Tangled is such a fun movie with beautiful animation! It is definitely one of my favourite Disney films.
Premiered on: November 14, 2010 at the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
Directed by:
Nathan Greno
Byron Howard
Produced by:
Roy Conli
John Lasseter
Glen Keane
Based on: Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm
Sequels: Tangled Ever After short (2012)
Cast:
Mandy Moore – Rapunzel
Delaney Rose Stein – Young Rapunzel
Zachary Levi – Flynn Rider
Donna Murphy – Mother Gothel
Brad Garrett – Hook Hand Thug
Jeffrey Tambor – Big Nose Thug
Ron Perlman – Stabbington Brother
John DiMaggio – Stabbington Brother
Frank Welker – Pascal / Maximus
M.C. Gainey – Captain of the Guard
Paul Tompkins – Short Thug
Richard Kiel – Vladimir
Supervising Animators:
Lino DiSalvo
Mark Mitchell
Glen Keane
John Kahrs
Clay Kaytis
Music by:
Alan Menken
Glenn Slater
Grace Potter
Songs:
“When Will My Life Begin?”
“Mother Knows Best”
“I’ve Got A Dream”
“I See the Light”
“Healing Incantation”
“Something That I Want”
Academy Awards: Best Song – “I See the Light” (nomination)
The Story:
Tangled begins with Flynn Rider explaining that this is the story of how he died as a ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ poster for him is shown. Flynn continues to say that it is actually a very fun story, but it is not even about him; it is about Rapunzel.
Once a single drop of sunlight dropped from the heavens and grew into a magical flower. That flower could heal the sick and injured. Mother Gothel is eyeing the flower in a forest. Flynn tells the audience to remember her because she is important. He continues the story by saying that centuries passed and a kingdom grew near to that forest. It was ruled by a beloved King and Queen. The Queen became pregnant but was very sick. The people of the kingdom went out to search for the magical flower. Mother Gothel was keeping it for herself and was able to stay young for hundreds of years. She would sing a special song called the “Healing Incantation.”
The palace guards were able to find the flower. They dug it up and brought the flower back to the King. It healed the Queen and a princess was born. The King and Queen celebrated the birth by launching a floating lantern. But one day, Mother Gothel snuck into the palace and cut a strand of Rapunzel’s hair to use its magic. That piece of hair turned brown and lost its magic. So instead, Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel. They headed deep into the forest and lived in a hidden tower. Mother Gothel raised Rapunzel as her own child and whenever she would brush Rapunzel’s hair, the child would sing the “Healing Incantation” and Mother Gothel would stay young.
Each year on Rapunzel’s birthday, the kingdom released thousands of lanterns into the sky in hopes that the lost princess would return.
Rapunzel is now a teenager, and Pascal the chameleon is hiding from her in a game of hide-and-go-seek. Pascal wants to go outside of the tower, but Rapunzel tries to convince him, and herself, that they like it there. The title card is shown and Rapunzel sings “When Will My Life Begin?” as she busies herself with chores, reading, painting, playing guitar, knitting, and cooking, all while wondering when her life will begin. At the end she brushes and brushes her hair. Rapunzel knows that the next night will be when the floating lanterns appear as they always do on her birthday.
Flynn Rider and the Stabbington Brothers are sneaking along the top of the castle roof. They sneak into the throne room from above and steal the crown of the lost princess before running away from the kingdom.
Rapunzel is working up the courage to ask Mother Gothel something. She hears Mother Gothel calling out for Rapunzel to let down her hair from outside. Pascal hides as Rapunzel throws her hair out the window and pulls Mother Gothel up. Rapunzel tries to ask her question, but Mother Gothel says that she is feeling rundown and wants Rapunzel to sing to her before they talk. Rapunzel quickly does and hands Mother Gothel a brush. Her mother barely has enough time for the spell to work because Rapunzel is too excited about her birthday the next day. She will be turning eighteen and really wants to see the floating lights. She shows Mother Gothel her mural that she painted of the lights. Rapunzel explains that the lights only appear on her birthday and she feels like they are meant for her. Mother Gothel still does not want Rapunzel leaving the tower and sings “Mother Knows Best.” She explains that the outside world is filled with evil things like ruffians, thugs, snakes, and quicksand. Mother Gothel then makes Rapunzel promise to never ask to leave again and Rapunzel reluctantly agrees. Mother Gothel then leaves the tower and Rapunzel sadly looks out the window as her hair blows in the wind.
