...The story of Rapunzel and Mother Gothel has been told many times since its publication in 1812, and has been utilized by numerous writers of various genres to reflect the changing culture and values of the corresponding audiences. From the original publication by the Grimm Brothers, to the graphic novel entitled Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Rapunzel’s story has certainly proven to be malleable in nature, and provide for the opportunity to analyze the differences between these texts. This adaptability is, arguably, especially present in the animated film, Tangled (Disney’s version of the story). In comparison to the original Grimm publication, the variances in details about key characters and their backstories, along with the way that animation portrays these characters in all point to a very clear message about gender roles in...
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...is acceptable when Mother Gothel steals Rapunzel to keep herself looking young. This shows the viewers that stealing is acceptable because Mother Gothel gets away with keeping Rapunzel hidden for 18 years yet feels no guilt after doing so and is not punished in any way. Also the King and Queen, who she was stolen from, have no problem continuing on with their life because we see them after 18 years living without any emotional distress. This gives the impression to the viewers that they can steal and no other people will be affected and that no consequences will come out of it. An additional alternate message that is conveyed is that blackmailing someone to fulfill one’s dreams is normal when Rapunzel takes Flynn’s crown and forces him to help her see the floating lights in order for him to receive his crown again. Her actions prove blackmailing is normal because Flynn does not put up a fight to defend himself and no consequence was bestowed on Rapunzel. As a result viewers are under the impression that only good things come out of blackmailing and that nothing bad will ever result from it. Along with those two alternate messages, the audience can also take away that one can fall in love with another person after knowing them for a short while. This idea is demonstrated when Rapunzel falls in love with Flynn and they get married after knowing each other for a very short period of time. This message is conveyed because Flynn and Rapunzel have know each other a short period of time...
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...Joseph Reyes February 3, 2016 rjoseph@andrews.edu English Composition II Tangled When talking about Disney fairytales, what is the one thing that most people in America assume will happen in the movie? It would be that a “Prince Charming” will come and save the Princesses in whatever predicament that they are in. For instance, in the Disney Fairytale Snow White. She dies by an evil witch’s spell and the her “Prince Charming” comes and saves her with true love’s kiss. The trend of these movies has continued throughout the years, until a recent changed in one of their recent movies. In the Disney fairytale Tangled, it utilizes the same stereotypes where the main character, Rapunzel, has beauty, she can sing, she has an evil mother, she cleans up around the house, has an animal friend, and the list goes on. Yet the movie itself also pushes against the fairytale expectation. They say that most fairytales focus on the woman of the movie, and that the male figure is barely present. In Tangled, however, there is a focus on men who are much more developed then the typical Prince Charming character. While the roles of women have significantly changed in fairy tales since becoming popular, the roles of men have stayed the same. The heroes of these fairy tales appear to be rich and powerful but what they do lack is personality. For example, in the movie Snow White, the Prince comes out of thin air but he’s handsome, and rich, and his character hadn’t even been developed. The...
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...Joseph Reyes February 3, 2016 rjoseph@andrews.edu English Composition II Tangled When talking about Disney fairytales, what is the one thing that most people in America assume will happen in the movie? It would be that a “Prince Charming” will come and save the Princesses in whatever predicament that they are in. For instance, in the Disney Fairytale Snow White. She dies by an evil witch’s spell and the her “Prince Charming” comes and saves her with true love’s kiss. The trend of these movies has continued throughout the years, until a recent changed in one of their recent movies. In the Disney fairytale Tangled, it utilizes the same stereotypes where the main character, Rapunzel, has beauty, she can sing, she has an evil mother, she cleans up around the house, has an animal friend, and the list goes on. Yet the movie itself also pushes against the fairytale expectation. They say that most fairytales focus on the woman of the movie, and that the male figure is barely present. In Tangled, however, there is a focus on men who are much more developed then the typical Prince Charming character. While the roles of women have significantly changed in fairy tales since becoming popular, the roles of men have stayed the same. The heroes of these fairy tales appear to be rich and powerful but what they do lack is personality. For example, in the movie Snow White, the Prince comes out of thin air but he’s handsome, and rich, and his character hadn’t even been developed. The...
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...The Grimm brothers are well-known story-tellers. Most of those who have seen the classic Disney movies like Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs have experienced an innocent version of the gruesome and dark tales that are the Grimm fairy-tales. In the beginning of their journey, the brothers had no intention of becoming story-tellers. The article “Grimms' Fairy Tales” states that the brothers found that the best way to allow someone to share the sounds of their dialect was to share the stories that had been passed down to them; the brothers kept a record of the stories they heard and had a book published in 1812 called Kinder und Hausmarchen, which translates to “Tales of Children and the Home”. Fairy tales during the brothers' time didn't have the same purpose as the ones today do. Bayer explains that during the Grimms' time, fairy tales were told to teach lessons and to pass on cultural values and wisdom to younger generations, not to entertain them. Because the purpose of these tales wasn't to entertain, the story-tellers weren't concerned about frightening their younger audiences (“Grimms' Fairy Tales”). Norton states that the tales were told around the fire to children and adults alike. Norton also tells us that, because these stories were dark and provocative, society decided that the nature of the tales had to change. Society had to protect their children from the gruesome nature of the Grimm fairy tales. Society may take the bulk of the blame for the changing...
