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This article is about the Tangled character. For the Into the Woods character, see Rapunzel (Into the Woods).
- “I am the lost princess, aren't I?”
- ―Rapunzel to Gothel
Rapunzel is the protagonist of Disney's 2010 animated feature film, Tangled. She is the princess of Corona, known for her long, magical, golden hair. As a child, Rapunzel was abducted by a wicked crone and locked away in a remote tower for eighteen years—in during which, she became fascinated with a phenomenon involving "floating lights" that only appear on her birthday. With the aid of the handsome thief, Flynn Rider, Rapunzel escaped her tower to learn more about the lights and pursue her dream of exploring the outside world.
Rapunzel is loosely based on the protagonist of the classic German fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm. She is the tenth official Disney Princess and the first CGI-animated princess.
Background
Eighteen years before the events of Tangled, Rapunzel's parents, King Frederic and Queen Arianna of Corona, were anticipating their firstborn. Unfortunately, very late in her pregnancy, the queen fell ill with what would surely result in her death, as well as her child's. Fearing the death of his love, the King dispatched multitudes of soldiers and villagers alongside the populace to search for a rumored magic flower, created by a single drop of sunlight, with the potential to heal illnesses.
After much searching, the flower, long hoarded by a woman named Mother Gothel, who has kept herself young by singing a song to it, is miraculously located and boiled into medicine to cure the queen of her ailment. With the help of the flower, the queen makes a full recovery and soon gives birth to a healthy baby girl, named Rapunzel who, unlike her parents, has beautiful, golden hair. To celebrate her birth, a floating lantern with the emblem of the sun was released into the sky amongst the people of Corona. The peace did not last long, however. Determined to retrieve the flower that kept her young for hundreds of years, Mother Gothel broke into the castle late one night and sang the song to Rapunzel's hair. Discovering that Rapunzel's hair retained the flower's healing powers. Gothel attempted to cut a piece off, only to find that the hair lost its magic and became brown. Frustrated and desperate, Gothel kidnapped the princess and fled to her tower, hidden within an alcove deep in the forest. To protect Rapunzel's hair, Gothel raised Rapunzel as her own daughter and taught her to sing the flower's song. To further ensure her magic supply was plentiful, Gothel continuously brushed the hair to further its growth. Although Rapunzel wished to leave the tower, Gothel warned her of a dangerous world beyond the tower walls, full of selfish people that desired to steal her hair and abuse her power.
Meanwhile, the kingdom searched far and wide for their missing princess, but to no avail. As a result, each year on Rapunzel's birthday, the King, Queen, and the entire kingdom release thousands of lanterns into the night sky, in hopes that one day, their lost princess will return.
One night, while in the tower alone, Rapunzel would encounter a baby chameleon at her tower window, being followed by a venomous snake. The chameleon is bitten by the snake and dies from poisoning, though Rapunzel is able to both rid the tower of the snake and revive the deceased chameleon with the power of her hair. The chameleon reveals itself to be alone in the world, something Rapunzel relates to, as Gothel would leave her alone in the tower for lengthy periods of time frequently. Rapunzel names the chameleon "Pascal", and to remedy their mutual loneliness, invites him to live with her so they may remain by each other's side from that night forward.
Official Description
- Rapunzel may have lived her entire life locked inside a hidden tower, but Rapunzel is no damsel in distress. The girl with the 70 feet of golden hair is an energetic, inquisitive teenager who fills her days with art, books, and imagination. Rapunzel is full of curiosity about the outside world, and she can't help but feel that her true destiny lies outside of the lonely tower walls. Rapunzel has always obeyed Mother Gothel by staying hidden away and keeping her magical hair a secret... but with her 18th birthday just a day away, she is fed up with her sheltered life and ready for adventure. When a charming thief seeks refuge in her tower, Rapunzel defies Gothel and seizes the opportunity to answer the call of the kingdom. With the unwilling Flynn Rider along for the journey, Rapunzel leaves the tower for the first time, and begins a hilarious, hair-raising journey that will untangle many secrets along the way.
Development
Disney animator, Glen Keane became interested in directing an animated film based on Rapunzel, as he was intrigued by the concept of a "person that was born with this gift inside of her and it had to come out", which is reminiscent to his experience working as an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.[2] Keane eventually resigned as director after suffering a heart attack in 2008 and Nathan Greno and Byron Howard were hired to replace him.[3] Kean however did remain involved as an executive producer of the film and as Rapunzel's Supervising animator.[4]
Walt Disney originally wanted to do an animated film based on "Rapunzel" following the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, but was abandoned due to story problems. According to Keane, this was due to the original fairy tale takes place within a tower. To overcome this, the writers were forced to develop a way of "bringing Rapunzel out of the tower".[5] During development of the film, when it was under the title as Rapunzel Unbraided, Keane described the film as a "Shrek-like version of the film" before ultimately deciding to return to the original roots of the fairy tale.[6]
In addition, Broadway actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, who was originally cast as Rapunzel under the working title of Rapunzel Unbraided reveals that at some point Rapunzel was intended to be a squirrel.[7]
Voice
In addition to Chenoweth who was originally cast as Rapunzel while the film was still titled Rapunzel Unbraided under Keane's direction,[7] Natalie Portman[8] and Reese Witherspoon were also considered for the role of Rapunzel.[9] In addition, Witherspoon was also intended to serve as an executive producer on the film. Witherspoon eventually left the project due to creative differences in regards to suggestions towards the film's script. Following Witherspoon's resignation from the project, Rapunzel remained uncast for quite some time, further jeopardizing the film's already troubled production.[10]
Soon, the directors continued to audition hundreds of young actresses in the hopes of finding Rapunzel's voice, among them being Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel,[11] before finally casting pop-singer and actress Mandy Moore. Moore a life long fan of Disney films, described the opportunity to voice a Disney character as "the ultimate fantasy". Initially, after hearing the the role was being sought at the time deterred her from auditioning in favor of avoiding disappointment. After she made up her mind, she auditioned for the role twice.[12] Moore had no idea on what her character looked like, because, in terms of visual aid, she was only provided with rough, incomplete sketches and storyboards, while "everything else had to be explained" by Howard and Greno. The majority of the images were created by Moore in her own mind.[13]
Personality
Rapunzel is a spirited and determined young woman. Throughout her young life, she's dreamt of escaping her tower to experience the outside world. Due to the strict order of her sole parental figure, Gothel, however, she remained inside the tower. The use of manipulation and emotional abuse in her upbringing by Gothel has led Rapunzel to believe that the world is highly dangerous, and that remaining in the confines of her sheltered walls is in her best interest. Additional misfortunes born through Rapunzel's upbringing would include such traits as anxiety and low self-esteem. Gothel would often victimize herself whenever she and Rapunzel would hit a bump in their relationship, riddling the latter with guilt, which would, in turn, motivate her to obey Gothel's commands in hopes of making amends. This was all according to plan for Gothel, who relied on Rapunzel's emotional instability to forever maintain control over the princess. With Gothel possessing such a strong emotional hold - having forced Rapunzel to believe she was her only source of security and comfort in a dangerous and unforgiving world - the odds against Rapunzel were high.
Nevertheless, what separates Rapunzel from what could be classified as a "damsel-in-distress" is her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone and take on the unknown for the sake of experiencing her dreams. Despite being fearful and at times hesitant, she pushes herself forward to pursue her ambitions.
Additionally, she takes matters into her own hands several times throughout the film and cunningly manipulates situations to end in her favor, such as forcing the thief Flynn Rider to act as her guide to the kingdom of Corona after he broke into her tower. After learning the truth behind Mother Gothel and her motives, Rapunzel became fierce, immediately rejected Gothel, and strongly disapproved of any further abuse. With such will and devotion towards herself and what she values, Rapunzel proves to be a force of nature, in her own right.
