One Thing I Think Will Be Changed From The Live-Action Tangled That I Would Really Miss

These days a live-action remake is always on the upcoming Disney movies release calendar, and for a good reason – these movies have big hits with the House of Mouse. Following Moana being next in line, Walt Disney Studios is getting ready to take us to the kingdom of Corona with a live-action Tangled. As someone who considers Tangled to be one of Walt Disney Animation’s best movies of the 21st century, I’m half excited and half worried, especially regarding one thing that I don’t think they’ll adapt quite the same in the new medium. Let’s talk about it:

Maximus looking at a wanted poster — (Image credit: WDAS)

How Is The Live-Action Tangled Going To Handle Its Animal Sidekicks?

We first heard about it being in the works in 2024 when The Greatest Showman director signed on, but in the past month, the movie has really gotten off the ground with news that Flynn Rider and Rapunzel have been cast. Now that we have real-life faces to the characters, I’m definitely interested to see Milo Manheim recreate Flynn’s smoulder and Teagan Croft embody Rapunzel. But then I realized something: how are they going to adapt Maximus and Pascal?

I’ve seen Tangled countless times, and whenever I watch it, I think about how Flynn’s horse and Rapunzel’s chameleon are a secret weapon of the film. They may not talk, but they have so many fun comedic beats throughout the movie that really breaks up the more dramatic elements of the film and gives it that extra Disney charm. Maximus and Pascal have a whole unspoken dynamic that occurs throughout the animated film that I’m not sure will play as well in the remake without it cutting to comical closeups of a horse and a chameleon throughout.

Pascal and Rapunzel

(Image credit: Disney)

If Things Go How I Expect Them To, The Live-Action Movie Just Won’t Be The Same

I’ve seen all the Disney remakes over the years, and while we don’t know yet how they will be adapted, I have an educated guess. I think they will be in the film, but as realistic creatures without as big of personalities as the animated version.

Regarding Pascal, I imagine it will have to be in the vein of the live-action Cinderella, where he’s a CGI-animated (but quite lifelike) chameleon. Maximus will have to be a real horse – Manheim has already talked about taking horse-riding lessons. While I can imagine they’ll be able to replicate some of the bits between Flynn and his stead, it’s going to hit different for sure.

Remember when Mulan completely took out Mushu, and everyone freaked out and basically disowned it? What’s hard is I understand the struggle here. As a fan, I want to see Maximus and Pascal because I love all of Tangled, and I see that from a filmmaker’s perspective they can’t and won’t redo every element of the animated version. That leaves both sides in an awkward place.

This issue brings me back to the problem I have again and again with Disney live-action remakes. Try as you might to recapture the magic of an animated classic, but they are different mediums, and you lose a bit of what makes these movies special when you try to adapt them this way. Anyways, we don’t know when the live-action Tangled is coming out yet, but we expect production to start sometime this year.