Tangled (2010 film)

Whatever disturbing thing they're planning to do to you, more than likely it's gonna involve hair.


Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
Flynn Rider: It will be.
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?
Flynn Rider: Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.

Disney's 50th animated feature film in its Disney Animated Canon, released in November 2010.

Originally called Rapunzel (and released in Asia and parts of Europe with said name instead, while earning the subtitle "A Tangled Tale"), it is still based on the classic fairy tale and is also still a straight-up fairy tale film, despite what that new title might indicate. It introduces the first CG Disney Princess.

Long ago, a single drop of sunlight fell to Earth from the heavens, and from that droplet sprang a magical flower with the power to heal all ills. A woman named Mother Gothel used this power for centuries to keep herself eternally youthful and attempted to hide it for herself. A small, very prosperous kingdom cropped up nearby in the meantime. But one day, the kingdom's pregnant queen fell deathly ill. The kingdom sought out the legendary flower, and found it, thanks to a slip-up in Gothel's vigilance. Once given an infusion of the plant, the queen was fully healed. Her daughter was born with a full head of luxurious blonde locks with the same healing powers as the flower.

Wanting her flower back, Gothel steals into the castle and cuts a lock of the princess's hair... only for it to go brown, dead and useless. So she kidnaps the princess, hides her in a far-off tower, and raises her as her own. The king and queen mourn their lost daughter, and begin a tradition of releasing flying lanterns into the night sky every year on their daughter's birthday, with the hope that one day she will return. The young Rapunzel never leaves the tower, but as her 18th birthday approaches, she grows increasingly eager to head outside, especially to see the "strange lights" that appear on her birthday each year. As it happens, a thief named Flynn Rider stumbles into their tower soon before her birthday. Holding his stolen loot hostage, she coerces him into taking her to the outside world, and their wild adventure to see the flying lanterns begins... with Mother Gothel hot on their trail, of course.

Formerly directed by legendary animator Glen Keane, who wanted a new look that required new CG technology, but it took too long to perfect, and the tone and plot details changed many times: the total production time of this movie is nine years. Disney initially wanted to cash in on the pop-culture-heavy Shrek humor from 2002, only to change the concept of the film again when the story and technology failed their expectations, and turned it into a more straight-forward fairy tale drama. When management changed, John Lasseter altered its development a third time, and we now have a romantic comedy that balanced the two, with a modern attitude. In this time, Keane developed health issues and he had to leave the project for a while. He came back to executive produce and supervise the animation instead and was replaced by Nathan Greno and Bryon Howard, one of the directors of Bolt. It ended up having the second-largest budget of any movie, ever ($260 million, behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), but is also Disney's second highest-grossing animated film (only The Lion King made more in the worldwide box office). In addition to its financial success, it was also acclaimed by critics. Moreover, it has grown remarkably popular among audiences of all ages, and is a strong contender for the most universally liked Disney Princess movie.

A special titled Tangled Ever After continues the story through Rapunzel's and Flynn's wedding. It premiered attached to the 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast.

Now has a character sheet and a Shout Out page.