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...journey. In Disney’s movie, Tangled, the main character, Rapunzel, is led on a formidable journey that takes her out of her comfort zone and introduces her to the hardships and beauties of reality and true love. She grew up in a tower isolated from society, only hearing embellished stories of the dangers that apparently occur outside the tower walls. Rapunzel embarks (5) on a journey and with her friends help finds her parents, true love, and bliss. Rapunzel is a archetypal damsel in distress. She plays a very key role when it comes to character to audience connection. Rapunzel is a symbolic...
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....   For Shannan, With love on her birthday Charlotte xxx Once upon a time, in a land far away, a drop of sunlight fell to the ground. It grew into a magical flower that possessed healing powers. An old women named Mother Gothel discovered the flower, and hoarded its power to preserve her youth and beauty. As centuries passed, a glorious kingdom was built close to the cliff where the flower grew. When the beloved queen fell ill, the townspeople searched for the legendary flower, until at last they found it. The flower made the queen well, and she soon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The King and Queen launched a lantern into the sky in celebration.   One night, the vengeful Mother Gothel slipped into the nursery, there lying in two cradles, were two baby girls. Mother Gothel looked at the two babies and wondered which one was the queen’s baby child. She decided the blonde- haired girl looked more like the queen, but the curly- haired one had the same colour hair as the queen, she discovered that the blonde- haired...
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...Atwood’s Rapunzel Syndrome in “The Painted Door” Ever since it’s publishing by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s “Rapunzel” has become more than just another short story, it’s become an element of literature. The struggle between a woman and the ties holding her from happiness has become a vital part to an increasing number of literary works both Canadian and otherwise. Canadian literature can often be placed under Margaret Atwood’s literary analysis “Survival a Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature”. In this it is stated that women in Canadian literature frequently suffer from Rapunzel Syndrome (209). In the Rapunzel Syndrome there are four elements: Rapunzel the main character; the wicked witch who has imprisoned her [...]; the tower she’s imprisoned in [...]; and the Rescuer (Atwood 209). Sinclair Ross’s short story “The Painted Door” is an example of how all of these elements can be present in Canadian literature. The Rapunzel Syndrome requires a wicked witch who imprisones Rapunzel to her tower. In “The Painted Door” John can be seen as this wicked witch who is responsible for trapping his wife, Rapunzel to her tower. After deciding to visit his father before the storm his wife expresses genuine concern about the undertaking. John disregards her pleas to stay and convinces her that she will be safe. Although John is at fault for trapping his wife he is by no means wicked. He loves his wife deeply and has only good intentions in mind; keeping his father and her...
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...produced by Walt Disney. Tangled is about a girl named Rapunzel who was kidnap as a infant from a witch names Gothel. Gothel raised Rapunzel as if she was her owe child because Rapunzel had magical hair, which Gothel use to keep herself young and beautiful. Therefore, she kept Rapunzel hiding in a big tower away from everything and everyone. As the movie atcontinue, flynn who is a their came across the tower and that is when he met Rapunzel. She is determined to see the only thing she ever dreamed about which were to see the floating lanterns. Furthermore, she demands Flynn to take her or else she won't give back the crown he has stolen from the castle. In conclusion, they set a deal, and Rapunzel leaves the tower to follow her dream. The movie has two main characters named Rapunzel and Flynn. Rapunzel is a young girl who's adventurous, energetic, and sweet. All her life she wished of seeing the floating lanterns, therefore, on her 18 birthday she was determined to pursue her life long dream. Rapunzel is a static character because she stays true to her beliefs and is kindhearted though the whole movie. Flynn is a young man who's charming, gifted, and rebellious. Flynn is a thief whose always happens to find himself in sticky situations. However, flynn has a dream of finally living the life he always wanted which was to be wealthy. Therefore, during one big mission of stealing the princess crown, he ends up meeting Rapunzel and everything he planned on doesn't really go as...
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...revolutionary, or anything inbetween. A good character that people love to root for and fall in love with. Joseph Campbell recognized a pattern in these heroes: they may be different people, but they share the same underlying path. They follow the three stages of a hero’s journey, departure, initiation, and the inevitable return. Alongside this are characteristics and major plot points that all point to the same person, the hero with a thousand faces. The reimagined story, Tangled, follows the journey of Rapunzel on her way to see the lanterns that cloud the night sky every year on her birthday. The story follows Campbell’s pattern well, presenting yet another...