As mentioned above, Rapunzel is spirited, and takes great enjoyment in virtually everything life has to offer. When trapped in her tower, she engaged in various activities such as art and music, creating a vibrant home filled with color and personality, and proving herself to be talented and expressive. When she finally escapes her tower, Rapunzel finds beauty in all she sees, from nature to a group of seemingly gruesome thugs. So much so that Rapunzel is often responsible for quite a few spontaneous, yet uplifting parties so jovial that practically every bystander would join in with zeal. This is seen during "I've Got a Dream" and during the Festival of Lights.
Rapunzel is very social in this regard and values her loved ones deeply. This is especially seen through her relationship with Eugene. Rapunzel was able to bypass the thief's roguish nature and managed to bring out his more noble and genuine side. With love and respect for one another, Rapunzel and Eugene formed a relationship built on trust, understanding, and devotion—a relationship that would better themselves individually and lead to the ultimate realization of what they truly want in life.
Physical appearance
Rapunzel is a very beautiful 18-year old (in the film) young woman with fair skin, rosy cheeks, large green eyes, brown eyelashes, brown eyebrows and light freckles around her nose. She is famously known for her long, silky, golden blonde hair which is around 70 feet in length, though her hair is naturally brown like her parents', as when it is cut, it turns so. At the end of the film, Eugene cuts her hair to save her from Gothel, turning it brown and chin length.
Rapunzel's dress is a traditional German dress called a "dirndl", with a longer skirt than that of a normal dirndl. Her dress has a purple theme with a pink accent. The dress consists of a lavender corset top laced with a pink ribbon. The skirt is purple. It is decorated with swirling and floral designs in pink, dark purple, and white. She wears a white petticoat underneath. The skirt's hemline is above her ankles, but well below her calves. Her sleeves at the top are short, puffed, and striped with pink and lavender; the rest are long and it is pale baby pink with white lace at the hems. She usually does not wear shoes and dislikes wearing them. At the Kingdom Dance, she wears her hair in a thick braid with smaller braids woven in and adorned with various flowers.
Rapunzel's homecoming dress has a white lacing on the neckline and the sleeves. It has a pink bodice that has swirly patterns on it and a corset lacing at the back. The skirt is purplish-pink with similar patterns that are found on her old dress.
Powers and Abilities
- Prehensile Hair: Rapunzel can use her extremely long hair to grasp and manipulate objects and people. On many occasions, she has been shown using her hair as a rope to swing around, a lasso to grab/hold objects and people, or a whip in combat. Her hair also appears to be incredibly lightweight, as she is quite agile and is able to move around quite easily despite its sheer size.
- Healing Incantation (formerly): Channeling the power of the Sundrop Flower, Rapunzel was able to use her hair to heal both minor and fatal wounds, and reverse aging to a certain degree. The subject to be healed must have had physical contact with her hair in order for the incantation to work when sung; Rapunzel's hair emitted a glowing yellow light when the incantation was activated. Using the Sundrop's power, Rapunzel was able to slow Gothel's ageing and restore her youth and beauty. Although her hair was later cut by Eugene, therefore losing its power, her tears turned out to have healing powers, as she was able to bring Eugene back to life after Gothel fatally stabbed him. It is unknown if Rapunzel's actual body had the Sundrop's regeneration abilities. It may be that the Sundrop's power merged with her soul, as she seemed to be able to bring love, happiness and harmony wherever she went. It is also possible that Rapunzel actually released the drop of sunlight that created the Sundrop through her tears. As such, her healing tears may have been a one-off ability. However, it is still unclear how her healing powers worked when not channeled through her hair. Rapunzel appears to have lost this ability after her hair grew back during the events of Tangled: Before Ever After.
- Unbreakable Hair: Rapunzel's hair has become indestructible after growing back during the events of Tangled: Before Ever After. Her hair appears to have taken on the strength of the the Black Rocks (which caused her hair to grow back after she touched them), as it is unusually resilient and impervious to any harm or damage, even from weapons. On some occasions, Rapunzel's hair is able to form an extremely durable, glowing shield around her and her allies, protecting them from harm or damage. On some occasions, her hair was shown to glow yellow when she was near the Black Rocks, although this appears to have ceased upon Cassandra's attainment of the Moonstone Opal.
- Shock Wave Generation (formerly): Rapunzel was able to trigger massive shock waves when in physical contact with the Black Rocks. When she touched the rocks, her hair glowed bright yellow, and she was able to will walls of new rocks to burst from the ground and destroy her opponents/targets. Rapunzel has not been seen using this ability after Cassandra gained ownership of the Moonstone Opal, so it is assumed that she lost this ability.
- Decay Incantation: By singing the Decay Incantation, Rapunzel's hair can suck the life out of everything near her, whether it be living beings or inanimate objects, causing them to rot and die. This power is almost the exact opposite of the Healing Incantation, but with one crucial difference: she is forced into a trance, and as such, relies on her friends to break her out of it and return her to normal. This incantation causes her hair and eyes to become black in a very sinister fashion. Her skin and clothes also appear to have withering and decaying abilities, as they burned Cassandra's right hand black and melted Varian's gloves off when they touched her.
- Moonstone Opal Detection (formerly): Rapunzel's hair was able to detect the presence of the Moonstone Opal, as it glowed bright yellow whenever the Moonstone was near. This ability appears to have been lost following Cassandra's attainment of the Moonstone.
- Sun Incantation: Channeling the full power of the Sundrop, Rapunzel is able to enter a godlike state of power. Her eyes and hair glow bright yellow, and she can levitate in the air. Empowered by hope, she is able to generate and manipulate waves of pure solar energy, which she used to effortlessly destroy the Black Rocks that an enraged Cassandra propelled toward her. She also appears to be able to manipulate the Black Rocks themselves, as she was able to halt and destroy them telekinetically. Such is the extent of her power, that she was able to chip part of the Moonstone during her battle with Cassandra.
- Adaptation: Rapunzel has shown a high level of adaptability, as she was able to adjust quickly to the outside world, despite being isolated in her tower for most of her life. For example, she appears to have been able to swim when she was trapped in an underwater cave with Eugene, when it is assumed that she was never taught how to swim by Gothel.
- Artistry: Rapunzel is highly creative and has an aptitude for a number of different hobbies and crafts. Her most notable talent is art, as she is able to paint beautiful works such as portraits and landscapes.
Appearances
Tangled
Rapunzel is first seen during Eugene's narration over the prologue, which tells the tale of how Rapunzel unknowingly lost her family and came into Gothel's possession. Almost eighteen years after her kidnapping, Rapunzel, now a young woman with 70 feet of hair, plays a quick game of hide-and-seek with her pet chameleon, Pascal. While Mother Gothel (whom she views as her mother) is away, Rapunzel does many tasks throughout the tower to occupy her time. Though she is happy with her life in the tower, Rapunzel longs to someday explore the outside world. Since childhood, she has become fascinated by an annual event that seems to happen only on her birthday. That night, every year, she witnesses thousands of beautiful floating lights in the sky, brighter than the stars, rise over the tops of the alcove and into view of the tower's largest window. Wanting to know the meaning behind this phenomenon, Rapunzel develops a dream to see these lights in person. The day before her eighteenth birthday, she decides with Pascal that she will finally ask Mother Gothel to see the lights.
Soon after, Mother Gothel finally arrives at the base of the tower and calls for Rapunzel to let down her long hair. Rapunzel complies and uses her hair and a lantern holder as a rope and pulley to bring Gothel to the window. Gothel then insensitively teases Rapunzel for her slowness and decreases her confidence in front of a mirror, before saying she loves her, as usual, and asking her to sing the incantation to her hair. Instinctively, Rapunzel pulls up a chair and sings the incantation hurriedly, causing Gothel to become younger almost instantly. With her eighteenth birthday arriving, Rapunzel has gained the courage to ask Mother Gothel if she can see the floating lanterns because she believes they are somehow connected to her and does so. Gothel spurns her request, however, informing Rapunzel through song that the world is much too dangerous for someone as naïve and gullible as her and that she wants to keep Rapunzel safe. She proceeds to warn and frighten her of men with sharp teeth, ruffians, poison ivy, snakes, cannibals, and even the plague and harshly request that she never ask her to leave the tower again. Her previous courage shattered, Rapunzel solemnly promises not to ask to leave the tower again and helps Gothel depart from the tower.
