Voices of Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Eden Espinosa, and Clancy Brown
Directed by Tom Caulifield and Stephan Sandoval
Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Tangled did well enough for a sequel short revolving around Eugene and Rapunzel's wedding, Tangled Ever After, to run in front of a re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 2012. That was so popular, Disney started looking into longer sequels...but for once, they had more ambitious plans. Tangled: Before Ever After would lead into a whole series on The Disney Channel featuring the adventures of the princess with the magical golden hair. How well does this introduce the series? Let's begin as Rapunzel (Moore) and her sweetheart Eugene "Flynn Rider" Fitzherbert (Levi) gallop across the country in search of adventure and find out...
The Story: Rapunzel would love to continue exploring, but as her lady-in-waiting Cassandra (Espinosa) reminds her, she has many duties to perform. Her father King Frederic (Brown) is so nervous about losing her, he won't let her go anywhere on her own or without a platoon of guards, especially before she's to be crowned Princess of Corona. Eugene tries to propose to her at the dinner the night before the coronation, but Rapunzel doesn't think she's ready and turns him down.
Cassandra realizes how much stress Rapunzel is under and lets her sneak out for one last ride before she becomes Princess. They go over the wall around the kingdom to the place where her father found the magic flower that healed her mother. That area is now surrounded by strange, sharp rocks...rocks that have a strange reaction to Rapunzel and the magic still within her. Meanwhile, there's someone out there who doesn't want the coronation to continue and wants revenge on Rapunzel in the worst way...
The Animation: The CGI from the film and short have been replaced by a 2-D Flash style that's much simpler, but maybe even a bit more elegant. The characters move pretty well, even Rapunzel's hair. The brilliant jewel tones of the film are here replaced by soft pastels for Rapunzel's princess life in town and deeper tones when she's riding out in Corona.
The Song and Dance: Short and sweet, but quite charming, rather like its heroine. Cassandra's the most interesting addition here. She's clearly resentful of the attention paid to Rapunzel (something that would carry over to the TV show), but she's also loyal, highly intelligent, and can more than hold her own in a fight. While Eugene's role is downplayed somewhat, he still has some very funny moments, especially when he's trying to rehearse his proposal to Rapunzel. The movie even retains his adorably cocky narration. King Frederic and Rapunzel's mother Arianna at the very least are more fleshed-out here than they are in the movie.
Favorite Number: The first number after Rapunzel and Eugene return to the castle is "Life After Ever After." Eugene may be delighted to live in the lap of luxury, but Rapunzel is tired of not being able to go anywhere alone and all the responsibilities she's not used to. "Wind In My Hair" is heard twice, in the opening when Rapunzel's racing Eugene through the countryside, and later when she and Cassandra escape the palace and revel in their newfound freedom.
Trivia: Later re-runs of this hour special were shown in two parts.
What I Don't Like: This really isn't much of a musical...or much of a movie. It was made to be an introduction to the TV series. It works as that, but if you haven't seen either Tangled or the later series, you may be a little bit confused.
The Big Finale: Fun for fans of the Tangled film or the TV show Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and on Disney Plus, the latter with a subscription (as is the later TV series).
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