Tangled is everything Disney’s last year’s traditionally animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, should have been.

It is a revisal of the classic fairytale Rapunzel from Bros Grimm who, voiced by Mandy Moore, is a spunky 18-year-old with a bit of buck teeth, huge round green eyes and yards of long, and strong blond hair, that can be used to lasso things; and she is ready for the world outside the tower where (as in the original story) she is kept since childhood. A tower which she cleans to a shine, paints and redecorates ad infinitum in the song, When Will My Life Begin, one of the spunky gems tuned by Alen Menken’s score.

Why does she stay in the tower could lead to a chapter in psychology. Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) is not evil; at least not in the usual sense of the word. She raises Rapunzel as her own daughter, gives her hugs and kisses and even makes her favorite soup. She only wants to stay young by the power of her magic hair. So she keeps her in the tower by scaring the adventure out of the nimble teen — a point she emphasises by singing the spirited Mother Knows Best.

The knight in shining armour, and the guy with the best lines in the film, is a thief called Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), chased by the law and a guard horse Maximus, who’ll give the best canine in the kingdom a run for its money.

The direction by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard is not inspiring. The plot by Dan Fogelman, the gorgeous animation (the scene with the flowing lanterns is breathtaking) and the soundtrack by Menken (heavy on spectacular and less on originality) is homey in a comfy way. Tangled is like visiting old friends who you’ll want to keep on visiting. — Farheen Jawaid