Back at the tower, a young thief by the name of Flynn Rider has just completed a daring daylight robbery at Corona Castle, successfully stealing the crown of the lost princess, betraying his partners, and eluding the palace guards, as well as a fierce military horse named Maximus. Seeking refuge from his combatants, the bandit accidentally stumbles into the clearing where Rapunzel's tower resides. Deciding to hide within the tower, he proceeds to scale the wall of the tower with arrows and enters into what turns out to be Rapunzel's room. Seemingly alone, Flynn pulls the crown from his satchel to admire his successful stolen prize but is instantly knocked out cold by Rapunzel's frying pan. Scared, Rapunzel cowers behind a dress form, before stepping forward to investigate the intruder with Pascal. Pascal advises Rapunzel to be wary of the young man since Gothel has often told stories of men baring sharp teeth, and they both fear he is a monster from the outside. However, Rapunzel finds nothing outwardly menacing about Flynn.
Concluding that he is just another person, she decides to hide him in her wardrobe. Afterward, she finds his satchel containing the crown. Although she has never seen a crown before and doesn't know what one is, she tries to wear it in a few different ways and sets it on her head, before being interrupted by Gothel calling to her from outside. She swiftly hides the crown and satchel and brings Gothel up the tower once more. Rapunzel decides she will show her mother the young man she has captured, proving that she can take care of herself, and again hopes that she will be let out of the tower for her approaching 18th birthday. Unfortunately for Rapunzel, Gothel becomes enraged when she brings up the subject of leaving again and shouts that she will never leave the tower as long as she lives. Rapunzel is crushed by her words, as her dreams of exploring outside the tower and watching the lanterns are dashed to the ground. She keeps from telling her that she has a stranger locked away in her closet, and instead asks for paint made from special white seashells as a gift instead. Although Gothel is hesitant at first and bemoans the fact that the paint requires a three-day journey, she agrees to retrieve the paint to appease her and bids her disappointed "daughter" farewell.
Once out of sight, Rapunzel takes Flynn out of her closet and uses her hair to tie him up to a chair. Pascal wakes him up by sticking his tongue in his ear, and Flynn, not seeing Rapunzel at first, is frightened by his current predicament. When she steps into view, however, he realizes that she is just a beautiful young girl and starts hitting on her, much to her confusion. She immediately assumes he's there to kidnap her and steal her hair and interrogates him, but he has no knowledge what she's talking about. When she realizes he's telling the truth, Rapunzel decided that she has found her chance to see the lanterns. Knowing that he wants his satchel, she strikes him over the head, hides his satchel within the tower, and proposes a deal. The two of them will leave the tower together and he will take her to see the floating lights the next night. He will then bring her back to the tower the following day before Gothel returns. In exchange for his efforts, she promises to give him back the crown and let him leave. Flynn reluctantly agrees, simply to retrieve his loot.
Outside the tower, Rapunzel nervously digs her toes into the grass for the first time and runs about the forest in bursts of elation and panic, like a child, while Flynn can only watch. While excited to be out in the world for the first time, Rapunzel feels equally ashamed for having defied her mother. She thinks she is a terrible daughter for disobeying her mother's directions and worries that her misbehavior will break her mother's heart. Flynn attempts to discourage her from traveling away from the tower by guaranteeing that her rebellious actions will break her mother's heart and crush her soul. He suggested that she should simply give him the satchel back and return to the tower, but Rapunzel's desire to see the lanterns sees through his ploy. Despite her guilt and confusion, she assures Flynn that she is fine enough to continue the journey.
Hoping to dissuade her, Flynn takes her to the nearby Snuggly Duckling: a local tavern which is frequented by an assortment of ruffians and thugs like the ones Gothel warned of. Flynn's plan to scare Rapunzel into going back to the tower backfires when the thugs recognize him from wanted posters and attempt to hold him for a reward while one of their associates goes to tip off the guards. Rapunzel pleads with them to release him because she needs him to fulfill her dreams of seeing the lanterns and asks if they've ever had a dream. Their leader Hook Hand approaches as if he will strike her, but Rapunzel's innocence melts his heart and he admits he has a dream to become a pianist. The entire pub soon begins to come alive as the other members confess their dreams alongside Rapunzel. When the guards arrive, the thugs stage a distraction to help Rapunzel and Flynn escape through a secret cellar tunnel and encourage Rapunzel to live her dream. As they traverse the cavern, Rapunzel curiously asks about Flynn's origins, but Flynn casually refuses to answer. While he acknowledges that she too has secrets she doesn't want to tell, he can't help but ask her why she hasn't gone to see the lanterns before. She hesitates, but just then, they realize they are being rapidly pursued by the palace guards.
Heading outside the tunnel, the Rapunzel and Flynn find themselves on a ledge overlooking a quarry created below a massive dam. Rapunzel is very surprised to find that besides the palace guards, the Stabbington twins are also giving chase, having escaped their chains, and the horse, Maximus, is also on their path. Appearing to be cornered, Rapunzel uses her hair to swing to an opposing edge and leaves Flynn her frying pan, enabling him to fend off the guards and sword fight with Maximus. As Maximus disarms Flynn and corners him, Rapunzel lassos him with her hair and pulls him to safety. Unable to reach him, the furious horse unhinges a large wooden beam from the dam in an attempt to reach them but renders the dam overlooking the quarry unstable.
It soon collapses and a wave of water surges into the quarry, quickly flooding it. The pair narrowly outruns the massive wave, but become trapped inside a small dead end tunnel, as a massive pillar of stone collapses and blocks the entrance. Water rapidly begins to flood into the cave and, realizing their doom, they try to pull at the rocks to no avail, and Flynn only manages to cut his hand. They both try to look for an escape under the rapidly-rising water, but there's no light in the cave and they can barely see each other above it. As they think they're about to die, Rapunzel cries and apologizes to Flynn for dragging him into this, and Flynn admits that his real name is Eugene Fitzherbert, because he thought someone should know before he died. Rapunzel tries to make him feel better by admitting that she has magic hair that glows, only to realize that they can use her hair to search for escape in the dark water. She sings the magic song just as their air pocket disappears, and they end up underwater, where Rapunzel's hair illuminates the cave. In the lit water, Eugene discovers a break in the rocks where water flows out and manages to dislodge them, releasing them out the other side.
That night they set up a campfire in the woods and Rapunzel heals Eugene's hand with her hair. The dumbstruck thief just manages to keep his cool, and Rapunzel explains everything to him, including her lifelong imprisonment by Gothel to protect her magic hair, and that if the hair is ever cut, it will turn brown and lose its power. Flynn is empathetic toward her ambiguous feelings over returning to the tower. When questioned about his real name, Flynn tells his childhood story of growing up as an orphan and reading a book called "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider", the escapades of a daring adventurer with every benefit to an exciting life full of dangers, riches, and ladies. Flynn has chosen to adopt the name and lifestyle, even though the real Flynn Rider wasn't a thief, and feeling anything would be a better option than being a helpless orphan. Rapunzel tells him that she likes the name Eugene Fitzherbert much better than his adopted name, and the pair forms a close bond. When Eugene leaves to collect more firewood, Gothel appears and tells Rapunzel they are going home. Rapunzel refuses, believing that Eugene is beginning to like her. Gothel presents Rapunzel with Eugene's satchel and challenges her to return it to him, warning her that he will simply abandon her as he only wants the satchel back. Gothel then disappears, leaving Rapunzel feeling doubtful about her new romance.
