Personal Thoughts on the movie “Tangled”

If you grew up watching Disney movies like Cinderella or Disney shows like Hannah Montana or Lizzie McGuire, you will probably have watched Tangled at least once. Tangled is definitely my favorite Disney princess movie up till now. As most of you will know it’s a remake of the classic fairytale Rapunzel. The story is somewhat different though. 
In the original story, a pregnant woman and her husband steal some vegetables from a witch’s garden. When caught, they promise to give up their baby to the witch. The witch then locks up the girl in a tower and keeps her there. Now, this story is pretty lame. The only reason the witch keeps the girl is purely out of revenge for the vegetable thieves. That witch should’ve missed those veggies a lot; she even names the girl after them-“Rapunzel”. WHO names a kid after a VEGETABLE?

What makes this story even more lame is that it’s the typical “prince saves tragic beauty from danger” story. Rapunzel, being the stupid girl she is, has no desire to leave the tower at all until a prince “somehow” passes by and discovers her. Falling in love with someone she just met and trusting that person with all her heart, Rapunzel would make a terrible feminist. (On the other hand, our Disney princess Rapunzel seems to be the model of feminism)

Now, the Disney version of the story makes so much more sense. Well, of course the part about the magical flower growing from a “drop of sunlight”? No. That just doesn’t happen. But since the story is fiction anyways let’s just ignore that.

So, moving on, in this version the witch, Mother Gothel, actually has a reason to kidnap the girl. Her hair has the same power as the “magic golden flower”, which makes a person young again if they sing a creepy song about a shining flower. Because Gothel is obsessed with youth and beauty she locks Rapunzel up and raises her as her own child.

Rapunzel in this story actually does have a desire to leave the tower, to see the “floating lights”. Not a really good reason, and she still only feels the want to leave once a year. She’s probably a sociopath. The only other person she’s ever met is her “mother”, and the only friend she has is the chameleon Pascal (She can talk to animals, apparently.). Isn’t it normal to get tired of that life in a few years? Oh well, at least she tried harder than the older version of herself.

Another point that’s different is that Flynn Rider, the main guy character, isn’t a prince. He wasn’t even looking for Rapunzel! She has to beg him to take her to see the floating lanterns(when she was okay with not going outside for the last 18 years…?) Flynn at first sees her as a nuisance, unlike the fairytale prince who immediately falls in love with the girl he just met after climbing up her hair. But eventually he falls in love with her(What are the odds?) Admittedly Flynn is one of the main reasons I like this movie so much. I mean, look at that face. Who can resist that “smoulder”?

Growing up with Disney films, Disney remakes of classic fairytales are always fun to watch. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast were all great remakes that stuck to the storyline of the original version(although some with happier endings). However Tangled was one that broke away from its original and created a totally different story. And I must say, this was a great move on Disney’s part. While I made fun and nitpicked the flaws of the movie, I definitely recommend it to those who haven’t seen it yet.