Because what little boy wants to see a movie about a girl with really long hair? And that’s all they think of when they hear Rapunzel, the Brothers Grimm tale about a princess trapped in a high tower by a sorceress, her hair her only means of escape. Just like the reason those same little boys didn’t see The Princess and the Frog was because the word ‘Princess’ was in the title. Maybe Disney should’ve gone with The Princess and the Beast.
So is the rationale behind the executive title change of the Mouse’s upcoming animated pic, Tangled. [L.A. Times, via Joblo]
Here it is in layman’s terms:
In rethinking “Rapunzel,” Disney tested a number of titles, finally settling on “Tangled” because people responded to meanings beyond the obvious hair reference: a twisted version of the familiar story and the tangled relationship between the two lead characters.
Retired Disney Animator Floyd Norman, in response to the title change, posted this criticizing cartoon on his blog:
In so many words: exactly right.
And while The Princess and the Frog has underperformed considerably compared to Pixar, was Tangled the best they had in the canon of generic titles?
C’mon Disney. If you’re not going to give non-Pixar films as much effort and stagger them before they start, why make them at all?
Are you excited for Tangled? What do you think of the name change?