Tropes used in Tangled (2010 film) include:
  • Action Duo: Flynn and Rapunzel, although the original cover makes'em look like a Battle Couple.
  • Action Girl: Rapunzel. All the gear she needs to be made of this trope is her hair and a cast-iron Frying Pan of Doom.
  • Adjective Animal Alehouse: The Snuggly Duckling.
  • Adult Fear:
    • Rapunzel being kidnapped as a baby is a pretty good example. In between some silliness ("Go ahead, get trampled by a rhino"?), Gothel uses this as a tactic to keep Rapunzel in the tower.
    • The scene of Gothel freaking out after finding Rapunzel missing without a trace has the potential to strike right to the hearts of parents whose kid has ever wandered out of their vision at a playground, even if in reality Goethel's an abusive kidnapper.
    • Rapunzel, incredibly small and naive, seeing a supposedly comforting silhouette split into two strangers, who then proceed to push themselves into her personal space as they take out a sack to blind her. Terrifying to any assault victim.
  • Affectionate Gesture to the Head:
    • Mother Gothel pats Rapunzel "sweetly" on the head as a gesture of "affection" but also to remind her that she's dumb, helpless, naive, ditzy, etc. It is a sign that Rapunzel has grown up that she blocks the gesture and grabs Gothel's wrist once Rapunzel realizes who she is.
    • She has a second one that's actually a subversion. When they exchange their "I love you", "I love you more", "I love you most" lines, Gothel always ends it by kissing Rapunzel on the top of her head. That's right, the "I love you most" is actually addressing her hair.
  • All Animals Are Dogs: Maximus the horse. For example, he tracks Flynn by his scent and thumps his tail like a Labrador when Rapunzel scratches him, for which horses simply lack the tail bones. Flynn doesn't believe it. The filmmakers even admit it.
  • Almost Kiss: Twice. First, on the rowboat, before being interrupted by Flynn/Eugene seeing the Stabbington Brothers. Second, in the climax, before Flynn cuts off Rapunzel's hair with a shard of glass.
  • Amplified Animal Aptitude: Maximus and Pascal. Especially Maximus, who seems more skilled with a sword than any of the palace guards, despite lacking fingers. Maximus is basically the most badass character in the entire movie: if he had been around when Rapunzel was a baby he would have tracked down the missing princess before the sunrise.
  • Animal Reaction Shot: Basically Pascal's character.
  • Animated Musical
  • Anti-Hero: Flynn starts with Type IV, but he soon becomes Type II.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: Flynn, when he first meets Rapunzel. "I know not who you are..."
  • Applied Phlebotinum: In the movie, the rampion from the original Fairy Tale is now a magic plant, grown from a drop of liquid sunlight. After the Queen ingests it, its abilities get transferred to her unborn daughter, Rapunzel. Which is why Mother Gothel kidnaps her (singing a certain song activates the hair's magic and keeps her young) and why her hair is so long (if you cut it, it loses its powers).
  • Arc Symbol: The kingdom's sun insignia. Finding it hidden in her artwork is what leads Rapunzel to realize she's really the long-lost princess.
  • Art Shift: A traditionally animated closing credits sequence, in what's become a recent tradition for Disney (and Pixar) computer animated films.
  • Artistic License: Biology: Pascal and specially Maximus embody just too many to count.
  • Ascended Fanboy: Neither of the leads made any secret whatsoever of being completely thrilled to star in a Disney film.
  • Audible Sharpness: When Mother Gothel picks up her dagger.
  • Avoid the Dreaded G Rating: The film is rated PG for "Brief Mild Violence" at the end. Interestingly enough, Tangled is the first Disney Princess film to ever have a PG rating, and also the 7th Disney animated feature to have that rating (the first 6 were The Black Cauldron, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo and Stitch, Treasure Planet, Home on the Range and Bolt).
  • Award Bait Song: "I See The Light".
  • Awesome McCoolname: Flynn Rider. His real name is much less impressive. Maximus also qualifies.
  • Back from the Dead: Eugene, Rapunzel's tear brought him back to life. Justified, since in the original tale, Rapunzel healed her beloved's eyesight with her tear.
  • Badass: Maximus.
  • Bad Guy Bar: Double subverted with the Snuggly Duckling, as we're not initially told it has bad guys in it, especially with a name like that. Zig-zagged when it turns out that all the thugs want to do better things.
  • Bait and Switch Comment: Near the start of the movie, Flynn notices himself on a Wanted poster. His reaction is:

Oh, no, this is bad... they just can't get my nose right!

