Tangled
Tangled is the Disney appropriation of Rapunzel and it significantly changes some things from the original to appeal to both a younger audience and a contemporary audience. The backstory of the tale changes completely, mainly to make it more understandable and acceptable for a light hearted family movie, which will be addressed later. In this new backstory there is a drop of sunlight which hits the earth and makes a golden flower with the power to heal. An old woman named Mother Gothel hides the flower and uses it for her to remain young. The king and queen of the land nearby are having a child, but the queen gets very sick and search parties are sent out to find the golden flower. They find it and it heals the queen, however the magic of the flower transfers into her child, Rapunzel. Rapunzel’s golden hair now contains the magical qualities of the flower and can heal and act as a fountain of youth. Mother Gothel breaks into the castle with the intention of stealing a lock of hair, but soon discovers when cut the hair loses its magic and turns brown. She steals Rapunzel and raises her in a tower in the woods as her own child. As it is a film the story is told from third person perspective, however it does switch focus between primarily Rapunzel and Flynn/Eugene and Mother Gothel, with cameos of the king and queen. Narration is done by Eugene. Apart from the changes in backstory there is also a lot of added characters, humor and songs. This has the effect of appealing to a modern audience that has constant stimulation and needs a vibrant movie to keep them from being distracted, it also brings in one of the main themes of the movie, which is not in the original. Dreams.
The focus of Tangled is on how each of the characters has a dream which defines their actions and personalities and how through character growth their dream can change. The message of follow your dreams is very strong in the text. Rapunzel’s dream of seeing the lanterns is strong enough for her to break free from the psychological prison Mother Gothel has created, her parents dream of seeing their daughter again leads them to release the lanterns every year without fail and never give up until they finally have her again. Flynn is the metaphor for not really knowing who you want to be, or thinking you do and chasing down something you think will satisfy you when it isn’t really what you want. He and Rapunzel both understand that their dreams were not end results, but paths that lead them to each other and their true dreams, love. The song ‘I’ve got a dream’ illustrates that no matter where someone comes from they still have a dream in their heart which if they are persistent and people support them they can one day realise.
The fairytale elements in Tangled are more in keeping with the modern expectation people have come to want from fairy tales. There is a kingdom, a lost princess, someone not knowing who they are, romance, a form of magic – in this case the flower, the hair and the tears- animals which display high intelligence and someone’s good heart, determination and spirit getting them to their end goal.
The focus of Tangled is on how each of the characters has a dream which defines their actions and personalities and how through character growth their dream can change. The message of follow your dreams is very strong in the text. Rapunzel’s dream of seeing the lanterns is strong enough for her to break free from the psychological prison Mother Gothel has created, her parents dream of seeing their daughter again leads them to release the lanterns every year without fail and never give up until they finally have her again. Flynn is the metaphor for not really knowing who you want to be, or thinking you do and chasing down something you think will satisfy you when it isn’t really what you want. He and Rapunzel both understand that their dreams were not end results, but paths that lead them to each other and their true dreams, love. The song ‘I’ve got a dream’ illustrates that no matter where someone comes from they still have a dream in their heart which if they are persistent and people support them they can one day realise.
The fairytale elements in Tangled are more in keeping with the modern expectation people have come to want from fairy tales. There is a kingdom, a lost princess, someone not knowing who they are, romance, a form of magic – in this case the flower, the hair and the tears- animals which display high intelligence and someone’s good heart, determination and spirit getting them to their end goal.
