Tangled

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

The Plot

A young princess is stolen from her home and raised as the kidnapper’s daughter. For 18 years the king has released lanterns, hoping they’d draw the attention of the princess and bring her home.

Starring

Mandy Moore, Donna Murphy, Zachary Levi, and more.

The Review

In the original folklore, written by The Brothers Grimm, a barren couple sneaks into the garden of an enchantress to steal an herb known as rampion; a flower that will end their fertility and give them a baby. Angry over the theft, the enchantress threatens the man. But upon negotiations, she decides to give the man as much rampion as his wife likes in exchange for the couple’s firstborn child.

The enchantress raise the child, a young girl, as her own and when she turned twelve, locked her in a tower—never to be seen again. When the enchantress wanted to see the young girl, she’d holler up to her, “Rapunzel, let down your hair”. The girl would then use her hair to pull the enchantress up, into the tower.

One day, a prince happened upon the tower and heard the young girl, now 17, singing. The young girl let down her hair and the prince was taken into the tower. The two became fast friends and eventually married, but not before the King put out a proclamation banning the enchantress from the kingdom forever.

Tangled, takes this folklore and adds a few bells and whistles to turn this story into a modern-day tale of wit and humor.

It all begins with a magical flower that has the ability to restore one’s health and youth—and an old woman named, Gothel.

Gothel discovers the flower and it’s magical powers and decides to keep its whereabouts a secret. For years, she’s able to hide it but one day the Queen becomes ill and the King orders his Knights to find the flower and bring it back.

After finding the flower, the King makes a potion and gives it to the Queen to drink. Immediately the Queen is healed and able to give birth to a beautiful baby girl. Upon hearing of the baby’s birth, Gothel sneaks into the palace and cuts off a piece of the baby’s hair; there’s just one problem…once the hair is cut, it loses all of its magical powers. Having no other choice, Gothel kidnaps the princess.

For years, Gothel keeps the princess, whom she names Rapunzel, locked away in a tower. And because of Gothel’s lies about doing it to keep Rapunzel safe, Rapunzel never attempts to leave the tower.

Then on her 18th birthday, she asks Gothel for one wish…to go to the palace to see the festival of lanterns; a festival she’s observed form her tower window every year of her life—and a festival she strongly believes is meant for her. Of course Gothel denies her this one wish and Rapunzel resolves to remain in the tower forever.

Then one day a thief happens upon the tower, discovers Rapunzel, and agrees to help her see the festival of lanterns in exchange for a misplaced tiara. And that’s where things get comical…

But it’s not all comedy, there’s enough action to keep young boys entertained and a few musical numbers to entertain moms, as well.

I think what I enjoyed most about this film was the comic relief between the Captain of the Guard’s horse and Finn, the thief. But I also enjoyed seeing Rapunzel’s eyes slowly being opened to the truth about her capturer, and the world around her.

Your Task

Tangled can be a rather entertaining film on its own, but the underlying issue of emotional abuse can confuse many young children. Watch Tangled, then wait to see how your kids react to the plot. If they ask how Rapunzel can be locked away in a tower for years, and still be happy and carefree, or how she can love her kidnapper, take the time to discuss the delicate, fine line between emotional and physical abuse.