    • Doubles as You Make Me Sic, though an unusual use since he's correcting art rather than text.
  • Bar Brawl: Oh yeah. With a side order of song and a Shout-Out to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Rapunzel runs off to adventure with 70 feet of hair and bare feet. She gets wet but dries off quickly, and at no point are her hair and feet ever seen to get dirty. The hair can be handwaved as being magical but there's no excuse for her feet.
  • Beneath the Mask: Gothel appears to be a loving, though overprotective (and emotionally abusive), mother towards Rapunzel. Even though it shows she's selfish and cares more for Rapunzel's hair and its power than the girl herself, it's only in the end, when Rapunzel discovers she'd kidnapped her as an infant that Gothel's true nature comes about and she's revealed to be willing to do absolutely anything to keep Rapunzel's power all to herself, even outright murder. It seems all the people at The Snuggly Duckling are wearing masks of their own at first and Flynn's daring, swashbuckling personality is a mask as well.
  • Beware the Nice Ones:
    • Pascal tripping Gothel out the window during the climax.
    • Hilariously inverted then played straight with The Snuggly Duckling Pub Thugs.
  • Be Yourself: Never explicitly said, but definitely implied, particularly with Flynn.
  • Beyond the Impossible: The hair; two examples:
    • Storywise: The hair is established early on to lose its power if its cut. Its even demonstrated in the prologue. Flynn cuts off all of Rapunzel's hair to free her from Gothel. This would normally mean she can't heal his fatal injury but breaks the supernatural rule and is able to heal him with her tears.
    • Metawise: Rule Number One of 3D animation is to avoid hair. Tangled features 70 feet of it. First it's just looped up. Then used as rope. And as a lasso. Then it gets wet. And braided full of flowers. And then it lights up from root to tail with the power of the sun.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The thugs from The Snuggly Duckling busting Flynn/Eugene out of prison.
  • Big No: From Gothel; followed by several Little Nos when Rapunzel's hair is cut.
  • Black Cloak/In the Hood: Mother Gothel.
  • Blah Blah Blah: Mother Gothel's opinion of Rapunzel's "mumbling".
  • Blessed with Suck:
    • Rapunzel briefly alludes to the difficulties of having 70-foot-long hair during her "I Want" Song.

Rapunzel: And then I'll brush and brush, and brush and brush my hair!

    • Gothel has also made Rapunzel believe that she would be in constant danger outside the tower because selfish people want her healing power for themselves. Along with the actual truth in that statement and the resulting tower imprisonment as well.
  • Bloodless Carnage:
    • There should've been at least a bit of blood on the knife after Gothel stabs Eugene. What makes this weird is that we are shown blood when Rapunzel peeks at the wound. There's also when Flynn/Eugene grabs a broken piece of glass to cut off Rapunzel's hair, and somehow manages to not cut himself on it.
    • Also, a justified one when Gothel falls out the window. In real life, that kind of death would be accompanied by lots of blood, smashed skulls, etc., but the accelerated aging has turned her to dust by the time she hits the ground.
  • Bound and Gagged:
    • Mother Gothel ties up Rapunzel for wanting to save Flynn from execution and to lure Flynn into a trap later on.
    • When Rapunzel first meets Flynn, she knocks him unconscious and binds him to a chair with her hair for an impromptu interrogation. Later on he's tied to a boat and sent out towards the castle by the Stabbington Brothers.
  • Boy Meets Girl/Meet Cute
  • Brick Joke:
    • When Flynn sees the wanted poster of himself he remarks "they never get my nose right" and later when he brings Rapunzel into the tavern, there's another poster of him with an even larger nose.

Flynn: Now they're just being mean.

    • Also, the copious use of frying pans as weapons. They prove so effective that at the end of the film, they become the official weapon of the kingdom's military.
  • Brought Down to Normal: Rapunzel. Her hair is cut off, it kills the Big Bad and turns her into a brunette.
  • Building Swing: Rapunzel, using her hair.
  • Bullet Time: When Rapunzel swings away from Maximus at the dam, and he tries to catch her with his teeth. The score even gives a brass fanfare.
  • Butt Monkey: Flynn Rider's second most prominent trait. Helps that he seems to be Made of Iron when it comes to physical comedy. Not so resistant to stabbing, though.
  • Calling the Old Bag Out
  • Cape Swish: Mothel Gothel is very good at this: it's one of her attributes that implies she is a witch and appears most prominently after "Mother Knows Best (Reprise)".
  • Cerebus Callback: As Flynn lies dying, he whispers to Rapunzel "you were my new dream", referencing both the lighthearted song "I've Got a Dream" from earlier in the film and their conversation while waiting for the lanterns (When Rapunzel asked what would happen to her after her dream of seeing the lanterns was fulfilled, Flynn answered, "Well, that's the good part, I guess. You get to go find a new dream.").
  • Character Development:
    • Rapunzel loses her fear of the outside world and learns to stand up to her abusive adoptive mother.
    • Flynn stops caring only about himself and learns to love, as well as to just be himself.
    • Maximus, who was in the beginning all about protocol and rules and regulations, going so far as to track down the lawbreaker even after his rider, the head guard, had fallen off. Later, it turns out he's a real softie for cute young girls and their dreams, and even gives the aforementioned lawbreaker some leeway for the sake of their love, lending his super-horse strength and fighting skills to break Eugene out of prison and the gallows.