Flynn Rider and the Stabbington Brothers are running through the forest. Flynn stops to complain about how he looks on the ‘Wanted’ posters around the forest. The guards on horses are catching up so they keep running. They reach the bottom of a cliff and Flynn tells the brothers that if they give him a boost, he will pull them up. The Stabbington Brothers insist that Flynn gives them the satchel with the crown inside first and so Flynn does. But once he reaches the top, Flynn runs off because he had managed to steal the satchel back.
The guards continue to chase Flynn and the Captain says to retrieve the satchel at any cost. The guards start to shoot arrows at Flynn. Flynn ends up knocking the Captain off of his horse, Maximus. Landing on Maximus, Flynn tries to get the horse to keep running, but the horse stops. He snarls at Flynn and tries to grab the satchel. The satchel goes flying and lands on a tree handing over a cliff. The two race to get it and Maximus tries to knock Flynn of the cliff. The tree ends up falling with both Flynn and Maximus plummeting down with it. They crash to the ground below and Maximus sniffs around to find Flynn. Flynn is able to get away and he stumbles upon Rapunzel’s tower.
Flynn climbs up and into the tower. Inside, Rapunzel hits him on the side with a frying pan and knocks him out. She eases towards him and Pascal points to his teeth to tell her to check for fangs. There are none and Flynn starts to wake up again; Rapunzel hits him again. She tries to stuff him into a wardrobe and eventually is able to, while propping up the door with a chair. Rapunzel then sees the crown in the satchel and tries it on. Mother Gothel then calls her from outside to let down her hair. Rapunzel hides the satchel and crown.
Mother Gothel comes in and says that she has a big surprise. She is going to make hazelnut soup for dinner. Rapunzel is trying to tell her mother about the person locked in the wardrobe because now she thinks she is not as weak as Mother Gothel says and could handle going outside. But Mother Gothel still won’t hear of it and won’t even let Rapunzel talk about the floating lights or leaving the tower. Rapunzel then timidly says that she would like some new paint for her birthday, new paint from the white shells Mother Gothel once brought her. Mother Gothel says that is a long journey worth three days but agrees to go.
Rapunzel packs Mother Gothel some food and Mother Gothel takes off. She says that she will be back in three days’ time. After she leaves, Rapunzel hurries to let Flynn out of the wardrobe. She ties him up in a chair with her hair. Pascal wakes Flynn up by sticking his tongue in Flynn’s ear. Rapunzel is hiding in the rafters of the tower but then slowly approaches Flynn with her frying pan. She asks who he is and how he found her. They introduce themselves and Flynn panics because his satchel is gone. Rapunzel says that she has hidden it where he will never find it and Flynn looks over and asks if it is in a nearby pot. Rapunzel then knocks him out again with the frying pan and hides it again. Rapunzel is surprised that Flynn does not want her hair and Flynn insists that he was just being chased and climbed up into the tower to hide. Rapunzel and Pascal discuss if they think Flynn is telling the truth or not. Rapunzel then shows Flynn the mural of the floating lights and asks if he knows what they are. Flynn says that they are lanterns for the lost princess. Rapunzel makes a deal with him that if he takes her to see the lanterns, she will give him back his satchel. Flynn does not want to return to the kingdom he just fled from and tries his smoulder on Rapunzel to get his way. It does not work and so he agrees to take her.