The next morning, Rapunzel wakes to find that they have been discovered by Maximus, a high-ranking palace horse on a personal mission to bring Eugene to justice. Rapunzel calms and befriends the frenzied horse, and requests that he refrain from arresting Eugene for the next 24 hours so that they can see the lanterns. Maximus and Eugene make a reluctant truce and journey into the kingdom with Rapunzel and Pascal. Eugene and Rapunzel enjoy each others' company greatly as they spend the day touring the kingdom and indulging in everything it has to offer. Along with that, Rapunzel makes a wondrous impression on the villagers, bringing whimsy and excitement to their already enjoyable festival, winning their hearts instantly. She also learns of the Lost Princess, though she doesn't recognize it's her in the mural of the royal family, and before she has time to ponder further, she engages in more fun-filled activities with the villagers and Eugene. During the day, their romantic feelings for each other begin to grow stronger and slowly start to emerge. At dusk, Eugene and Rapunzel row out onto the lake to watch the lanterns rise into the sky.
As they wait for the lanterns to appear, Eugene notices that Rapunzel is not too happy; in fact, she's terrified. She confesses that after all of the excitement that has built up inside her about seeing the floating lights, she is worried that they may not be everything that she expected. Eugene assures her they will be, and if they are, she gets to go find herself a new dream afterward. That night, Rapunzel is overjoyed to finally be living her dream as she enchantingly watches the lanterns float from the streets of the kingdom to the boats on the lake. When Eugene presents her with a pair of their own lanterns, Rapunzel shows him his satchel, saying she was scared to give it to him before. Eugene refuses the satchel and says he knows how she feels. As Rapunzel watches the lanterns, Eugene unexpectedly takes her hand, much to her delight, as they both finally and fully realize they have fallen in love with each other as they finish singing "I See the Light" together. They are just about to kiss, when Eugene pulls back apprehensively as he sees the Stabbington Brothers on the other side of the lake, unbeknownst to Rapunzel. He assures her everything is fine and quickly takes the boat ashore. He then takes the satchel and walks off into the fog, promising to return. Rapunzel becomes worried as Eugene leaves, and she ruminates on Gothel's warnings.
After a moment of waiting, she sees a figure returning to her through the fog. She sighs with relief that Eugene did not take the crown and leave her. But the figure actually turns out to be two tall and brutal thugs whom she recognizes as two of the men from the dam. They inform her that Eugene did actually leave her. At first, she doesn't believe them, but they show her a boat sailing across the lake towards the kingdom with Eugene's silhouette at the helm. Rapunzel has little time to grieve as the two men show interest in her magical hair.
They scheme to kidnap her and use her powers to earn them money, but Gothel appears and rescues her. Believing that she has been deserted by the man she thought loved her, a heartbroken Rapunzel goes with Gothel back to the tower. Back at the tower, as she mourns over losing Eugene, Rapunzel discovers that the emblem of the kingdom of Corona has been unwittingly sketched into all of the pictures she has painted over the years in her room. A sudden wave of memories and emotions from lying in her royal crib to trying on her tiara floods her mind, causing her to realize that she is the lost princess of Corona. Rapunzel then confronts Gothel, expressing her repulsion at everything Gothel has done and that she has been hiding with the person she should have been hiding from all along. Gothel says that she only wanted to protect Rapunzel and informs her that Eugene is scheduled to be hanged. Rapunzel becomes even angrier and states that she will never let Gothel use her hair again, but before she can leave, an enraged Gothel gags her and chains her to the wall.
A little while later, she hears Eugene calling to her from outside but can say or do nothing as Gothel throws Rapunzel's hair out the window for him to climb up. As Eugene gets to the top, Rapunzel attempts to warn him through her gag, but Eugene is fatally stabbed in the stomach by Gothel before he can do anything. Rapunzel's attempts to reach him are in vain as Gothel leaves Eugene clutching his side on the floor and prepares to make her escape with the captive Rapunzel and leave Eugene to die in the tower. Rapunzel, with a lot of struggling and fighting, manages to get the gag off and declares that she will never stop fighting Gothel as long as she lives, but makes a promise to submit to her if only she is allowed to heal Eugene. Gothel, knowing Rapunzel never broke her promises, agrees and chains Eugene down to prevent him from following them. Eugene begs Rapunzel leave him and escape, but Rapunzel refuses, saying she won't let Eugene die and promises him that everything will be alright. Eugene, however, chooses to die rather than let Rapunzel be a prisoner again, so he cuts her hair before she can heal him. Rapunzel reacts in shock and watches in despair as the endless lengths of golden hair turn brown and lose their magic.
With her source of magic gone, Gothel begins to rapidly age, losing her youth and beauty in a matter of seconds. Seeing her true form revealed, Gothel falls into a fit of hysteria, shrouding her face with her hood as she does so, and failing to realize Pascal tugging on a length of Rapunzel's dead hair, which she immediately trips over, falling out of the tower's entrance and plummeting to the ground. By the time she hits the surface, all that's left of the witch is her cloak and piles of dust. After a brief moment of shock over the death of her false mother, Rapunzel rushes to the side of a dying Eugene, in hopes of saving him. Rapunzel desperately cradles the dying Eugene and sings the healing incantation, but Eugene interrupts her as he weakly tells her, with his dying breaths, that she was his new dream. Rapunzel, in reply, says that he was hers as well. Eugene then dies in her arms, leaving a heartbroken Rapunzel to hopelessly finish singing the incantation. She begins to cry over his body, letting a single teardrop fall onto his cheek, which is revealed to have the same power of the magic flower, as it glows as it sinks into Eugene's body and heals his chest wound, reviving him. An overjoyed Rapunzel jubilantly embraces him, and the two then share their first kiss, finally proclaiming their love.
Eugene accompanies Rapunzel back to the kingdom. Though the King and Queen fail to recognize her, at first, the Queen takes a closer look and takes note of the striking resemblance; realizing her daughter has finally returned. It wasn't long before the King learns the truth, as well, and the family is reunited for the first time in several years. Eugene watches on, and knowing the former thief played a part in the safe return of their daughter, the Queen welcomes him into the reunion, as well. In celebration of Rapunzel's return, the kingdom rejoiced with a party lasting an entire week. In the closing narration, it is said that Rapunzel became a beloved ruler and governed her land with grace and wisdom. Meanwhile, Eugene is accepted into the royal family and pardoned for his crimes. According to the former thief, after "years of asking, and asking, and asking", he finally accepted Rapunzel's proposal to marry, only to be corrected by his bride. Eugene then amends that he asked her, which Rapunzel supports by stating that they are living happily ever after.
Tangled Ever After
Rapunzel and Eugene both appear in this short sequel to the first film. In the story, Rapunzel and Eugene are getting married, narrating the opening of the short as they claim it to be the happiest day of their lives, with the events of the ceremony nearly proceeding with perfection.
She first appears in her wedding attire and standing at the entrance of the wedding hall, attracting the attention of everyone in attendance. Her father, the King, then walks her down the center aisle, so that she can join her groom at the altar. The priest starts his speech, but Maximus sneezes and accidentally loses their wedding rings. The two appear in a vision of Maximus and Pascal where everyone in attendance becomes upset at the loss of the rings, though, in reality, neither Rapunzel nor Eugene notice the dilemma, or their animal companions leaving the ceremony to retrieve the missing rings.
Rapunzel and Eugene are shown later after Maximus and Pascal manage to get the rings back, but the couple (and everyone else) are shocked at the grotesque-looking Maximus and Pascal, both covered with tar, who offer the rings. The two exchange their rings as the priest pronounce the couple husband and wife. Eugene and Rapunzel kiss and everyone in attendance rejoiced.
Sofia the First
Rapunzel appears in the special "The Curse of Princess Ivy" as part of a Disney Junior movie event. She is the first non-traditional animated princess to appear on the show and has her 70 feet long, mystical golden blonde instead of her short natural brown hair, including her tiara, and lavender flat shoes on her feet.
When Sofia and Amber are unable to stop Princess Ivy from taking over their kingdom, Rapunzel gives them a helping hand and a plan that will help them save the day. She tells Amber as they fly to Enchancia that Flynn Rider had to make up for his bad deeds during the song "Dare to Risk it All". Rapunzel then tells Amber that if she really loves Sofia as a sister, she will know what to do when the time comes and then magically disappears.