(Previous owner) Head Guard: (stunned) Maximus?

  • Chekhov's Gun: So many, many things. Among them:
    • The hilarious song "I've Got A Dream", performed by the Pub Thugs, illustrates all their most cherished dreams. Later, these dreams come in handy when they band together to rescue Flynn from execution, thanks in part to Maximus. Combined with Chekhov's Skill, especially in the case of the mime.
    • The broken mirror, as Flynn uses a shard of the glass to cut Rapunzel's hair.
    • Rapunzel's complete, non-negotiable unwillingness to break her promises greatly informs the film's climax, when she promises to Mother Gothel that if she lets Rapunzel heal Flynn/Eugene, Rapunzel will stay with her forever and offer no resistance. Needless to say, it makes the scene pretty tense.
    • Rapunzel's hair glows when its magic is invoked. This comes in handy when she and Flynn/Eugene need light to escape a watery death.
    • Rapunzel's painted walls and the hankie from the marketplace are what cause her realize that she is the missing princess.
    • Also subverted with Rapunzel's many skills demonstrated during the 'When Will My Life Begin?' song: candle-making? Ventriloquism? She doesn't use any of them in the rest of the movie, and only her painted walls are of any importance.
  • Chirping Crickets: Flynn gets this when he comments to his lackeys "I can't believe after all we've been through together, you still don't trust me?"
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: This trope typifies the relations between Flynn and the Stabbington brothers. Ironically, the Stabbington Brothers are never the ones who do the betraying.
  • Cloak and Dagger: Mother Gothel.
  • Color Coded for Your Convenience:
    • Rapunzel wears a light purple dress when she lives with Gothel. This is a hint to her true identity, as purple is the color of royalty.
    • Also, in the lantern scene, the warmth of pink and orange lanterns are a sign of love. This contrasts with Gothel's green lantern, which is creepy and cold. Helps with the Mood Whiplash.
    • At the end of the film, Rapunzel wears a pink dress during the kingdom celebration. Guess what color princesses love?
    • At the end of the film Flynn's outfit has changed from blue to black, making the whole thing look vaguely tuxedo-ish.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: Flynn Rider is on the receiving end of a lot of physical abuse from Pascal, Maximus, and the Snuggly Duckling thugs.
  • Compressed Hair: The children in the kingdom braid Rapunzel's hair so that she doesn't have to carry it around or worry about people stepping on it.
  • Conveniently an Orphan: Part of Flynn Rider's backstory. He started his life of crime because of wanting to change his fortunes after growing up poor.
  • Cool Horse: Maximus.
  • Costume Porn: Since the movie is CG, the clothes can be decorated and detailed as much as anyone wants to, and the filmmakers took advantage of this. The amount of detail that has gone into each character's costume in this movie is unbelievable. You can see fabric texture, weathering, tarnish on metals, seams (in strategic places) and the list goes on. Analysis on Rapunzel's outfit here, Flynn Rider's outfit here, and Mother Gothel's outfit here. And despite not technically being part of her costume, Rapunzel's hair falls into this category as well, especially after Flynn gets the little girls to braid it. Rapunzel isn't the only character who has apparently had a lot of effort put into her hair, as Gothel's hair is also incredibly detailed - every little curl is in place, the shading gets greyer in different places depending on how long she's gone without making herself look young again, and her hair even bounces when she moves in certain ways.
  • Creative Closing Credits: Hand-drawn animated scenes of Rapunzel and Flynn's adventure serve as a backdrop for the credits, which were animated by Shiyoon Kim.
  • Crowd Song: "I've Got A Dream". Played with in that Flynn spends most of it staring in disbelief, then has to be forced into participating at swordpoint.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Flynn.
  • Cutlass Between the Teeth: Maximus (hey, it's not like he has thumbs) when fighting Flynn, whose weapon of choice at that moment is a Frying Pan of Doom.

Flynn: This is the strangest thing I've ever done!

