RAPUNZEL

Beautiful illustrations are no compensation for the awful translation and incoherent plot of this “adaption” (as the narrator puts it).

In exchange not for the eponymic herb but for “berries with special powers,” “a witch whom [sic] lived in the woods of a forest” spirits green-tressed Rapunzel—pronounced “RApnzaaal” throughout—to an “iced cold” tower. Years later, Rapunzel’s lover (no beating around the bush here) is blinded by icicles, but once her singing “empowered his eyes to see things again,” they somehow follow her magically regrown hair to her parents’ doorstep and are married. Enhanced by sparkles and touch-responsive animations, and depicting figures rendered in jewel-bright tones and elegant dress, the art is worth lingering over. Contrariwise, so distracting are the textual errors on nearly every page and the mispronunciations and misreadings in the audio—which can’t even be switched off—that English-language audiences, at least, will be hard put to stay focused on the plot. It is also available in Spanish and Chinese and has a “sleep mode” option that plays the audio sans illustrations.

Adequate interactive effects and above-average visuals are wasted on a hacked-out, poorly told story line.