In "Forever Royal", when Sofia is battling Vor inside her amulet, Rapunzel appears to Sofia in spirit form along with all the other princesses who have been summoned to help Sofia in her times of need and they encourage her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her.
Tangled: Before Ever After
Rapunzel serves as the protagonist of the animated television movie. Taking place a few months after the events of Tangled, and before Tangled Ever After, Rapunzel returns to her kingdom to assume her rightful place in the royal family. Having been reunited with her parents, Rapunzel tries to adjust to life as a princess, receiving help from Pascal and her lady-in-waiting, Cassandra. She tries her best, and despite having a loving family and supportive circle of friends, Rapunzel feels overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility that comes with being a princess. She asks her father for a change of pace in this regard, but he denies, fearing Rapunzel's desire to explore the world will lead to her falling into harm's way, much like she did eighteen years prior, when she was kidnapped by Gothel. On top of this — and the fact that Rapunzel's bubbly way of carrying herself is looked down upon by the royal community — Eugene feels confident enough to propose to Rapunzel, and does so, much to the princess' shock and delight. However, despite her love for him, Rapunzel does not feel ready to marry, instead wanting to figure herself out and live the life she's been longing for. Overwhelmed and anxious, she rejects Eugene's proposal and leaves the scene in a huff.
In her bedroom, Rapunzel laments her feelings of guilt to Cassandra, who believes Rapunzel could use some down time. She offers to take Rapunzel beyond Corona's security wall — a forbidden act — and sneaks the princess out with the help of Maximus. During their outing, Cassandra takes Rapunzel to the former location of the healing flower that saved Rapunzel and her mother when the latter fell ill during her pregnancy. Mysterious thorn-like rocks have appeared in the area, and not only are they ominous, but also unbreakable. As Rapunzel examines the area further, she is struck by magic that causes her long, golden hair to grow back. After returning to the castle, Rapunzel and Cassandra try to rid themselves of the hair, but like the rocks, it is unbreakable. Eugene arrives and discovers the truth, offering assistance in hiding it from Queen Arianna and King Frederic. Cassandra gets the idea of hiding the hair in an oversized wig, which helps well enough despite the awkwardness.
Rapunzel then joins her parents for breakfast, and in during which, Frederic admits that his methods of protecting Rapunzel have been rather unfair, and notes that he is reconsidering his decisions, much to Rapunzel's excitement. Afterward, Arianna visits Rapunzel in the latter's bedroom, to bestow a coronation gift. She encourages Rapunzel to choose how to live her life — and eventually rule the kingdom — despite her father's stubbornness and what others may think. She gives Rapunzel a journal she once used in her younger years, with a note the reads: "Plus est en vous", meaning, "There is more in you".
Later on, Rapunzel's coronation ceremony begins, and in during which, the royal family is confronted by a pirate known as Lady Caine, who seeks vengeance on King Frederic for imprisoning her father. Frederic and the rest of the royal guests are kidnapped, but Rapunzel refuses to stand down and reveals her golden hair. She uses it as a weapon to defeat the pirates with Eugene and Cassandra's help, saving her father. That night, despite proving her worth, Frederic feels more insecure about Rapunzel's safety than ever before. With the very reason Rapunzel was taken in the first place having returned, Frederic feels he's forced to forbid Rapunzel from ever leaving the walls of Corona without his consent, driving his daughter to tears. With her father's new law, Rapunzel feels trapped once more, similar to her imprisonment within the tower. Eugene arrives and comforts her, uplifting her spirits and at the same time reconciles their relationship. After he leaves, Rapunzel reads the message in the journal given to her by Arianna and becomes inspired to pursue the adventures she's always desired (such as uncovering the mystery behind her hair's return), despite the obstacles she will have to face.
Tangled: The Series
Season One
Starting off one week after the events of Tangled: Before Ever After, the animated series continues Rapunzel's life as a princess. Throughout the course of the series, Rapunzel steadily continues to grow as a person, as the relationships she shares with her family, friends and subjects provide her with new experiences that challenges her and her ideals. In addition to finding her place in the world, Rapunzel also deals with the issue of her hair's sudden and mysterious return. In "What the Hair?!", Rapunzel and Cassandra meet a young alchemist named Varian, and through him, discover that her hair has lost its healing powers, but has gained indestructibility. Unfortunately, Varian's workshop was destroyed before further information could be obtained. Some time later in "Great Expotations", Rapunzel and Cassandra learn that Varian has discovered the mysterious black rocks near his village. Rapunzel then declares that Cassandra, Varian, and herself will work together to learn more about the rocks and the connection they have to her hair.
Unfortunately, as the rocks continue to expand throughout the kingdom, portions of Varian's village is destroyed, prompting him to seek Rapunzel's help in "Queen for a Day". When Rapunzel is unable to provide assistance at the time due to a separate kingdom-wide disaster caused by the magic of the evil warlock Zhan Tiri (Corona is being destroyed by a deadly blizzard and her parents are missing), Varian swears vengeance against the princess. In "The Quest for Varian", Rapunzel reassumes her mission to uncover the truth behind the black rocks, and discovers along the way that her father had not only been aware of their threat, but had made it his mission to keep Rapunzel and Corona's population from investigating them. Rapunzel repeatedly pursues her father for answers, but receives none. After Varian kidnaps the queen as part of his revenge scheme in "Secret of the Sun Drop", however, King Frederic finally confesses the truth to Rapunzel so that they may set aside their differences and work together to save Arianna.
According to Frederic, legend foretold that, should the Sun Drop Flower be removed from its place of origin, a devastating darkness would be unleashed. In his desperation, Frederic took the flower to save a dying Arianna, allowing her to live and give birth to Rapunzel. However, the guilt of unleashing a darkness upon his kingdom stuck with Frederic. Understanding that Frederic's actions were out of love for his family, Rapunzel finally comes to trust her father again. Together, with the people of Corona by their side, the two are able to rescue Arianna. By making physical contact with the rocks, Rapunzel is able to unleash their full potential, and uses this power to defeat Varian. Realizing the consequences that his actions had caused, Frederic apologizes for his behavior and comes to terms with Rapunzel's right to independence. With the black rocks having reshaped to form a path meant to lead Rapunzel to an unknown destination beyond Corona's walls, the princess decides to follow their trail to uncover her destiny with Eugene, Cassandra, Pascal, Maximus, Lance, Hook Foot and Shorty in tow.
Season Two
Rapunzel—now donning new attire—sets off with her friends in a customized caravan, following the path left by the rocks. As Rapunzel's first time outside of Corona, the princess embraces her newfound freedom with zeal and finds enjoyment at nearly every stop. In "Beyond the Corona Walls", Eugene tries to propose to Rapunzel, again, but the princess is still unsure about marriage. This leaves Eugene downhearted and doubtful, while also creating an awkward atmosphere amongst the group. After a situation involving Stalyan—Eugene's ex-fiancée who wished to finish their union—Rapunzel comes to realize just how much she truly loves Eugene. The princess tries to propose, but Eugene stops her midway, instead wanting Rapunzel to focus on her newfound freedom. Discreetly disappointed, Rapunzel halfheartedly accepts, but nevertheless is happy that she and Eugene are together again. In the same episode, Rapunzel meets a peculiar woman named Adira, who had been studying the rocks. According to Adira, the rocks had been searching for Rapunzel, explaining why they appeared in Corona. Having succeeded in finding her, the rocks have now formed a trail leading to the Dark Kingdom; only by journeying there will Rapunzel fulfill her destiny.
After months of travel and strange encounters, Adira reveals that the only way to the Dark Kingdom is to pass through the Great Tree, which was once the great stronghold of Zhan Tiri. Inside, the group finds some mysterious writings which they cannot translate. However, one scroll was translated, and it contained the Healing Incantation. They also learn about the Moonstone and find the reverse incantation, which turns Rapunzel's hair and eyes black and begins to suck the life out of everything around her, including her friends. Rapunzel later uses this power to defeat Hector, a villainous warrior attempting to prevent the group from entering the Dark Kingdom. Cassandra warns Rapunzel not to use the reverse incantation because of its deadly effects, but Rapunzel is unable to stop it once she starts. When Casandra attempts to do so, her arm is severely wounded, forcing her to later cover herself in a discarded knight's armor.