  • Cut Song: Originally, "When Will My Life Begin?" had an earlier reprise where Rapunzel sings about how she should be thankful for what she's got, but still wants to leave her tower. It can be heard on the Tangled OST, though.
  • Dance Line: During the "Falling in Love" Montage inside the kingdom, Rapunzel initiates one.
  • Dance of Romance: Averted; Rapunzel and Flynn actively try for this, but when they finally get to each other the song's over. Played with during the lantern sequence, when the two lanterns they release together swirl around in a seeming dance.
  • Dark Reprise: "Mother Knows Best". "Healing Incantation", "Return to Mother", and "The Tear Heals", all having somber elements from the "Prologue".
  • Deadpan Snarker: Flynn.

Flynn: Ya smell that? It's part man-smell and the other part is REALLY BAD man-smell, but overall it just smells like the color brown. Your thoughts?

Rapunzel: Something brought you here...Fate...Destiny...
Flynn: A horse.

Pub Thug: That's a loooooot of hair...
Flynn: She's growing it out.

Flynn: Is that blood in your mustache? Goldie, look at this! Look at all the blood in his mustache! Good sir, that's a lot of blood!

    • All of Flynn's facial expressions as the Pub Thugs break out into song and dance are the definition of a good Deadpan Snark.
    • Pascal and Maximus manage to do this without ever saying a word.
  • Decoy Protagonist: The trailers made it seem like Flynn was the star, even though he is very much the deuteragonist. In-movie, Flynn is the leading narrator, but he quickly denounces himself from being the main character and goes on to say that yes, this is the story of Rapunzel.
  • Determinator:
    • Once she recovers her memories of her royal parents and her abduction, Rapunzel finally decides that enough is enough and that she'll never help Gothel maintain her youth again.
    • Maximus is also an example. When hunting Flynn, he's not gonna stop for anything. Except for Rapunzel calling him a good boy.
  • Deus Ex Machina: The healing tears at the very end. While the movie is different in many ways from the original fairy tale, this detail comes straight from the source material. The fact that her healing powers were rather mysterious to begin with may also be a factor. However, nothing in the movie itself foreshadows it in any way.
  • Development Gag: One of the drawings during the end credits shows Rapunzel and Flynn consulting a fortune-telling monkey, in reference to a deleted scene in which Rapunzel and Flynn hitch a ride to the kingdom with a gypsy and her pet monkey.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight
  • Discretion Shot:
    • When Gothel goes through her Rapid Aging, the cloak conveniently keeps the viewer from seeing her pull a Donovan. What we do get to see of her hand and jaw, as well as the dust which spills out of her cloak when it hits the ground, makes it very clear what happened. May be another reason for the higher rating.
    • We never actually see Rapunzel hit Flynn with the frying pan.
  • Disney Animated Canon: The 50th one, and it's pretty dang good.
  • Disneyfication: Like Sleeping Beauty, this was going to be a case of using an already Lighter and Softer version of a pre-existing story. The original Grimm's Rapunzel myth involved Eye Scream and Teen Pregnancy. Plus, just as in practically every adaption of this story, the "witch" is made much less sympathetic.
  • Disney Villain Death: Sort of. It's not what kills her, but Gothel falls out of the tower.
  • Dude in Distress: It's always Flynn who has to be rescued by Rapunzel, not the other way round. Even when Rapunzel gets Bound and Gagged toward the end of the film, she's able to save Flynn from his mortal knife wound by working off her gag and begging Mother Gothel to let her heal him, which gives Flynn a chance to pull off his would-be Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Domestic Abuse: Several of the more subtle emotional and psychological varieties are employed by Gothel to manipulate Rapunzel into staying with her in the tower. According to viewers familiar with the subject, it's portrayed very accurately.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: Gothel's teasing may be mostly Stealth Insults, but she does have some validity in telling Rapunzel to "stop taking everything so seriously." After Rapunzel reminds Gothel that the next day will be her birthday, Gothel responds with "No no no, can't be. I distinctly remember, your birthday was last year." From her face and the tone of her voice, you can tell she's teasing again. Rapunzel's response is "That's the funny thing about birthdays, they're kind of an annual thing." Gothel just stares.
  • Dramatic Irony: Once she gets to the kingdom, Rapunzel becomes the center of attention during the celebrations, with nobody but the audience knowing that the celebrations are actually all for her anyway.
  • Drowning Pit: Our heroes get trapped in a cave as it fills with water.
  • Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Not only is Rapunzel's hair magical, but also her tears.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Flynn's real name is Eugene Fitzherbert. He named himself after a swashbuckling hero he was a fan of as a kid.
  • Enter Stage Window: The main entrance to Rapunzel's tower is through a window with the aid of her hair.
  • Everyone Hates Mimes: Alluded to; the ruffian who wants to be a mime gets some very disturbed looks from the people he's performing in front of at the end.
  • Exact Words: Part of why Rapunzel's complete and utter devotion to keeping her promises didn't keep her from leaving the tower in the first place. The promise she agrees to at the end of "Mother Knows Best" is "Promise me you'll never ask to leave this tower again".
  • Extremely Short Timespan: Excepting the prologue, the whole thing is over before the end of the third day.
  • Facial Composite Failure:

