#again lolll

Warning: Long Post, Anti-Ta//ngled, speculation/theory on why it was so expensive when the final movie’s visuals looked so generic and underwhelming. 

And no, this isn’t a complaint about the natural transition between concept art and the final movie, more sadness that the ambitious technology being scrapped for a so-so story. 

If You Don’t Want to Read This Long Ass Post, Here’s the Rundown:

Tl;dr: T//angled’s entire premise was based more on the technology being developed than it’s plot or characters.

When the filmmakers ended up not being able to use the technology that they loved, the production found themselves in a bind. They had a movie that was passable, but no grandiose visuals to blow the audience away. It’s entirely possible that they used the rest of the budget to scrape together the movie into what it was.

A Few Notes Before I begin

Note: This is the most recent version of the final movie I am talking about. While the story went through probably dozens of revisions (from a Shrek inspired story to one more closer to it’s fairytale roots) the animation advancements, I speculate, is what really sold people on developing the movie into it’s final form. 

There is also story differences between the different versions of T//angled. When I refer to my title, what I mean is that the final version of T//angled and Rapun/zel almost entirely hinged on the developing technology. This however, might not apply to Ra/punzel Unbraided, which was very early in the production and would’ve probably had a different art direction. 

Terminology

Rap/unzel Unbraided is the initial pitch which was a Shrek Ripoff. It is characterized by it’s modern setting and Rapunzel and her love interest being teenagers put into a fairytale. There is however, a transition period where the next version seems to share the same name as the previous one. Same with R//apunzel and it’s last minute name change to T//angled. 

Rapunze/l was focused on developing R/apunzel’s character arc, was darker in tone, Ra/punzel’s clothing was light green and had Bastion instead of Flynn Rider

T//angled switched the character arc/story progression from R/apunzel to Flynn Rider and was more focused on marketing, selling toys, and appealing to male audiences through advertising, a name change, and had a simplified story. This version is very much focused on appearances and is pretty much just a two hour long toy commercial.  

As someone who has followed T//angled since it was announced online, I’ve realized the reason why it was the most expensive animated film ever made while looking really generic. 

What Happened to the Detail?

In the early stages of the announcement of Rap/unzel , what was emphasized was the groundbreaking technology that was being developed for Rap//unzel, the movie. 

The articles that I read constantly talked about how lush and beautiful it would look, how the filmmakers wanted to make it look like an oil painting (like the Swing), and how it was what they were pouring themselves into. Looking into a high definition of the Swing and comparing it to Tan//gled’s artwork, we can see the level of detail they had in mind for their natural environments.  

When the movie was first announced, this is what they plugged. The animation, the software, the detail. This is why we have so many shots of T//angled that take place in the woods and don’t look anything special. 

According to AWM.com’s interview in 2005 with Glene Keane, “Chicken Little and Beyond: Disney Rediscovers it’s Animation through 3D”  this is what was said about Rap/unzel Unbraided’s Desired Aesthetic:

A fairy tale world has to feel romantic and lush. So [we were able to duplicate] the shot with the girl on the swing in 3D. 

Theres been a couple of moments on this picture that are really unusual. I’ve never been on a film where just showing an image of a tree on the screen causes everyone to applaud in a theater.

These are huge steps but in seemingly mundane ways. To be able to do a dimensional tree where the leaves turn, but it still feels like it has calories if you look at it too long. Very painterly.

....

This is not Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. This will evolve into what it should be in its own style..... After 30 years of animation, what I want is to come up with a film that really gives you time to let you know our characters a story that you truly believe in with a lot of heart and humor and will have people cry. 

The final result is very bland and the backgrounds are not very lush. 

Considering the amount of detail that went into the Swing and the excessive decadence shown in the Rococo style art, I get the feeling that the environment was supposed to be breathtaking instead of plain and generic. 

They constantly told people how the animation was going to blow people away. I admittedly was really excited for it. But it was not meant to be. They were probably putting too much of the budget into developing the software needed to render the animation and were told to ditch it. 

So later into the production the filmmakers begrudgingly downgraded the animation they developed because it was too ambitious.