Tangled, which was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, opens in US and Canadian theaters today, hoping to capture some of that box office magic the Harry Potter scared up last weekend. The RottenTomatoes.com tally adds up to a solid 89% for Tangled, but that’s what Bolt saw and then limped to a $309 million worldwide box office draw (DreamWorks Animation’s films have recently pulled in no less than $500 million, with exception of Monsters vs. Aliens). And here’s how Disney animated features have fared with critics and the box office in recent history:

• Tangled 89% Rotten Tomatoes and ? Worldwide Box Office
• Princess and the Frog 84% Rotten Tomatoes and $267,045,756 Worldwide Box Office
• Bolt 89% Rotten Tomatoes and $309,979,654 Worldwide Box Office
• Meet the Robinsons 66% Rotten Tomatoes and $169,333,034 Worldwide Box Office
• Chicken Little 36% Rotten Tomatoes and $314,432,837 Worldwide Box Office

Here’s a trailer that plays off the ol’ OJ Simpson white-Bronco episode. It should be noted that 18 year olds were 3 when that happened.

Some early reviews are in for Disney’s upcoming CG feature Tangled (aka Rapunzel). The recently-redesigned Hollywood Reporter calls it “passably entertaining,” and Variety.com offers that the film “does demonstrate the sturdy narrative carpentry and musical pizzazz that have always been the studio’s stock-in-trade.” I’ve heard rumors that the Disney marketing team, in order to attract more males, has gone to great lengths to avoid terms like “fairy tale” and “princess.” The call Rapunzel a “feisty tower-bound teen” and the movie is a “hair-raising tale.” Who exactly are we fooling here? That’s like saying that The Godfather is about “a tight-knit family that does what it takes to get by.” Here’s the latest teaser:

Walt Disney Animation Studios have begun releasing some character introduction promos for their upcoming feature Tangled, which is in theaters on November 24th. The segments are formated like job descriptions, and here’s an introduction to Maximus, Flynn’s horse:

And here we meet Gothel, who is voiced by Donna Murphy:

I’m still cautious about falling for Tangled (in theaters November 24, 2010), what with the director change, the name change and the general goofiness of the whole thing. Not that I don’t like goofy, but it all feels a bit like an after school special to me. However, the Walt Disney Animation team sure know how to dress up a feature. It looks familiar, while quite stunning all at the same time. Painterly, but full of the depth that you can only get with CG.

In this featurette below, titled A Tangled World: Creating the Look, we hear from directors Bryon Howard and Nathan Greno, production designer Doug Rogers, art director Dave Goetz and visual development artist Victoria Ying.

I’m not so sure this whole Tangled thing is gonna work out. I hope I’m wrong, but the name change (from Rapunzel) won’t make this feature any more palatable to a wide audience. Plus, it feels thin throughout, and while the modeling, hair and animation are all top notch, the whole project feels like an animated dream sequence from Hannah Montana. What’s your take?

Footage from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming CG feature, Tangled (previously titled Rapunzel), has leaked online. Below you can see a teaser trailer that includes some dialog, but not much else. Below that is a rough-cut of a long-form trailer, including everything from storyboard sequences to rough animation. It appears as though Rapunzel can use her hair like powerful tentacles. You can see below that when she first meets Flynn she snares him and ties him up with her long locks. The film, which is being directed by Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, is due in theaters on November 24, 2010.

by Brendan Burch

One of lifetime Disney animator Glen Keane’s crowning career achievements takes place late in the 1991 Disney feature film Beauty and the Beast. The Beast, having heard of Belle’s love for him, goes through a transformation…

Keane, who was honored in 2007 with the Windsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation, has too has undergone some transformations in his career, and also watched the industry transform as well. A gifted football player in his youth, Keane opted out of a scholarship and turned his attention to painting – and eventually animation while at Cal Arts. In his first job at Disney, Keane’s work on The Rescuers marked the transition from the era of The Nine Old Men; subsequently beginning the era of The Nine New Men. Working alongside John Lasseter, Keane helped guide one of the seminal CGI projects ever conceived – a 30-second test based on Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are that merged 2D character animation with CG backgrounds. Along with films like Star Wars, Tron and Luxo Jr., the projected helped transition the world of animation closer to the CG landscape we now know. After his legendary work on Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas and Tarzan, Keane underwent another transition – that into director. He took the director’s chair in 2003 for the CG film Rapunzel, which is due in theaters next summer. In 2008, due to non-threatening health reasons, Keane relinquished his directing duties to Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, taking instead the role of Executive Producer on the project.

Glen also helped me transform into an animator – after seeing him in The Making of ‘The Rescuers Down Under,’ I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

I recently got the chance to run a few questions by Glen, and we go over the onset of the Lasseter-era at Disney, his Windsor McCay award his thoughts on passing his legacy onto the next generation.

BRENDAN BURCH: Now that you’re directing, do you miss the physical process of animating?

GLEN KEANE: Directing Rapunzel has been a great learning experience for me. However I have always seen myself as an animator at heart and have longed for the day to be back animating, living in the skin of the character I am drawing.

BRENDAN: How has the Pixar team changed the way things work at Disney?

GLEN: John Lasseter and Ed Catmull have brought with them a refreshing honesty and collaboration that is permeating the studio. They very quickly instituted a story trust made up of directors and heads of story to give honest critiques of each other’s films. To be open to this kind of feedback is both painful and liberating. Our films have made giant strides forward by this process.

BRENDAN: How has the transition from pencil to the Cintiq digital tablet gone for you?
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