Flynn climbs down the tower, but Rapunzel is hesitant to leave. She sings a reprise of “When Will My Life Being?” and swings down from the tower on her hair. She runs through the grass outside and is in shock about what she has done. Rapunzel has some very mixed feelings about this adventure and what Mother Gothel will think of it, but she is also having the best day ever. Flynn is not impressed with her moods and suggests that maybe they should go back and forget their deal because of her mixed feelings. This does not work to his advantage and Rapunzel wants to keep going. A bush starts to shake near them and Rapunzel freaks out, but it is only a bunny that jumps out. She admits that she thought it was a ruffian or a thug and that she is a little jumpy. Flynn tells her that it is best to avoid ruffians and thugs then and he knows just the place to go.
Maximus is still snigging around. He finds a ‘Wanted’ poster for Flynn and destroys it. He then runs into Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel panics that a palace horse is missing its rider and she runs to the tower. She searches inside for Rapunzel, but she is gone. Mother Gothel does find the satchel and crown, along with a ‘Wanted’ poster for Flynn. She grabs a dagger.
Flynn brings Rapunzel to the Snuggly Duckling tavern. He tells her that it is a quaint place because he does not want her to be scared off of this adventure. They enter inside and the place is filled with ruffians and thugs. Rapunzel starts to panic, but Flynn leads her inside before suggesting that maybe they should go back to her tower. Before they can leave, a thug shows Flynn a ‘Wanted’ poster of him and another thug goes to find some guards. The thugs then all fight over who gets to turn Flynn in for the reward money. Rapunzel tries to stop then and tells the tavern patrons that Flynn is going to help her find her dream. She asks if any of them have ever had a dream. The thugs start to sing “I’ve Got A Dream.” They sing about their different dreams such as being a concert pianist, being a florist, and collecting ceramic unicorns. Flynn shares his dream about being rich and Rapunzel sings about her dream of seeing the lanterns. Mother Gothel approaches the Snuggly Duckling.
The palace guards arrive with the Stabbington Brothers in shackles. The thugs then help Rapunzel and Flynn to escape because they support her dream, though they think that Flynn’s dream stinks. Maximus arrives at the Snuggly Duckling and sniffs out Flynn’s scent. He shows the guards the secret passageway where Flynn and Rapunzel escaped into. The guards all follow except for one who is left to watch the Stabbington Brothers. The brothers easily knock him out and follow into the passageway as well. Mother Gothel sees all of this and demands from a drunken thug to know where the tunnels lead to.
In the tunnel, Rapunzel asks Flynn questions about where he is from, but Flynn does not want to talk about it. He does want to know why Rapunzel has not seen the lanterns before though if they mean so much to her. They are interrupted by approaching guards and start to run. They make it outside and are underneath a dam. The Stabbington Brothers also appear from another tunnel nearby. Rapunzel is able to swing away by using her hair. Flynn fights off the guards with a frying pan and then fights Maximus. Rapunzel throws her hair back to him so Flynn can swing away as well. Maximus then kicks out posts that are holding together the dam. Rapunzel and Flynn take off again as the dam breaks. They just make it into another tunnel but are soon blocked inside as the water starts to rise. They are unable to find a way out because it is too dark.
Rapunzel starts to cry and tells Flynn that she is sorry for getting them into this. Flynn then admits that his real name is Eugene Fitzherbert because someone ought to know. Rapunzel then admits that she has magic hair that glows when she sings. They then realize that this could help save them and so she sings and by the glow, they are able to find a way out.
Rapunzel is very happy to be safe, but Flynn is still panicking because her hair can glow. Rapunzel then tells him that it doesn’t just glow.
Mother Gothel finds another way out of the tunnels and waits by the exit. She hears someone coming but is surprised to see the Stabbington Brothers and not Rapunzel. She overhears them talk about how they are going to go after Flynn to get the crown back. Mother Gothel approaches them and makes a deal. She gives them the crown and then tells them that Flynn also has something worth one thousand crowns.