Flynn: They just can't get my nose right!

"Don't ever ask to leave this tower again..."
"Don't forget it,
You'll regret it.
Mother knows best!"

  • Foregone Conclusion: This is the story of how I died. He does die, but Rapunzel's magic tear brings him back to life afterwards.
  • The Foreign Subtitle: The title of the movie was retained as "Rapunzel" in Asia and certain parts of Europe while being changed to Tangled elsewhere. Disney slapped on the subtitle A Tangled Tale in countries where the movie was released under Rapunzel to make it easily differentiable from the original fairy tale and its other adaptations.
  • Fountain of Youth: The magic flower which Mother Gothel was originally using. After that Rapunzel's hair was being used as this.
  • Fractured Fairy Tale: Not as much of a parody as Shrek, but it still is one of these.
  • Friendship Moment: Almost parodied with Flynn and Maximus.
  • Frying Pan of Doom: "I have got to get me one of these!" By the end, the entire Guard gets into the action.
  • GASP: The girls upon seeing Rapunzel's hair.
  • Gesundheit: Flynn's reaction when Rapunzel tells him her name. He spends the majority of the movie calling her "Goldie" and "Blondie".
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar:

Flynn: This is kind of an off day for me... This doesn't usually happen.

Flynn: The party lasted an entire week, and, honestly, I don't remember most of it.

    • When he agrees to take Rapunzel to the castle and she lets go of the chair, he falls forward and states "You broke my smoulder." Given the "off day" statement...
    • The old guy thug at the end of the "I've Got a Dream" number is clearly drunk, and he attempts to hit on Gothel while he is drunk with "Someone give me a glass, cause I've just found me a tall drink of water."
  • Gilded Cage: Rapunzel's tower, sorta.
  • Gilligan Cut: During the "I've Got A Dream" sequence:

Flynn: No, no, no, sorry, boys. I don't sing.
(everyone in the inn points their swords at Flynn)
Flynn: (singing) I have dreams like you, no, really! Just much less touchy-feely...

