Rapunzel

The princess predicament is a problem as old as Disneyland. Moms want a picture of their little girls with a Disney princess while Dads and their bored boys squirm at the very notion of waiting 45 minutes for a photo op. Disneyland seems to have found a happy medium with the new Fantasy Faire , ushering the ladies through a conga line of princess meet-and-greets while the guys pass the time with a slapstick comedy designed to entertain the...

The princess predicament is a problem as old as Disneyland. Moms want a picture of their little girls with a Disney princess while Dads and their bored boys squirm at the very notion of waiting 45 minutes for a photo op. Disneyland seems to have found a happy medium with the new Fantasy Faire , ushering the ladies through a conga line of princess meet-and-greets while the guys pass the time with a slapstick comedy designed to entertain the...

Disney is wringing the pink out of its princess movies. After the less-than-fairy-tale results for its most recent animated release, "The Princess and the Frog," executives at the Burbank studio believe they know why the acclaimed movie came up short at the box office. Brace yourself: Boys didn't want to see a movie with "princess" in the title. This time, Disney is taking measures to ensure that doesn't happen again. The studio renamed its next animated film with the girl-centric name "Rapunzel" to the less gender-specific "Tangled."

In this week's episode of "The Real Princesses of Disneyland," Aladdin has his eye on Sleeping Beauty, Ariel calls Cinderella an old hag and Snow White is jealous of Tiana's new line of designer tiaras. The new Fantasy Faire enchanted village opening at Disneyland on March 12 will bring together all the Disney princesses -- old and new -- under one roof in what sounds like an ABC reality show waiting to happen. What do you get when hot-headed Merida, bookworm Belle, stubborn-minded Jasmine, free-spirited Pocahontas and fair-haired Rapunzel move into their "enchanting new home for the princesses" at Disneyland?

For "Tangled," the studio's 50th feature-length cartoon, the team at Disney has taken a deep breath and tried to be all things to all animation-loving people. There are some hiccups along the way, but by the end there is success. Whether you like stirring adventure or sentimental romance, traditional fairy tales or stories of modern families, musicals or comedies, even blonds or brunets, "Tangled" has something for you. Sampling so many animation touchstones has its risks, but once "Tangled" calms down and accepts the essential sweetness of its better nature the rewards are clear.

Editor's Note: True beauty knows no boundaries, so we asked staffers Adam Tschorn and Chris Erskine to try out a new product aimed at removing pesky nose hair. Nad's Nose Wax for Men & Women, recently launched in Australia and available in the U.S. online, is designed to be used once a month, unlike hair trimmers, which often must be employed more frequently. That's convenient. But waxing inside the nose? Ouch! Luckily, the guys were intrepid. And they lived to talk about it: Chris: I am struck by [developer]

There's no other way to say it: Pascal was just a party pooper. After a few early test screenings, Disney animators knew things weren't working with the chameleon character in the new animated musical "Tangled," which opens Nov. 24. "We weren't getting enough entertainment out of Pascal," admits supervising animator Lino DiSalvo. "Animation-wise, originally, he was very realistic. He moved like a real chameleon, his eyes would move independently. " And while that's fine for fans of the bug-eyed reptiles, this particular creature just wasn't giving off the right vibe for a princess movie.

IT'S A WINDY WINTER night, and the gusts send a low hum through the attic, as if Mother Nature is drawing a bass fiddle bow across the roof line. "That's a concert G," I tell my wife. "What is?" "That hum," I say. "I think it's a G. Or a G sharp." "Or an H," she says. "There is no H," I say. "Not yet," she says. We are in bed, a bunch of us -- me, my first wife, a couple of kids, a couple of dogs. A cat of questionable character. That's seven in all.

In this week's episode of "The Real Princesses of Disneyland," Aladdin has his eye on Sleeping Beauty, Ariel calls Cinderella an old hag and Snow White is jealous of Tiana's new line of designer tiaras. The new Fantasy Faire enchanted village opening at Disneyland on March 12 will bring together all the Disney princesses -- old and new -- under one roof in what sounds like an ABC reality show waiting to happen. What do you get when hot-headed Merida, bookworm Belle, stubborn-minded Jasmine, free-spirited Pocahontas and fair-haired Rapunzel move into their "enchanting new home for the princesses" at Disneyland?

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom A Novel Christopher Healy HarperCollins: 432 pp., $16.99, ages 8 and up Whether it's Cinderella or Snow White, Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty, princes play a key role in the happily ever afters of fairy tales. But what happens once these dashing young lads have swooped in to save their distressed damsels? What if, as Christopher Healy theorizes with his cheeky middle-grade debut, these princes turned out to be insufferable losers?

