The Hair is Long and Complicated
For their 50th film, Disney Animation Studios returned to some classic material. 2010's Tangled, like 1937's Snow White, is based on a Grimm Brothers fairy tale and is about a young beautiful princess with an evil surrogate mother. It's also a film that broke new ground, combining the newest cgi technology with traditional 2D animation techniques to create something visually astounding. Last night was my second time watching the film and I found myself even more enraptured by the persistent beauty in every frame. Oddly, I found myself simultaneously enjoying the film more and also kind of despising it more than the last time I watched it.
Last time, Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) bugged me. This time, I actually really liked the chemistry between him and Rapunzel. Out of context from the rest of the film's story, I'd really dig their It Happened One Night romantic comedy vibe.
The problem is Rapunzel (Mandy Moore). I suspect there's a secret bible of Disney princesses that places strict guidelines on how they're allowed to behave. They have to be cheerful, warm, and above all, devoid of neuroses. For a girl who's spent her entire life alone in a tower with only her wicked, resentful mother figure for company, it's impossible to believe this kid would be so well-adjusted.
There's a scene early on where Gothel (Donna Murphy) throws out a constant stream of compliments which she immediately twists into condemnations.
GOTHEL: How you manage to do that every single day without fail . . . It looks absolutely exhausting.
RAPUNZEL: Oh, it's nothing.
GOTHEL: Then I don't know why it takes so long. Ha ha, oh, Darling, I'm just teasing.
RAPUNZEL: Ha ha, all right. So, mother, as you know to-morrow there is a very big day--
GOTHEL: Look in that mirror. You know what I see? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady. Oh, look, you're here too. Ha ha, I'm just teasing, stop taking everything so seriously.
Each time, Rapunzel looks confused or stunned, like she doesn't understand what Gothel is doing. It's like she's just met her, rather than like she's spent her whole life bearing the brunt of Gothel's resentment. By rights, Rapunzel should be guarded and deeply suspicious of compliments at this point. The trouble is, that would require the character to have an abnormal personality and the ultimate message of this movie is that one should strive to be as normal as possible.
There's a consistent, implicit condemnation of people wanting to stray from the path of socially approved behaviour. When Flynn reveals to Rapunzel that his "real" name is Eugene, that Flynn was a name he'd given himself in the orphanage, she says she likes Eugene better in an encouraging tone, and he thanks her. As though he's secretly always preferred Eugene. But what, exactly, is wrong with him choosing his own name, and why should Rapunzel presume that he would prefer Eugene?
One of the biggest missteps in the film is that it establishes how wonderful Rapunzel's hair is through animation and story--and then, in the climax, it's taken away from her by Flynn. This is after she's made a deal with Gothel that she'll go with her if she can use her magic hair to heal Flynn's mortal wound. Thematically, the strange, magical hair is tied with the depravity of Gothel, and Flynn "saves" her by cutting it and making it into normal hair. Nevermind all the sick people Rapunzel might have helped if she'd found some other way of escaping Gothel.
Just like the wicked Queen in Snow White, the film implicitly condemns the idea of an older woman wanting to appear young. It starts at the beginning very stridently, when Flynn, in narration, describes Gothel restoring her youth with a magical flower as "creepy". Why is that creepy? At that point she's not hurting anyone. Who wouldn't want eternal youth? Is a magic flower really creepier than the cosmetic surgery I'm sure plenty of the people involved with this movie have paid for?
It's a fixation that obviously goes back a long time with Disney. But Snow White barely interacted with the Queen. Cinderella's step mother treated her like a slave and Maleficent put a curse on Aurora. Gothel gives Rapunzel a really nice tower, provides her with food and comfort, and is willing to go on a three day journey to get the paint Rapunzel asks for. Yes, Gothel is resentful and manipulative, but there are more dimensions to their relationship which the film introduces only to completely ignore. It gives me the impression of a spoiled brat's daydream--someone who lives in lush comfort who has concocted a complicated fantasy to perceive their benefactor as their jailor. Gothel could've kept Rapunzel in a cage but she didn't.
For all that, though, it is a joy to watch this movie. Glen Keane's animation supervision and the computer rendering that makes everything look like a painting is too captivating to dislike. If only the studio could've let its hair down a bit.
Tangled is available on Disney+.
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This is part of a series of posts I'm writing on the Disney animated canon.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Fantasia
Dumbo
Bambi
Saludos Amigos
The Three Caballeros
Make Mine Music
Fun and Fancy Free
Melody Time
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Lady and the Tramp
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmatians
The Sword in the Stone
The Jungle Book
The Aristocats
Robin Hood
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The Rescuers
The Fox and the Hound
The Black Cauldron
The Great Mouse Detective
Oliver & Company
The Little Mermaid
The Rescuers Down Under
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Pocahontas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hercules
Mulan
Tarzan
Fantasia 2000
Dinosaur
The Emperor's New Groove
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Lilo and Stitch
Treasure Planet
Brother Bear
Home on the Range
Chicken Little
Meet the Robinsons
Bolt
The Princess and the Frog