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...King: Where is Alexandra? Queen: She better not be out on that horse again! She knows how much we disapprove of such rough activities Servant: Yes your majesty, Princess Alexandra is out on her horse, she has been gone for quite some time now, I’ll go find her. King: She needs to start cooperating with us so we can find her the right prince for her to marry. Queen: Remember your majesty, she will need to fall in love with him first! Alexandra: Sorry father I was out in the garden King: Never mind that lie, we need to discuss wedding arrangements! Queen: Prince Liam from Aarondell is a fine gentleman! Or even Prince Harry Alexandra: They’re both wimps! They couldn’t even beat me in an archery competition if they wanted! Queen: Alexandra! You need to stop fooling around and doing such manly activities! You are 16 now, start acting like the lady that you are! Alexandra: I told you I want to be called Alex from now on, please! Mother those dresses are so ugly and plus I feel more comfortable in my slacks! Queen: You’ve been like this since you were little and we have letting you get away with it but now that you are 16 and a young lady you need to present yourself as one! King: Such a mature and beautiful young lady and she still does not have interest in finding a prince to marry! Alexandra: Father I am sorry I just simply do not see myself with a man in my future! Queen: *gasp * You cannot stay single your whole life! Alexandra: Mother I do not intend to stay single...
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...Williams Splitting Hairs in Disney’s film Tangled Cinderella tells us that a dream is a wish that your heart makes, and following suit dreams play a large part in the newest Disney princess film, Tangled. In the end of the film Rapunzel holds Flynn and they admit their deep secret that they had become each other’s dream, and an “awww” moment ensues. The question to ask is “Where do these dreams come from?” and “What do these dreams mean?” Taking this second question, the implications of Rapunzel and Flynn’s dream impact more than just the world of the film. The Disney Princess films have been studied within an inch of their lives by a great number of scholars in a great number of fields. One common study takes the ideas of gender development and combines them with the Disney Princess films. However, the implications of gender do not stop here as gender identity can still be impacted as the viewers age. Interpretation of the princess films has been a huge aspect of their scholarly application as the behavior of the princesses, and princes, can be interpreted and compared with gender stereotypes and norms to assess the impact their portrayals can have on the viewing audience. The film Tangled is often seen as Disney’s take on a modern princess, and Rapunzel and Flynn have a great deal to contribute to both gender development study and media interpretation of gender. Gender development is a field of study which has been impacted in a number of ways by modern theorists and he field...
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...Jekyll and Rapunzel both set standards of the word "distress" for their audience.Written as a fairytale for little boys and girls, Rapunzel bestows a gender neutral situation for the archetype in capture but affixes a solution that is femininely passive. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a "book intended for young male readers"(Dan and Shou 2012), shows what is thought to be a more masculine view of the damsel in distress. Boys, the target audience for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are encouraged to find solutions for the anguish they are in. Dr. Jekyll portrays this message when he "sent out for a fresh supply and mixed the draught" (Stevenson 63) to stop turning into Mr. Hyde. Girls on the contrary, the gender majorly influenced by Rapunzel, are encouraged to find a man who can relieve their distress for them. Women in literature, including Rapunzel, "seem to be designed to be submissive to men"(Dan and Shou 2012). The damsel is expected to submit the male that saves her from her situation. Male characters, like the honorable Dr. Jekyll, demonstrate the breaking of difficult barriers and experimentation that could potentially create a situation that causes...
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...Once upon a time… but exactly when is that time? The time is past present and future. Oh how times have changed since the time of Snow White and Cinderella now we have Rapunzel and Moana. If you have ever seen these movies then hopefully you see the differences I see not only in the quality of the movies made, but the way they portray the characters in each movie. Gender roles have changed throughout time which is clearly seen in everyday life. Women are finally able to do many to most of the things that men do. We also see a huge difference on the way Disney portrays love in their older movies compared to now where a male love interest in not even included in the story. Disney is even beginning to give credibility to the LGBTQ community through...
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...Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a musical directed by Jeremy Hutton. Into the Woods is a musical for people of all ages. It is a performance involving a combination of fairytales and characters like Jack, Cinderella, Rapunzel and more. The musical uses spoken dialogue and songs to portray the story of how each character is given a chance to fulfil their wishes and presents the possibilities of what can happen if all of their wishes are granted. Into the Woods was performed beautifully at the Hart House Theatre at the University of Toronto. At first glance, the theatre seems like any other small, cozy theatre. However, as you inch closer to the set, your perspective changes. It feels like you are being transformed into a magical and...
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