Yes, My [Future] Kids Will Watch Tangled

When I saw Tangled in theaters my freshman year of college, I had no idea how obsessed with it people would become. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie then and I enjoy it every time I watch it now, but I have never been on the "Tangled is the most amazing movie and Rapunzel is the best princess ever" side of the fence (to be fair I am on the Frozen side of that particular fence, but that's another story for another post). What can be said for Tangled is that Disney was trying a lot of new things with this movie, and pretty much all of them worked, making it an extremely successful experiment that opened the door for some really excellent movies over the last decade.

Tangled was released into movie theaters on November 14th, 2010, seeing Rapunzel take her Disney throne almost exactly a year after predecessor Tiana and seventy-three years after Snow White. The film is based on Rapunzel by The Brothers Grimm, thankfully putting a much more family friendly spin on the fairy tale than the Grimm's ever would have thought of doing. EVERYONE loved this movie - from Rapunzel being the first computer animated princess to the writing, from the character development to the soundtrack. The only controversy I was able to find was people being "upset" over Disney changing the title of the movie from Rapunzel to Tangled; Disney said it was to show that Flynn Rider's storyline was equally as important as Rapunzel's, which caused certain critics to state that the title change was a sexist move made to sell more merchandise. With a budget of $260 million, it saw a successful box office of $592.4 million. The movie took home a Grammy in 2012 when I See the Light won Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 (Best Original Song for I See the Light) and two Golden Globes in 2011 (Best Animated Feature Film and Best Song for I See the Light). While no full-length film sequel has been announced, Rapunzel and Flynn's story has been continued thus far by the 2012 short film Tangled Ever After, 2017 TV movie Tangled: Before Ever After, and TV series Tangled: The Series which aired from 2017-2020. All of the sequel media included the returns of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi as Rapunzel and Flynn respectively.

Tangled falls pretty squarely in the middle of my Disney princess list if I'm sorting from favorite to least favorite. The biggest issue I have with the movie is that a lot of the time it seems as though the humor is clashing with the background ambiance, making it seem like the movie didn't quite know if it wanted to be funny or dramatic. On their own, the musical score and the humor of the movie are both really good, but together they can kind of get in each other's way and TO ME make certain scenes feel awkward and clumsy. I'm also not a huge fan of Pascal the chameleon - honesty, I just think he's kind of a dick, so he's on the F-Tier list for Disney sidekicks down with Abu. Maximus, however, is a perfect angel who has never done anything wrong and is the equine form of Inspector Javert from Les Mis, except that he ends up changing his mind and helping the story along instead of being a jerk to the very end. I love the fan theory that cropped up in the years after this movie that The Stabbington Brothers may be two of the elder princes from The Southern Isles who, like their youngest brother Hans, were looking for alternate methods of income since they had no hope of gaining their own crown (hey, if you know, you know). The thugs, led by absolute icon Brad Garrett, are corny in the absolute best way and their whole scene in The Snuggly Duckling is a ton of fun. Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel is one of my favorite Disney villains to date. The thing that makes her so disturbing to me is not that she's an all-powerful sorceress or anything like that, but more that if you ask almost anyone on the street, they know someone who behaves like Mother Gothel. She's selfish, she's vain, she's the queen of gaslighting, and she does her job of making you hate her perfectly. Flynn Rider (because I think Disney did him so dirty by giving him the most awkward name Eugene Fitzherbert) has been the source of some of the best memes to grace the Internet in a long while ("A horrible decision, really") and watching him fall in love with Rapunzel on their journey is truly heart melting. While Rapunzel and Flynn have the largest acknowledged (because no one seems to be able to confirm that Snow White's prince is in his thirties) age gap of any Disney couple (Rapunzel being 18 and Flynn being 26), they're a really sweet couple and you can't help but root for them from start to finish. The scenes that really get me in the movie, however, are two scenes with Rapunzel's parents, the King and Queen of Corona. The scene where they get ready to light the lanterns and her dad is crying makes me cry right along with him, and the scene where they're reunited as a happy family does too.

