Inside the Life of Rapunzel

Behind every Disney Princess movie there was a story that made them the princess they were. When people watched these movies they did not think much about the princess or her story, they just watched the movie for entertainment. Rapunzel, however, had one of the most amazing stories of them all. Like any other teenage girl, Rapunzel failed to see eye to eye with her mother. When an unforeseen adventure arose and Rapunzel disobeyed her mother’s orders, her life was never the same again. An analysis on Tangled’s main character Rapunzel, which was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, will show how her mentality, needs, and wants changed over a short amount of time. As one matures their mentality changes. In the beginning of the movie Rapunzel developed a drive to experience the world. Throughout the movie she started to care less and less about what her mother thought and said. Movie critic Dan Kios mentioned this in his review. He said, “The films wittiest sequence cuts between Rapunzel’s emotional high (feeling grass under her feet for the first time ever) and lows (‘I’m such a terrible daughter!’) to great comical relief. Tangled is unusually attuned to the emotional frequencies of mothers and daughters, considering that, like basically every Disney/ Pixar feature, its writer (Dan Fogelman) and directors (Nathan Greno and Byron Howard) are a bunch of dudes.” Kois mentioned her emotional highs and lows. The longer Rapunzel is out of the tower the more she realizes what she has been missing out on. Her mother always told her, “Mother knows best.” In one scene of the movie her mother began to tell her that and Rapunzel refused. “Mother kno-“ “NO!”. At that point in the movie her mother realized how emotionally gone Rapunzel was from her and she needed to bring her back. Her mother realized that Rapunzel’s mentality has changed and that she no longer can be manipulated. In the end Rapunzel finally put the pieces together about what her mother had done and she realized that something had to be done about it. She began to think like an adult and not a child. With her mentality change she realized that she no longer cared about her mother like she had in the past. She realized that she did not even know that woman at all. Rapunzel’s mentality began to change when her mother told her that she could not go see the floating lights on her birthday. That event triggered a mentality change that was long overdue. When Rapunzel’s mentality changed so did her needs. She needed to be free and to follow her dreams. Rapunzel no longer needed her mother in order to survive. She needed more than ever to be out of that tower and free from her mother. Rapunzel also needed to save Flynn Rider at all costs even if it meant losing her mother. After Rapunzel put the pieces together she knew her mother was an evil witch. She no longer needed her, but her birth parents. Rapunzel spent almost eighteen years of her life being locked in a tower. What she really needed was to be free and be her own person. Rapunzel demanded to be let out of her tower because she needed to experience life first hand. She also needed to be an adult and make her own decisions. All she had ever known was the inside of that tower. She did not realize what kind of life she was missing out on. Rapunzel was not aware that she was being manipulated. She needed way more than her mother could ever give her. Her mother may have given her “advice” for her life and she may have tried to be a parent, but Rapunzel needed more than that. She needed human interaction. Her best friend should not have been a chameleon. Rapunzel needed love and that was something her mother never gave her. When her needs changed her wants did as well. Rapunzel wanted her own life. She wanted to be the princess and to be with Flynn Rider. She was determined to get out of the tower. With her mother out of the way nothing was stopping her from doing just that. She no longer wanted to paint or bake cookies or read. Rapunzel wanted to be with people because she was deprived of that for so long. Rapunzel wanted to be a human being and not a prisoner. She wanted to be independent. In his movie review Dan Kois stated, “Rapunzel gets a traditional ‘I Want’ song, but where Beauty and the Beast’s Belle wanted more than her provincial life, Rapunzel doesn’t even know what life is yet- hers is titled ‘When does my life begin?’” His statement proved that in the beginning of the movie she had no idea what she wanted as far as her life. The experience she had with Flynn Rider made her realize how her life should be lived. She no longer allowed herself to be manipulated and brainwashed. Rapunzel began to stand up for herself and what she wanted. She wanted to go see the floating lights, so she did just that. Rapunzel realized very quickly what exactly it was that she wanted her life to be like. Just like all of the other Disney Princess movies, Tangled ended on a good note with a happy ending. Rapunzel was reunited with her birth parents and becomes the princess. She also married Flynn Rider. The whole town loved her. After her mentality changed, as well as her needs and wants, she realized what kind of life she wanted for herself and she made it happen. Just like the narrator stated at the end of the movie, “They all lived happily ever after.” Works Cited Tangled. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Perf. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi. Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2010. DVD. Kois, Dan. "Tangled Looks and Feels Great, So Why Is Disney Selling It Short?" New York News and Events. N.p., 24 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.