Rapunzel and Cassandra become distant from each other for a while, but they eventually talk it out and make up. However, after their adventures in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, Cassandra distanced herself from Rapunzel again, but acted as if everything was fine. Eventually, the group finally reached the Dark Kingdom, where they are confronted by King Edmund, who revealed himself to be Eugene's father. The group learn more about the Moonstone Opal through Edmund and Adira. When they finally convinced the king to let them see the Moonstone, Rapunzel, Eugene, Pascal, and Cassandra entered the Moonstone's chamber. Rapunzel thanked Cassandra for everything and told Eugene that she loves him before reaching for the stone to fulfill her destiny. However, before she could even touch it, Cassandra grabs the stone and declares she is fulfilling her own destiny and becomes merged with it. Rapunzel watched in shock and horror as her former friend betrayed her and told her that she had warned her to be careful who she trusts.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Rapunzel appears as a netizen in Oh My Disney. She works alongside the other Disney princesses, meeting and greeting net users as a Cast member. While visiting the site, Vanellope von Schweetz is targeted by First Order Stormtroopers. She unknowingly glitches into the backstage quarters of the Disney princesses, who are on break; Rapunzel is seen painting the walls of her vanity. Believing Vanellope to be a threat, the princesses charge at her wielding weapons; Rapunzel arms herself with her frying pan. Vanellope quickly explains that she's also a princess, coming from Sugar Rush. The princesses question what kind of princess Vanellope is, and Rapunzel excitedly questions if Vanellope has magic hair. She and Belle also asks if Vanellope has ever been kidnapped or enslaved. She denies each question. Finally, Rapunzel asks if people assume all of Vanellope's problems are solved by a "big, strong man", which Vanellope relates to. This leads Rapunzel and the others to ecstatically declare Vanellope a princess.
Afterwards, as Cinderella takes interest in Vanellope's casual modern outfit, Rapunzel agrees with her on the sentiment of wanting the same kind of attire, calling it "the best outfit ever". This leads to the mice sewing comfy modern outfits for each of the princesses. Rapunzel wears a lilac hoodie over a purple top with a graphic that reads "The Snuggly Duckling BARHOUSE", lavender leggings that are patterned with the Corona sun crest, and a pair of pink sneakers with purple laces. When Ariel tries to express her joy over wearing a human shirt, she briefly breaks into song before Vanellope's confusion cuts her off. The other princesses are unfazed, explaining that they've each had songs that help express themselves. When Vanellope notes that she's never had a musical number, Rapunzel (who is sitting in a lounge cushion of her hair while eating a donut) encourages her to find her song by thinking about what she desires most and singing about whatever that may be. This leads to Vanellope performing a ditty about getting a new steering wheel for her unplugged game.
During the climax of the film, Rapunzel returns alongside the other princesses. The ladies take notice of Wreck-It Ralph plummeting from the sky. Rapunzel exclaims, "A big, strong man is in need of rescuing!", prompting the princesses to quickly rally together to save the bad guy; Rapunzel supplies her magical hair. Once the bad guy is secured, the princesses introduce themselves and befriend him.
Other appearances
In Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, Grace Goodwin wears a Disney Princess shirt that has a picture of Rapunzel, Snow White, and Cinderella.
Rapunzel makes a cameo appearance along with Eugene in Frozen. They are seen entering the castle of Arendelle for Elsa's coronation and pass by Anna, when Anna is singing "For the First Time in Forever".
In a 2015 holiday advertisement for Target, a doll version of Rapunzel, alongside Belle, makes a brief cameo appearance as part of the cheering crowd when the kids successfully put the star on top of the Christmas tree.
An emoticon version of Rapunzel appeared in the Tangled entry of the As Told by Emoji short series.
A horse version of Rapunzel appeared on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Wrangled in the film Zootopia.
Live-action appearances
Once Upon a Time
First Iteration
Rapunzel appeared in the 14th episode of Season 3 titled "The Tower" and was played by Alexandra Metz.
Before the Dark Curse was cast, Rapunzel was born as the second child to her parents, the King and Queen of an unnamed kingdom, and lives an unworried life knowing that her elder brother, instead of herself, will ascend the throne in the future. Though her parents warn Rapunzel against swimming in the stream, she disobeys them, becoming entrapped in the river, and is later saved by her brother. Tragically, her brother dies as a result, leaving Rapunzel as the next heir to the royal seat. Many years later, Rapunzel, afraid she won't live up to her parents' names as a rule, digs up and ingests a plant called night root, which is rumored to rid the user of their fears, but it has no effect. Before leaving for home, she is chased up a tower by a cloaked witch, who refuses to allow her to ever leave. Unbeknownst to Rapunzel, the witch is a manifestation of herself as her own greatest fear, as a consequence of consuming the night root. After the curse was undone, Rapunzel notices from her tower window a man digging up night root. Since he is the first person she's seen in a long time, the princess calls to him for help. The man, Prince Charming, climbs up the tower using her long, braided hair as a scaling rope. After she tells him of her past, he promises to rescue her. When the cloaked witch climbs up the tower, she is finally unmasked as Rapunzel herself due to the effects of the night root. While Prince Charming pushes Rapunzel to fight this manifestation of her own fear, the witch throws him out of the tower. As he is clinging onto a vine, the witch begins ascending up using Rapunzel's hair. Advised by Prince Charming to fend off the fear or risk dying alone, she severs the length of her hair, causing the witch to fall and dissipate. Prince Charming helps Rapunzel out of the tower, bringing the princess to her parents, whom she happily reunites with.
Second Iteration
- Main article: Lady Tremaine#Second Iteration
A different interpretation of Rapunzel appears in Season 7 as one of the primary antagonists. Here, she is also Lady Tremaine and managed to lock Mother Gothel inside the tower herself.
Printed media
Celebration of the Lost Princess
After being freed from the tower and Gothel, Rapunzel, Pascal, Eugene and Maximus begin returning to Corona to reunite with the King and Queen. However, anxiety begins overcoming the princess as she fears the life of royalty, believing it to be overbearing. As Eugene explains what palace life is like, Rapunzel's imagination gets the better of her, making the simplest of things seem too much to handle.
She also learned of the royal tiara, and the symbolism its crystals held. The tiara's white crystals stood for a strong, adventurous spirit; green represented gentleness and kindness; red stood for courage, and the round golden crown itself stood for leadership. Eugene further explained that the crystals perfectly represented Rapunzel, reminiscing the heroic deeds she performed during their adventure together during the original journey from the tower to the kingdom. Even so, Rapunzel felt those actions couldn't have been done without her long, magical hair, and just then, the group was attacked by bandits, who were after Maximus. Using her quick wit and physical strength, along with Maximus' assistance, the bandits were defeated, and it was revealed their leader merely needed a horse to rush his son to the doctor.
With that said, the group returned to the lead bandit's home, where Rapunzel tended to the boy's injuries. And afterward, Maximus escorted him to the medics. The entire event showed Rapunzel Eugene's words were correct, and in the end, she was finally crowned.
Ghost of Christmas Past
As Corona is preparing for the most wonderful time of the year, Rapunzel seems apprehensive about celebrating Christmas, much to the confusion of Eugene. She recalls that during the time she spent in the tower, Mother Gothel would tell her of "Nicholas the ghostly Christmas elf," who supposedly kidnaps children on Christmas Eve, and the eerie songs written in honor of the holiday. But after hearing her story, Eugene quickly realizes that the story was just another one of Mother Gothel's tricks to keep Rapunzel away from the outside world and confined in the tower. So, Eugene decides to take Rapunzel out on a stroll through the kingdom to show her what Christmas is truly all about.