My opinion on Rapunzel herself has changed over the years the more life I've experienced and the more times I've watched this movie. At 19, I thought she was naive and immature and just wanted her to kick her horrible "mom" out the window before the movie even started. At 29, having dealt with people in my own life who have Mother Gothel-esque qualities, it's a lot easier to understand Rapunzel's "grin and bear it" attitude at the beginning. She literally can't go anywhere, she has never been socialized with anyone except her caretaker, and has been trained to be completely obedient to the person who provides everything she needs. She can either obey and life will be boring but easy or she can complain and get screamed at and deal with the aftermath of the fight in what is essentially a one room apartment. Even her inner turmoil at whether or not she goes back to the tower after she sees the lights makes more sense, which makes it even more heartbreaking. The level of mental and verbal abuse she sustained from Gothel is really evident - she knows that she's not treated right and that she deserves better, but doesn't believe she's strong enough to venture out on her own. The fact that Rapunzel is hands down one of the kindest princesses there is, and that she never once lets that sunshine that radiates out from her go out, is an actual miracle and makes me cheer for her until the very end. Also, random fun fact, Rapunzel is the first and so far only Disney princess to have green eyes.

The Tangled soundtrack is good and fun and cute, but it doesn't have the same feel to me that the other princess soundtracks do. I only take one issue with it in the form of casting Mandy Moore - I like Mandy Moore as an actress but I have never been the hugest fan of her singing voice. She doesn't have a bad voice necessarily, but it's also not very strong, which becomes more noticeable when you have a music degree and overanalyze every piece of music you ever hear from that moment on. That being said, this is a Alan Menken soundtrack, so it is undeniably Disney and has some absolute bangers on it. So without further ado, let's take a look at my Tangled Top 3.

When Will My Life Begin by Mandy Moore (written by A. Menken, G. Slater)

Rapunzel's opening song shocked me the first time I heard it - what are all these guitars doing on a Disney princess song?? I grew to love it pretty quickly for its high energy, its clever lyrics, and the great job it does at setting the tone for the rest of the movie.

Then after lunch, it’s puzzles and darts and baking/Paper mache, a bit of ballet, and chess/Pottery and ventriloquy, candle-making/Then I’ll stretch, maybe sketch, take a climb, sew a dress/And I’ll reread the books if I’ve got time to spare/I’ll paint the walls some more, I’m sure there’s room somewhere/And then I’ll brush and brush and brush and brush my hair/Stuck in the same place I’ve always been/And I’ll keep wondering and wondering and wondering and wondering/When will my life begin

Mother Knows Best by Donna Murphy (written by A. Menken, G. Slater)

Don't try to fight me on this because you can't change my mind - Mother Knows Best and its Reprise are the absolute best songs in this entire movie. Tony Winner Donna Murphy gave both of these songs everything she had and it SHOWS, and again the song is lyrically clever and super funny while also being dark af. The line "Skip the drama, stay with Mama" was actually my ringtone for my mom for a while because we both laughed so hard at it when we saw the movie for the first time.

Mother knows best, listen to your mother, it’s a scary world out there/Mother knows best, one way or another something will go wrong, I swear/Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals and snakes, the plague (No) yes (but)/Also large bugs, men with pointy teeth and stop, no more, you’ll just upset me/Mother’s right here, Mother will protect you, darling, here’s what I suggest/Skip the drama, stay with Mama, Mother knows best

Healing Incantation by Mandy Moore (written by A. Menken)

I feel like the main freaking song in the movie, the one that literally makes the magic happen, doesn't get the attention it deserves. Each time Mandy/Rapunzel sings this song is designed to be some sort of emotional, and the simple melody paired with the foreshadowing lyrics do a great job of adding that extra Disney magic to the plot.

Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine/Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine/Heal what has been hurt, change the fate’s design/Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine/What once was mine

You already know what I'm going to say - if you haven't watched Tangled in a while, I highly suggest you do so because it's always a fun time. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!