Frozen VS Tangled

As I promised, I'm writing a post comparing Frozen and Tangled.

So, a few days ago, we bought Frozen and watched it. Unfortunately, we are not part of the obsessed Frozen fandom. My dad mentioned that he liked Tangled better. I have to agree, I liked Tangled better, too. That got me to thinking about the similarities and differences, and why Tangled went over better with us than Frozen. I thought about it, and came up with a few reasons.

NOTE: I have nothing against people who really love Frozen. That's great. It's an enjoyable movie. This is just my opinion on why I think Tangled worked better.

A SECOND NOTE: Don't read this if you haven't watched both Tangled and Frozen. I can't avoid spoilers.

Cast.

Frozen: Let's see. We've got Anna and Elsa to keep track of, then Kristof, Hans, and of course Sven and Olaf. It's a bigger cast, and you can't spend as much time bonding with each character and getting to know them.

Tangled: The cast is kept really slim. The focus is nearly all on Rapunzel and Flynn. You get plenty of time to get to know these two characters and root for them.

Scope.

Frozen: This had epic consequences. An entire kingdom was at stake. If Anna didn't catch up to Elsa and get her to bring back summer, all of Arendelle would suffer.

Tangled: This had a much smaller scope. It's more personal. If Flynn and Rapunzel failed, the only ones that would really suffer would be themselves. Rapunzel would go back to her tower forever, and Flynn would die. Mother Gothel would win, and no one else would get dragged into things.


Pacing.

Frozen: The action never stops. After the setup and Elsa freezes everything, the characters move and move and move until the very end. Only then do they stop for about two minutes. With so many characters and so much action, it's even harder to bond to the characters and get to know them.
Heck, the characters themselves don't even get a chance to think about what's happening to them. The relationships between the characters advance, but it's more along the lines of, "You saved my life, you're pretty cool," instead of, "I've spent time with you, your interests are similar to mine, and I think I might like you."

Tangled: The action comes in steady beats. Something happens to the characters, then the action falls away and they get a chance to think about it and advance their relationship. They slowly get to know each other and grow to like each other. There are systematic breaks in the action throughought the story. (Right after they nearly drown and Rapunzel heals Flynn's hand; once they get to the kingdom and they have fun there; Flynn get captured and put in jail while Rapunzel is locked back in her tower to think about her failure)

Ending.

Frozen: Seriously, I think Frozen wound up too quickly. The climax was AMAZING, but it wound up too fast. It wasn't quite believable. Elsa just said "love," the snow melted, and everything was fine and dandy.
I think it should have ended a bit differently. It shouldn't have been so easy for Elsa to reverse what so much fear had done. She so suddenly had complete confidence in herself and understood love, so she could melt her own fear-made ice?
There should have been a scene of Else trying to melt the ice, but the fear of not being able to do it keeping her from doing it. A vicious cycle. Then Anna helps her, and then it can wrap up.
And for characters being able to prove their love, the thing with Anna and Elsa was great, but Kristof got shoved to the side. And Hans ... *growl* That gets its own blog post someday.

Tangled: This ending was well paced. It was a believable as a fairy tale can be, and had a nice wind down.
Rapunzel and Flynn both got to prove their love; Flynn by dying trying to save Rapunzel, and Rapunzel by promising to stay with Mother Gothel if she lets Rapunzel heal Flynn.


So, there you are. A quick description of why I think Tangled is better than Frozen. What are you thoughts? Am I ten miles off, or somewhere near being right?