  • Girl in the Tower: Obviously.
  • The Glomp: Rapunzel does this to Flynn after he comes back to life.
  • Going Commando: Some promotional artwork actually showed Rapunzel without a white dress under her pink one.
  • Going to See the Lanterns
  • Good Weapon, Evil Weapon: Only protagonists use frying pans. Antagonists prefer knives.
  • Grimmification: Changing being blinded to death by stabbing. Notable because they managed to Grimmify a Grimm story.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: With the exception of Maximus the horse, Corona's guards are incredibly incompetent. First they couldn't catch an old lady running and carrying a baby or find the nearby tower where she hid. Then they couldn't catch Flynn until he was literally tied up and handed to them, despite the fact that he was dancing around town in plain sight and they knew he was accompanied by a girl who really stands out in a crowd. They leave their wimpiest guy alone with two humongous brutes, and he turns out about as effective as you would expect. They're unable to prevent a massive rescue operation from the pub thugs, and to top it off it was laughably easy for Flynn to swipe the tiara in the first place.
  • Hair Decorations: Rapunzel is made of sheer adorableness all along, what with her Genki Girl Blithe Spirit nature, her big Puppy Dog Eyes and her cute overbite - and of course her pretty, pretty hair. But multibraid that hair and decorate it over and over with flowers - and you just made sure the audience needs a second to recover from that cuteness overload.
  • Hair of Gold: Played with, in that while Rapunzel is good and innocent, she uses said hair as a Badass weapon. Flynn even nicknames her "Goldie". However, at the end she's revealed to be a natural brunette, which is actually foreshadowed by the fact that her eyebrows and eyelashes are brown and both of her parents are brown-haired, but most obviously, the fact that her blonde hair lock turned brown when Gothel cut it.
  • Happily Ever After: A serious case of You Should Know This Already. Rapunzel quotes this word-for-word about her and Eugene being married in the epilogue.
  • Hard Head: Flynn is knocked unconscious several times in a very short time span with no repercussions. The worst that ever happens throughout the movie is he's knocked out for, at the most, a few hours, and then wakes with no permanent damage.
  • Hazy Feel Turn: Maximus, after he realizes that Eugene truly cares about Rapunzel, and assembles the Pub Thugs to help him escape execution.
  • Healing Hair (theatre): And a healing tear.
  • Heel Face Turn: The crew of the Snuggly Duckling were ready to kill Flynn until Rapunzel turned them to her side with "I've Got a Dream".
  • Held Gaze: Flynn and Rapunzel share one before their Almost Kiss after they have watched the lanterns rise into the sky.
  • Hero Antagonist: Maximus until his Heel Face Turn.
  • Heroic Bastard: Implied in a rather clever bit of Genius Bonus/Getting Crap Past the Radar: the surname Fitz[blank] originally designated the bearer as the bastard son of Mr. [Blank].
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Done twice at the end. Flynn has been mortally wounded, and Rapunzel agrees to willingly spend the rest of her life alone with Mother Gothel if she is allowed to heal Flynn first. Before she can save him, Flynn cuts Rapunzel's hair, destroying its enchantment and freeing her from Gothel's enslavement, even though it seemed like his only hope of survival. Essentially, she tried to sacrifice her freedom for his life, and he tried to sacrifice his life for her freedom.
  • Hero Secret Service: Played for laughs, as Pascal seems to view himself as one of these for Rapunzel, often acting as her protector and defender... which gets a bit tricky, seeing as he's as a very small chameleon. Although he does manage to stare down Flynn and Maximus. And he's the one ultimately responsible for Gothel falling out of the tower at the end.
  • Hidden Depths: The pub bad guys. See Real Men Wear Pink.
  • Hikikomori: Rapunzel, as she has never gone out of the tower. Of course, it was not entirely voluntary. She even wraps up in her hair during "Mother Knows Best". If that wasn't an homage to Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, it's still reminiscent.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Rapunzel and Mother Gothel's relationship has shades of this.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Flynn's plan to scare Rapunzel back to the tower by taking her to the Snuggly Duckling backfires tremendously on him.
  • Hollywood Chameleons: Pascal, especially with the flower vase. However, he does change color with mood, like real chameleons, just with a different code.
  • Homage: Glen Keane said in interviews that the look of the movie was inspired by the French Rococo painting "The Swing". Lisa Keane did a painting featured in the "Art of" Book with Rapunzel in this famous image. Considering the original painting features a man looking up a woman's skirt, you have to wonder how that flew past during the pitch.
  • Hook Hand: The pub thug who dreams of being a concert pianist.
  • Horsing Around: Being the Captain of the Guard's horse, Maximus does his best to capture Flynn.
  • Hot Mom:
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: One of Flynn's earlier designs (back when he was called "Bastian") was supposed to invoke this.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: This is what Mother Gothel raises Rapunzel to believe, claiming that they are (to paraphrase) "selfish, cruel, and destroy any sunshine they find." Fittingly, Mother Gothel herself is the best example. Her dialog is full of Exact Words and double meanings.
  • Hypocritical Humor: During the first "Mother Knows Best" song, Mother Gothel advises Rapunzel to "skip the drama." This, coming from the extremely over-dramatic witch as she strolls down a flight of stairs lined in candles. Several more from that sequence are on the Fridge page.
  • Identical Twin ID Tags: The Stabbington twins.
  • I Just Want to Be Badass: Flynn Rider.
  • I Just Want to Be Beautiful: The Big Bad.
  • I Just Want to Be Free: Rapunzel.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: Inverted with Rapunzel; played straight with Big Nose Thug.
  • Immortal Immaturity: Mother Gothel acts immature for how old she looks, let alone her actual age.
  • Immortality Inducer: The sun flower and, later, Rapunzel's hair.
  • Important Haircut: And it's not just symbolic.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Using a cart as an improvised catapult, the Snuggly Duckling thugs are able to launch Flynn from ground level to the ramparts of a castle and onto the back of a horse.
  • Improbable Weapon User:
    • Rapunzel and her cast-iron Frying Pan of Doom. Flynn uses it at one point (to great effect) and muses, "I have got to get me one of these!" In the end, Maximus trains an entire squad of frying-pan wielding guards.
    • Also Rapunzel's hair. While the trailer exaggerated it, Rapunzel's hair is as good as any whip or lasso.
    • A sword wouldn't normally count as an improbable weapon, but when the one wielding it is a horse...
  • Indy Frying Pan Roll: Just before the falling rock closes the cave entrance, Flynn reaches back and saves the Frying Pan of Doom.
  • The Ingenue: While Rapunzel shares some of these traits (being locked in a tower all her life), Mother Gothel constantly belittles Rapunzel that she's naive, vulnerable, and helpless without her.
  • In One Ear, Out the Other: Goes Pascal's tongue.
  • Instant Knots: Rapunzel can do this with her hair.
  • Interesting Situation Duel: Flynn with a frying pan dueling a horse with a sword. "You should know this is the strangest thing I've ever done!"
  • In the Back: Mother Gothel does this to Flynn/Eugene when she fatally stabs him in the back with her dagger, unseen, while he's trying to save Rapunzel (though, of course, Gothel may or may not be a Dirty Coward, yet she does fight dirty). Guess he should have seen that one coming.
  • Ironic Echo:
    • In the trailer, Flynn calling for Rapunzel to let down her hair was humorous in the trailer. Less so for the single time he uses it in the movie.
    • Twice in the movie, Gothel imperiously tells Rapunzel not to mumble, forcing Rapunzel to repeat herself. The first time is because Rapunzel is nervously working up the courage to ask that Gothel take her out of the tower to see the lanterns. The second time is because Rapunzel is dazedly coming to the realization that she is the long-lost princess of the kingdom, Gothel kidnapped her and her entire life is based on a lie. Judging by her expression, Gothel is deeply regretting calling out Rapunzel on her mumbling the second time.

