''Tangled'' is the
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
to the 2010 animated film ''
Tangled
''Tangled'' is a 2010 American animated musical film, musical Adventure film, adventure fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" in th ...
'' produced by
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
. The film score and original songs were composed by
Alan Menken
Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...
, which marked his return to composition for an animated feature, as he previously worked on several of Disney's animated features till ''
Home on the Range
"Home on the Range" ( Roud No. 3599) is an American folk song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Hom ...
'' (2004). The original songs were created by blending medieval music with 1960s folk rock.
Glenn Slater
Glenn Slater (born January 28, 1968) is an American lyricist for musical theatre. He's collaborated with Alan Menken, Christopher Lennertz, & Andrew Lloyd Webber, among other composers. He was nominated for three Tony Awards for Best Original S ...
wrote lyrics for most of the tracks in the album, except for the closing credits song, "Something That I Want", which was written, composed and performed by
Grace Potter
Grace Evelyn Potter (born June 20, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released five solo albums: ''Red Shoe Rebel'' (2002), ''Original Soul'' (2004), ''Midnight'' (2015), ''Daylight'' (2019), and '' Mother Road'' (2023) ...
from
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were an American Rock music, rock band from Vermont, formed in 2002 in Waitsfield, Vermont, Waitsfield by drummer Matt Burr, guitarist Scott Tournet, and singer Grace Potter. They began their career as an indie ro ...
,
with the score orchestrated by Kevin Kliesch and conducted by Menken's longtime collaborator Michael Kosarin.
The soundtrack was released by
Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Company's Walt Disney Studios (division), motion picture studios, television shows, Disney Experiences, them ...
on November 10, 2010, followed by a vinyl edition that was released on March 21, 2014.
Apart from being critically acclaimed, the soundtrack received several awards and nominations, including the
Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (including its previous names) is the Grammy Awards awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media.
Alan Menken has won five awards (out of nine nominati ...
for the track "
I See the Light". Menken and Slater wrote three new songs for the series, apart from reusing the original tracks for the stage adaptation ''Tangled: The Musical''.
Reception
The soundtrack (particularly Menken's musical score) in general was technically praised, however the songs mostly received some mixed reactions for being too derivative to many of Menken's previous works (particularly the
1990s renaissance ones). Bill Graham from
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
praised them for their variations to the tempo and tone, memorable lyrics, and "blending old with new," However, he also stated that "the film’s constant mixture of tones can feel a bit off-putting for some."
Roth Cornet from ''Screen Rant'' was positive towards them, saying that "Alan Menken’s music is as catchy, uplifting and effecting as one would expect."
Scott of ''The New York Times'' positively reviewed the music, saying that it "takes you back to a charmed world of swoony longing and sprightly mischief," with a slick and efficient atmosphere and grace notes of self-conscious classicism.
Corliss from ''Time'' was also positive to the songs, noting that though "don't sound on first hearing like top-drawer Menken," the songs still "smoothly fill their functions." He described the opener, "When Will My Life Begin?," as the "heroine's 'I wanna' song," a Disney tradition that stretches back to Snow White's "
Some Day My Prince Will Come
"Someday My Prince Will Come" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. It was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White's voice in t ...
." "I See the Light" was described as "a generically tuneful love ballad, which is sure to be nominated for a Best Song Oscar."
James Berardinelli, on the other hand, negatively commented the songs as "neither catchy nor memorable."
Tim Robey from ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' gave a negative review, saying that they were only "OK—there’s nothing you want to whistle on the way home."
Peter Bradshaw from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', who gave the movie two out of five stars, described the songs as "sporting a laboured selection of Broadway-style show tunes," and hence are actually added for profit.
Track listing
Charts
Certifications
Accolades
Notes
References
{{Alan Menken
2010 soundtrack albums
Disney animation soundtracks
Walt Disney Records soundtracks
Albums produced by Alan Menken
Alan Menken soundtracks
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals albums
Tangled (franchise)
Folk rock soundtracks
Animated film soundtracks
Musical film soundtracks
Fantasy film soundtracks
Adventure film soundtracks
Comedy film soundtracks