By a campfire, Rapunzel is wrapping her hair around Flynn’s injured hand. She tells him now to freak out and then she starts to sing. Her glowing hair heals his hand. Flynn is trying very hard not to freak out. Rapunzel then explains about how her hair works and shows the brown strand that had been cut which lost its magic. She says that is why she was kept in a tower, for her own protection. Flynn asks if she is still going to go back and Rapunzel does not know. She says that it is complicated. She then asks about Eugene Fitzherbert. Flynn tells her about how he was an orphan and would read a book about a hero named Flynnigan Rider to the other orphans. That hero could do anything he wanted to do and go anywhere he wanted to go so Eugene wanted to be that. Rapunzel tells him that she likes Eugene better than Flynn. Flynn then leaves to get some more firewood.
Mother Gothel appears. She tells Rapunzel that they are going home now, but Rapunzel wants to stay with Flynn. Mother Gothel says that Rapunzel has only invented this romance and that she is naïve. Mother Gothel sings a reprise of “Mother Knows Best,” but Rapunzel is firm in that she is staying. Mother Gothel then gives her the crown and satchel. She tells Rapunzel to give it to Flynn and see how fast he leaves her. Mother Gothel leaves and Flynn comes back. Rapunzel keeps the satchel and crown hidden.
Mother Gothel and the Stabbington Brothers watch Flynn and Rapunzel. She tells the brothers to have patience.
The next morning, Maximus wakes Flynn up and starts to drag him away. Rapunzel races after to save Flynn. She is able to control and befriend Maximus. She tells the horse that it is the biggest day of her life and that she needs him to not get Flynn arrested. It would be just for that day and then they can chase each other afterwards. They shake on it.
They arrive at the kingdom and Rapunzel is in awe at the activity of the people. Her hair keeps getting stepped on so Flynn finds some girls to braid it for her. They are very excited to and decorate it with flowers. Rapunzel and Flynn explore the kingdom and dance together in the square.
At sunset, they head out on a boat to watch the lanterns. Flynn gives Maximus some apples. He then paddles the boat out for a great view. Rapunzel admits that she is terrified that they lights are not everything she has dreamed of and Flynn assures her that they will be. Rapunzel is then worried that they will be and does not know what she is do next. Flynn says that she can then find a new dream.
The King and Queen are sadly getting ready for the lanterns. They miss their daughter. They step out onto the balcony and release the first lantern. Thousands of lanterns follow. Rapunzel and Flynn sing “I See the Light” and Flynn surprises Rapunzel with their own lanterns to release. Rapunzel then gives the crown back. She says that she should have given it back earlier, but she was scared. She says that she is no longer scared and Flynn understands.
Flynn sees the Stabbington Brothers on the shore. He paddles back and leaves Rapunzel. He assures her that everything is fine, but he has one thing to take care off.
Flynn meets with the Stabbington Brothers. He gives them the crown and turns to leave, but they accuse him of holding out on them again. They know that the girl with the magic hair is much more valuable than the crown.
Rapunzel thinks that it is Flynn coming back, but it turns out to be the Stabbington Brothers. They tell her that Flynn left her and ran off with the crown. They point out the boat with Flynn on it, sailing away. The brothers tell Rapunzel that Flynn traded the crown for her and they try to grab her. Mother Gothel attacks them and leaves with Rapunzel. Rapunzel is very sad about Flynn betraying her.
The boat arrives at the castle. Flynn is tied to the boat with the crown in his hand. He is captured by guards and shouts for Rapunzel. Maximus sees this. Flynn is put in prison and the guards come to get him, saying it is time to get his over with.
At the tower, Mother Gothel takes all of the flowers out of Rapunzel’s hair and tells her to pretend like it never happened. Rapunzel is still very sad and Mother Gothel again says that she tried to warn Rapunzel that the world is very cruel. She leaves to make hazelnut soup. Rapunzel is looking at a cloth with the royal symbol of a sun on it. She remembers that she has seen it before and realizes that she has unknowingly painted that symbol all over her room. She remembers seeing it above her crib as a baby. Rapunzel realizes that she is the lost princess.