First, Eugene shows her that the music is actually sweet and heartwarming, and not as spooky as she first thought. Then, the presents are real gifts, as oppose to being a trick package. Next, the so-called charms that, according to Rapunzel, scares away the Christmas elf on the Christmas tree are really ornaments used for decorations. Finally, Eugene shows her that St. Nicholas is a jolly old fellow who gives presents to kids all around the world, and not a ghostly Christmas elf who kidnaps them as she was told before. With the actual knowledge of Christmas finally given to her, Rapunzel now goes from wary to excited as she spends the next few weeks getting ready for the holiday.
On Christmas Eve, Rapunzel is finally able to celebrate the holiday with Eugene, Pascal, and her parents as it truly is: joyful, warm, and loving. Rapunzel then happily thanked Eugene and falls asleep on his lap as they wait for Christmas Day to come.
Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch
Rapunzel has a minor role in the novel by Serena Valentino, as the main focus is the backstory of Mother Gothel. It is revealed that Gothel named her after the golden flower (which was refered to as a rapunzel flower in the novel). At first Rapunzel was raised in a cottage with Gothel and her housekeeper Ms. Tiddlebottom, however when she turns eight, after Gothel and the Odd Sisters attempt to use her hair to resurrect Gothel’s sisters, Rapunzel is put into an enchanted sleep and her memories of the cottage and Ms. Tiddlebottom are erased. From that point she is put into the tower and remains asleep until the day before her eighteenth birthday, and her happy childhood in the tower is all a dream. At the very end of novel, Rapunzel is mourning Eugene’s death, she and Circe repeat the healing incantation at the same time but it is unclear to Circe if Rapunzel still has some of the flower’s magic inside her.
Kingdom Keepers
She appears in the seventh book in which she Assists the Keepers during the final battle in "The Insider". She is shown to have healing powers, as seen in the movie. She heals Violet after her force field accidentally drops debris on her, and Finn's DHI after he barely survives killing Chernabog.
Comics
As the title New Year's Party suggests, Rapunzel and Eugene joined the royal family for a New Year Eve's party. However, as midnight approached, the couple realized they have yet to make a New Year's resolution. Rapunzel quickly decided on learning to sing, and Eugene decided on learning how to cook. However, on both ends, they were abysmal. After a while of constant lessons, Rapunzel was prepared to perform her "newfound singing skills" for Eugene, just as much as Eugene was prepared to serve Rapunzel a meal he specially cooked. However, despite their eagerness, Rapunzel found Eugene's cooking terrible and nearly choked taking a bite, whilst Eugene's reaction to her singing eventually informed her that her singing wasn't all that fantastic, and she vocally acknowledged the enlightenment. Fortunately, the two were able to see past their flaws.
After returning to the palace in Rapunzel the Princess, Rapunzel has a difficult time adjusting to the life of a princess. For instance, she's forced to wear shoes for the first time (though she eventually becomes accustomed to it), as well as being told she no longer has to sweep and clean, like she did in the tower. Eugene and the Pub Thugs also had a difficult time fitting in, using thieving mechanisms to visit Rapunzel in the castle, much to the guards' distress. She also discovers people aren't too fond of Pascal, and that painting on the wall (as she did in the tower) is considered disgraceful. However, despite her apparent mishaps, the King and Queen confess that the habits of their daughter make her special and more than desirable, believing she's the greatest princess they could ask for, no matter what.
About a decade before the release of Tangled, Rapunzel was given her first mention in the first issue of New Adventures of Disney's Beauty and the Beast by Disney Comics, where Belle compared her current situation of being trapped in a cellar with a bear outside to Rapunzel's situation in the story.
Video games
Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
In this story, taking place during the time of the film, Rapunzel is on her way to Corona to live her dream, but various obstacles prove to make the journey difficult, such as Flynn's wanted posters being plastered throughout the forest, Pascal going missing, and evil imps causing havoc. However, with the help of the game's heroine, Rapunzel and Pascal are able to overcome the challenges, eventually making it to the kingdom and rewarding the heroine by helping her find a magic crystal.
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
In the game, Rapunzel and Pascal have been kidnapped to the World of Illusion by an evil witch known as Mizrabel, as part of a dark scheme to steal the essence of beloved Disney characters for her own selfish purposes. Fortunately, however, they are soon rescued by Mickey Mouse and remain within a sanctuary with the other rescued Disney characters until Mizrabel's eventual defeat, allowing the characters to return back to their homes.
Disney INFINITY
Rapunzel appears as a playable character in Disney INFINITY, playable in the Toy Box mode of the game. She was released as a stand alone character on November 22, 2013, and was released in the UK in the "Girl Power" pack alongside Violet and Vanellope von Schweetz on April 4, 2014.
Rapunzel's exclusive adventure in the first game is called "Rapunzel's Rail Ride", which has her competing in a timed event to gather floating lanterns. The board features multiple lengths of piping with some of the floating lanterns on them, resulting in Rapunzel having to jump from pipe to pipe so to retrieve them.
Disney Tsum Tsum
In the mobile app game Rapunzel appears as a Premium Box Tsum and was introduced to the International version in January 2015.
Her Tsum is a Chain Skill Tsum as she can connect other Tsums to form a chain, During the Bingo and Event Missions, and using her "Call a Sweetheart" skill she summons Flynn Rider and appears in the animation of her skill.
Kingdom Hearts III
Rapunzel makes an appearance in the third installment of the Kingdom Hearts series as a party member for Sora in her homeworld the "Kingdom of Corona", closely following the events of the original movie, but with her interactions with Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy. In the grand scheme of things, Rapunzel becomes a target of Organization XIII, due to her potentially pure heart.[14] As her hair is a large part of her fighting style, she can no longer join your party after the main story of the Kingdom of Corona world is complete.
Other games
In Disney Universe, Rapunzel she is part of the Green T-Shirt Costumes and can be unlocked after the second completion of the Streets of Agrabah level.
In Disney Crossy Road, Rapunzel appears in both her classic and "braided" figure. In order to unlock her braided figure, the player must complete the Tangled Heroes Set which includes Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Maximus and Pascal.
In Disney Emoji Blitz, Rapunzel's Emoji causes her hair to drop down the middle column, removing emojis on either side.
Disney Parks
Rapunzel is a face character in various Disney parks around the world. Retaining long blonde hair as opposed to the short brown cut at the end of the film, the official explanation for her park appearance is remnants of the magic within her after healing Flynn gradually allowed her to grow some hair back (down to her ankles it seems).
Disneyland Resort
In 2013, Rapunzel became part of the Fantasy Faire meet-and-greet at the former Carnation Gardens Plaza site, working in an interactive version of her story with Flynn and Smythe and Jones at the Royal Theater. Rapunzel also appears in Mickey's Soundsational Parade—with Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora and Belle on the princess-themed float— and is part of the Mickey and the Magical Map show at Fantasyland Theater.
She is also featured in World of Color during the "So Close" sequence, replacing Tarzan and in the 2017 version of Remember... Dreams Come True during the Critter Country, Fantasyland, Toontown sequence.
Walt Disney World
In Florida, she can be found in the Magic Kingdom at the Princess Fairytale Hall for meet-and-greets. In the same park, she makes daily appearances during Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire, as well as the Festival of Fantasy parade.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Rapunzel makes appearances in the Happiness is Here parade and Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights. She also appears in a Tangled segment of Once Upon a Time at Tokyo Disneyland.
Disneyland Paris
Rapunzel and Flynn also made a special appearance near the finale of Mickey's Magical Celebration, and are currently seen in the nighttime show Disney Dreams!.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Rapunzel debuted on January of 2011, as part of the festivities celebrating the park's 5th anniversary. She also appears in the show Mickey and the Wondrous Book, performed in Storybook Theater. Here, she performs "When Will My Life Begin" with Ariel and joins Merida's performance of "Touch the Sky".
Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Rapunzel can be found in several spots, including Mickey's Storybook Express parade, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, and on the Tangled mosaic display inside of Enchanted Storybook Castle.
Disney Cruise Line
Aboard the Disney Cruise Line ships, Rapunzel and Flynn have been added to the long-running show The Golden Mickeys and are featured on the Disney Fantasy cruise show Wishes. She also stars in a stage adaptation of Tangled.
