HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — 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.
View: Tangled Premiere Red Carpet Photos
“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.”
Adds producer Roy Conli, “It’s this wonderful story of two people who don’t really know who they are yet, and in the course of the film, they both discover their destiny. We wanted to break some of the stereotypes that had been done before. Flynn is a guy who’s been there, done that, and seen it all. Rapunzel is a sheltered, naïve-but-smart girl who hasn’t been there, hasn’t done that, and hasn’t seen anything! He helps bring her to a place where she can see herself more clearly, and she helps bring him to a place where he can change some of the mistakes he’s made in life. Together, they fill in what’s missing in each other.”
Lasseter tapped two of the studio’s most revered talents to helm Disney’s 50th animated feature. As the animation industry’s top rising stars, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard were called on to create a movie that could sit on the shelf next to classic Disney animated films and be an entertaining roller-coaster ride for modern audiences. And Lasseter, who’s a two-time Academy Award winner (Toy Story, Tin Toy) with directing credits that include A Bug’s Life and Cars, says they’ve done it. “They are some of the most talented young directors I’ve ever seen,” he says. “They have such incredible story sense, but one of the things that I love about them is their sense of humor. And they really understand what makes a Disney film a Disney film: the heart. Walt Disney always said, ‘For every laugh, there should be a tear.’ They have such a fresh, contemporary twist on something that’s classically Disney.
“It looks like a classic Disney animated film, but it’s also in 3D CG animation,” adds Lasseter, “so it’s really unlike anything we’ve ever done before.”
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