Flynn is being led through the prison and sees that the Stabbington Brothers are in jail. He demands to know how they knew about Rapunzel and they say that it was the old lady. Flynn tries to tell the guards that Rapunzel is in trouble, but they do not care.
Rapunzel confronts Mother Gothel about being the lost princess. Mother Gothel says that everything she did was to protect her, but Rapunzel is mad that she spent her entire life hiding from people when she should have been hiding from Mother Gothel. She wants to know where Flynn is and Mother Gothel tells her that he is to be hanged for his crimes. Rapunzel says that she will never let Mother Gothel use her again.
Flynn sees a ceramic unicorn on a shelf in the prison. The thugs from the Snuggly Duckling appear and rescue him. They ran from the guards and catapult Flynn out of the palace and onto Maximus. They take off and race to the tower. He shouts for Rapunzel, but there is no answer. Her hair is thrown down and so he climbs up it to find Rapunzel tied up. Mother Gothel stabs him. Rapunzel struggles to get to him and Mother Gothel commands that she stops fighting her. Rapunzel tells her that she will never stop fighting unless she is allowed to save Flynn. She makes a deal with Mother Gothel that she will go willingly if she is able to heal Flynn. Mother Gothel agrees.
Mother Gothel chains up Flynn and lets Rapunzel go to him. She tries to heal, but Flynn does not want her to so she is not forever enslaved to Mother Gothel. Flynn cuts off her hair and it instantly becomes brown. Mother Gothel becomes ancient and falls out of the tower window. She turns into dust before she reaches the ground.
Rapunzel cries over Flynn as he is dying. They tell each other that they were each other’s dreams. Rapunzel’s tears have magic and she sings the “Healing Incantation.” Flynn is healed and they kiss.
A surprised guard comes to get the King and Queen. They race through the palace and find Rapunzel and Flynn standing outside on the balcony. The Queen and Rapunzel slowly walk towards each other and then hug. The King embraces them both and pulls Flynn into the hug as well.
Flynn is narrating again and talks about the whole kingdom rejoicing that the lost princess has returned. Dreams then come true all over the place. Maximus becomes the new Captain of the Guard and all of the guards now use frying pans. He calls Rapunzel a princess worth waiting for and says that she leads the kingdom with wisdom and grace. Flynn says that he now goes by Eugene and has stopped his thieving. He then says that he and Rapunzel are going to get married and live happily ever after. Lanterns are released in celebration.
The end credits play to “Something That I Want” as a map is shown with the characters journeying around the locations.
Trivia:
- Tangled was one of Disney’s most expensive animated films to make. It took over six years to be produced.
- Pinocchio can be found hiding up in the rafters of the Snuggly Duckling.
- The animation of the film is very unique. It is CGI that is meant to look hand drawn and it draws inspiration from the painting The Swing by Fragonard. This painting can be seen in Frozen.
- Rapunzel’s kingdom is called Corona.
- Throughout the film, the King ages while the Queen does not due to the magical flower that saved her in the beginning of the film.
- The working title of the film was Rapunzel Unbraided.
- Rapunzel’s parents’ names are King Frederic and Queen Arianna.
- Tangled: The Series premiered on Disney Channel in 2017.
- Tangled Ever After premiered with the 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 2012.
Representation in the Disney Parks:
Rapunzel and friends make appearances in shows such as Mickey and the Magical Map and Fantasmic! at Disneyland, Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire at Magic Kingdom, and Mickey and the Wondrous Book in Hong Kong Disneyland.
There is a quick service restaurant in Shanghai Disneyland called the Tangled Tree Tavern and a bathroom area in Magic Kingdom themed to Tangled (I know this is a weird thing to highlight, but if you’ve seen them, you know why!)
Tangled is one of the stories told at the Royal Theatre in Fantasyland at Disneyland. Nearby is a statue of Rapunzel’s tower.
Rapunzel is also a popular meet and greet character along with the other princesses.
It has been announced that a Tangled themed area will be coming to Tokyo DisneySea.
Check out the other films of Disney’s Revival Era:
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