Disney Princess
Upon the release of Tangled, Rapunzel instantly became one of the most popular Disney characters of all time, especially amongst fans of the Disney Princess franchise.
On October 2, 2011, an official coronation ceremony for Rapunzel's induction into the line-up was held in London at the Kensington Palace. Among the other guests included thousands of fans, the other (then nine) official members of the Disney Princess Royal Court, and Flynn Rider, who had the honor of crowning Rapunzel.
Redesign
Rapunzel received very few changes for the "deluxe princess" redesign. Her dress simply had glittery floral designs added onto them. The dress is also a little longer, extending to floor length and the colors seem to be brightened. Rapunzel's hair is long and blonde, reaching floor length despite the fact that it was cut in the film. Rapunzel has also been given shoes for her redesign, something that differs greatly from the film, where she is persistently barefoot.
Palace Pets
Rapunzel's Palace Pets are Blondie, Summer, Meadow, Daisy, Gleam, Sundrop, Truffles, and Cubbie.
Differences from the source material
Although Rapunzel is based on the character from the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, she is altered quite a bit in order to develop a more adventurous and outgoing personality, and further complicate the romantic relationship between her and her love interest.
- In the original tale, Rapunzel is named after the Rapunzel (German) plant, known as corn salad or lamb's lettuce in English. Her mother had craved them during the pregnancy and her father had stolen them from Gothel's garden, which is why she claimed ownership of Rapunzel in the fairy tale.
- Some versions say that Rapunzel's hair was just long while others say it was always braided in a plait. However in the film, she has both styles.
- In the Grimm story, Rapunzel's hair is cut by Gothel when she finds out about the prince. Either from weight or a hint of pregnancy, depending on the adaptation story.
- In the fairy tale, Rapunzel was not of royal birth but born a commoner.
- Rapunzel was far less rebellious in the fairy tale.
- Rapunzel did not own a chameleon in the story.
- The parents are never mentioned after Gothel comes to take the baby girl away as agreed upon.
- Her love interest was not a thief, but a prince who is never given a name and was stereotypically simply referred to as "the prince".
- In the story, there is no mention of Rapunzel using frying pans as a weapon.
- Her hair did not possess any powers nor did it glow at all.
- In the fairy tale, Rapunzel is a castaway. The Prince must find her even when he's blind from thorns that result from escaping from Gothel lurking in the tower. After some years he finally finds her and he can see again.
- In the original story, Rapunzel's tears restore her lover's sight.
- At birth in the source material, Rapunzel's father agreed to give her to Gothel after stealing her rampion for the second time to help his wife.
- In the source material, Rapunzel becomes pregnant and given birth to twins, a boy, and a girl.
- Rapunzel was a natural blonde in the original fairy tale.
- In the original story, Rapunzel was 12 when she was shut up in the tower. In the film, she was only a baby when locked in.
- In some versions of the story, her hair grows back after the prince touches it.
- The fairy tale character never leaves her tower, not until she is sent far away from it to the desert by Gothel.
- Rapunzel was impregnated by the prince, and Gothel only found out when Rapunzel's clothing could no longer fit.
- This is from the first edition, 1812. The 1857 edition is changed. In that version, Rapunzel unwittingly asks Frau Gothel why she was more heavier to pull up than the prince.
Gallery
Trivia
- Rapunzel was originally going to be voiced by Broadway actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth, but she was later replaced by pop singer-songwriter and former teen idol, Mandy Moore.
- Reese Witherspoon was considered for the role of Rapunzel while Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel auditioned.
- It's never made clear in the film whether Rapunzel was the name given by her parents or Gothel. But it is believed that her parents gave her name from a plant in the royal garden as mentioned in Inside the Journal.[15]
- Rapunzel is the first Disney Princess to be computer-animated. In fact, she is also the first Disney Princess to make her debut as a computer-animated character. Special software was used specifically to animate Rapunzel's hair because no one ever animated that much hair before.
- Animators have said that Rapunzel's hair is approximately 70 feet long and holds about 100,000 strands. Despite having her hair cut and turn brown in the movie, Rapunzel's hair is kept long and blonde in many of the promotional images and in the Disney parks. This also makes her the first Disney Princess to have her hair change color.
- While the official movie description refers to Rapunzel having 70 feet of hair, The Art of Tangled, page 66 "Creative Conditioning" acknowledges 5 more: "Detangling 75 feet of hair".
- The color purple is often said to be the color of royalty. During the film, Rapunzel only wears purple, which can be a reference to Rapunzel's true royal identity.
- At the Disney Princess Fairytale Hall, Rapunzel claims to have painted all of the portraits of the other Disney Princesses that guests see when they first enter the hall.
- Rapunzel is the last protagonist that animator Glen Keane created before his resignation from Disney. Keane was famous for animating other protagonists over the years as well, such as Elliott, Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Tarzan.
- Rapunzel not only happens to have an interest in art, but also in astronomy as well, probably as a result of her trying to keep track of how long she remained in Gothel's tower since she was kidnapped by observing the nights the lanterns are released from her kingdom to signal her to come back.
- In the original trailer, it was planned that Rapunzel's hair, in addition to healing, would be able to move on its own and act like another appendage similar to The Marvel Comics' character Medusa which Disney also owns. However, this never appeared in the film.
- Although her feet aren't shown in the short, several promotional artworks made for Tangled Ever After reveal that Rapunzel is indeed barefoot underneath her wedding dress.
- Rapunzel has a distinctive meaning to her name; "Rapunzel" is a kind of German lettuce as in the original German fairy tale Rapunzel's peasant father is stealing rampion for her mother from a witch.
- Some Rapunzel wedding media depict her with long, gold hair instead of short, brown hair.
- Some Rapunzel crown media depict her with a purple crown instead of the typical gold, platinum, and diamond type.
- Rapunzel was originally planned to have a red dress, which was changed into pink. When animation started at work, the dress was then recolored into blue. When the concept was later abandoned, the dress was finalized to a purple dress, which has become the dress color of most variations of other Rapunzel characters, since the flowers of a Rampion (Rapunzel) plant have violet hues.
- Rapunzel's favorite food is hazelnut soup, as alleged by Mother Gothel.
- A character model of Rapunzel without her dress revealed that the top part of her white underdress (the bottom of the underdress is clearly shown under her skirt) resembles a white version of the bodice of her pink and purple dress, right down to the pink laces, but sporting lace-trimmed straps instead of sleeves.
- In the film Enchanted, released three years before Tangled, a foreshadowing reference to Disney's then-upcoming incarnation of Rapunzel was made during "That's How You Know".
- During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Rapunzel was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
- Rapunzel's statue in "Rapunzel's Enemy" was modeled after some of Glen Keane's concept art sketches.
References
- ↑ Tangled (IDW)
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16686/disney-legend-glen-keane-interview-tangled-computer-animation-his-heart-attack-and-ollie-Johnston
- ↑ https://ctnanimationexpo.com/glen-keane/
- ↑ http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/tangled-glen-keane-interview
- ↑ Interview: Glen Keane of ‘Tangled’
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.killermovies.com/r/rapunzelunbraided/articles/4765.html
- ↑ https://disneymoviesandfacts.tumblr.com/post/39415336279/natalie-portman-was-considered-for-rapunzel-and
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ https://www.geeksofdoom.com/2011/03/27/interview-tangled-directors-talk-about-creating-disneys-50th-animated-feature
- ↑ https://disneytrivia.tumblr.com/post/68479672256/kristen-bell-anna-and-idina-menzel-elsa-both
- ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/10/19/mandy-moore-on-tangled_n_1019215.html?guccounter=1
- ↑ https://movieweb.com/exclusive-mandy-moore-talks-tangled/
- ↑ "Famitsu: Frozen, New Seven Hearts, summary video, no public demo". Khinsider (June 15, 2018).
- ↑ "Nature|Inside the Journal|Tangled: The Series|Disney Channel". YouTube. Retrieved on March 27, 2018.
External links
Rapunzel (Tangled) on Wikipedia
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