation was beautiful, I loved the two leads, and, naturally, I was really happy when I heard that they are making a Tangled TV series. I just finished watching the first Tangled TV Series episode pilot and I thought it was...
...a really good start to a TV Series that I hope answers some questions left behind. Nevertheless, this is my review of Tangled: Before Ever After.

SPOILER FREE

First off is the visuals of the film/series. They look really good. they have this nice hand painted feel to them. It really works for the show and it has its own striking visual style without taking away from the feel of the original movie, the same can be said about the music. I love them both and they definitely live up to the movie.

The series takes place between the first film and the Disney short film Tangled Ever After. I know this because the show says it in the first minute. The story of the series itself is that Rapunzel is becoming the princess of Corona. While she is happy that she is finally with her family again and while we see that love for her and Eugene/Flynn Rider is still as strong as is was, she starts to feel a bit trapped just staying in her kingdom not going beyond the walls of the kingdom. One night however, she asks her friend/lady-in-waiting Casandra to sneak her out one night and explore beyond the walls. However, when they reach outside the walls, they discover magical rocks with symbols similar to Rapunzel's flower. Rapunzel touches the rocks and...

TAKE A WILD GUESS

Yeah, her hair grows back and this time its indestructible meaning she can't just cut it. Along with that, someone in the kingdom is not happy that Rapunzel has returned to the kingdom and to try and overthrow her parents. So now its up to Rapunzel and her friends to help protect the kingdom and make new discoveries adventuring around Corona.

Like I said, this "movie" is a really good start to the series. It gives the tone of how the show will handle itself, it reintroduces the characters we love while still giving insight to new characters, and overall it was a fun show. It honestly reminds me of my other favorite Disney Movie/TV series Aladdin. Come to think of it, this show is pretty much if Aladdin: TAS had decided to focus on Jasmine.

I like the character interaction in this special. The chemistry between Eugene and Rapunzel is so nice to watch and you really do feel a strong love connection between. The friendship between Rapunzel and the new character Cassandra is handled very nicely and the banter between Cassandra and Eugene is really funny. The animal characters are handled just as nicely. They, along with the other characters in the show, come off even more expressive in this series probably thanks to the different art style. The main characters are just so much fun to watch and are definitely highlights of this show.

Here are some negatives. The parents of Rapuzel are bland but good, well at least the mother is. She comes off as wise and does give Rapunzel some pretty good advice and they have a good moment. Plus she speaks french... kudos. The father isn't bad, he does come off as a good character and has good chemistry with Rapunzel and a funny scene with Eugene. However, over the course of the special he just turns into generic "overly protective and won't listen to what child actually wants" dad. It is cliched, it ruins what would be a really good character, and I do hope it's tossed out after a few episodes.

The villain is... not forgettable, but doesn't stand out at all. I'll give the show props for giving a really good twist to the reveal of the villain, but if this pilot is any indication, this show is going for more of a villain of the day aspect.

Overall, I like this. This show has a lot of promise. I want to see what happens next. It left me with questions like why did the rocks give Rapunzel her hair back and why is it stronger? Are her healing powers back? It does make me want to watch this series and see what is going to happen, and I think the special is worth watching and with that said the series as well.

I do hope that they keep this show going strong.

Now we just wait for the Big Hero 6 series... which is taking its sweet time giving a proper teaser.