Editor's Note: True beauty knows no boundaries, so we asked staffers Adam Tschorn and Chris Erskine to try out a new product aimed at removing pesky nose hair. Nad's Nose Wax for Men & Women, recently launched in Australia and available in the U.S. online, is designed to be used once a month, unlike hair trimmers, which often must be employed more frequently. That's convenient. But waxing inside the nose? Ouch! Luckily, the guys were intrepid. And they lived to talk about it: Chris: I am struck by [developer]

When Chris Colfer was just 20, he'd already been named one of GQ magazine's men of the year, having sung and acted his way into the hearts of America as Kurt, the high-pitched, openly gay brunet who is unabashedly himself on the hit TV show "Glee. " Colfer's star had risen so fast in the year he'd starred on the Fox comedy that a literary agent asked him to pen his autobiography - an endeavor Colfer had the good sense to decline because it was so premature. Instead, Colfer offered "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Little, Brown: 448 pp., $17.99 ages 8 and up)

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom A Novel Christopher Healy HarperCollins: 432 pp., $16.99, ages 8 and up Whether it's Cinderella or Snow White, Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty, princes play a key role in the happily ever afters of fairy tales. But what happens once these dashing young lads have swooped in to save their distressed damsels? What if, as Christopher Healy theorizes with his cheeky middle-grade debut, these princes turned out to be insufferable losers?

For "Tangled," the studio's 50th feature-length cartoon, the team at Disney has taken a deep breath and tried to be all things to all animation-loving people. There are some hiccups along the way, but by the end there is success. Whether you like stirring adventure or sentimental romance, traditional fairy tales or stories of modern families, musicals or comedies, even blonds or brunets, "Tangled" has something for you. Sampling so many animation touchstones has its risks, but once "Tangled" calms down and accepts the essential sweetness of its better nature the rewards are clear.

There's no other way to say it: Pascal was just a party pooper. After a few early test screenings, Disney animators knew things weren't working with the chameleon character in the new animated musical "Tangled," which opens Nov. 24. "We weren't getting enough entertainment out of Pascal," admits supervising animator Lino DiSalvo. "Animation-wise, originally, he was very realistic. He moved like a real chameleon, his eyes would move independently. " And while that's fine for fans of the bug-eyed reptiles, this particular creature just wasn't giving off the right vibe for a princess movie.

Disney is wringing the pink out of its princess movies. After the less-than-fairy-tale results for its most recent animated release, "The Princess and the Frog," executives at the Burbank studio believe they know why the acclaimed movie came up short at the box office. Brace yourself: Boys didn't want to see a movie with "princess" in the title. This time, Disney is taking measures to ensure that doesn't happen again. The studio renamed its next animated film with the girl-centric name "Rapunzel" to the less gender-specific "Tangled."

When Chris Colfer was just 20, he'd already been named one of GQ magazine's men of the year, having sung and acted his way into the hearts of America as Kurt, the high-pitched, openly gay brunet who is unabashedly himself on the hit TV show "Glee. " Colfer's star had risen so fast in the year he'd starred on the Fox comedy that a literary agent asked him to pen his autobiography - an endeavor Colfer had the good sense to decline because it was so premature. Instead, Colfer offered "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" (Little, Brown: 448 pp., $17.99 ages 8 and up)

"Into the Woods" opened on Broadway Thursday night. The first act of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's fairy-tale musical is even more dazzling than it was a year ago at San Diego's Old Globe Theater--and the second act is, alas, even more of a letdown. One big difference--and all to the good--is the hiring of Bernadette Peters to play the wicked witch. Peters is adorably maleficent, quite the most satisfactory thing in this line since Margaret Hamilton melted.

IT'S A WINDY WINTER night, and the gusts send a low hum through the attic, as if Mother Nature is drawing a bass fiddle bow across the roof line. "That's a concert G," I tell my wife. "What is?" "That hum," I say. "I think it's a G. Or a G sharp." "Or an H," she says. "There is no H," I say. "Not yet," she says. We are in bed, a bunch of us -- me, my first wife, a couple of kids, a couple of dogs. A cat of questionable character. That's seven in all.

The Brothers Grimm got it right nearly 200 years ago in their fairy tale: Once upon a time, women were defined by their hair and captive to those who would control them by its allure. Hair was a tool a woman wielded to land a man; without radiant locks, she might well have to abandon hope of wedded bliss. What happened, after all, to Rapunzel when the sorceress cut off her famous mane? She was separated from her prince.