Tangled

A lovely movie.  I was so/so on whether to go see it, but am glad I did.  I liked most how artistic Rapunzel was, which made her chameleon companion very appropriate, and there were some spectacular visual moments in the movie which reminded me strongly of "Spirited Away".

The humour worked very well, the male lead was not as obnoxious as he sounded (and thankfully through his actions believably left his thieving ways behind him).  The horse was hilarious.  I can live without singing in movies, but the songs weren't too tiresome.

What really caught my attention was Rapunzel's relationship with the witch.  Rapunzel here is not a prisoner, but a beloved and over-protected daughter.  But 'Mother' is a toxic one, keeping up a grand show of a loving relationship, but constantly criticising, sniping and making cruel remarks - then laughing them off as a joke.  She's what I think of as Sugar Evil.  I can't help but wonder whether the witch felt anything for the 'daughter' she'd raised for so many years, and whether her insistence that the world was a cruel place which will destroy dreams had any explanation - did she have her hopes crushed in the past, and fail to find a new dream to replace them?