Rapunzel: I am the lost princess. Aren't I? [Gothel freezes; darkly] Did I mumble, Mother...? Or should I even call you that?

  • Irony:
    • Read "Award Snub" in the YMMV section. Which celebrity does Mother Gothel resemble?
    • In-story: Flynn is on the run after stealing the lost princess' crown. His escape leads him to where the lost princess herself has been hidden. Then, he and the crown are turned in by Mother Gothel, who is the one who kidnapped the princess.
  • It's All About Me: Mother Gothel, to the point that poor Rapunzel can barely get a word in edgewise.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Free: In Flynn's last moments of life (as far as he knows), Rapunzel makes a promise to never resist Mother Gothel again so long as she is allowed to save his life. Rather than allow her to save him, Flynn decides to use the last of his strength to cut Rapunzel's hair with a shard of glass, causing it to lose its power and depriving Gothel of the reason Rapunzel was so important to her. In a way, this is a case of this trope going both ways.
  • "I Want" Song:
    • "When Will My Life Begin?"
    • "I've Got A Dream".
    • The ending theme, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' "Something That I Want", is about as vague and self-aware as an "I Want" Song gets.

She said, "I want something that I want
 "Something that I tell myself I need
"Something that I want
"I need everything I see"

  • Jerkass: Mother Gothel is an explicable one to Rapunzel from beginning to end and makes no attempt to hide it (besides telling Rapunzel that she's "just teasing!").
  • Kick the Chameleon: Across the room and into the wall where he falls and makes a squeaking sound.
  • Knight in Shining Armour: Eugene gallantly races on the white Maximus over the bridge to rescue Princess Rapunzel.
  • Land in the Saddle: Flynn is catapulted over a high wall as part of his prison breakout and lands in Maximus' saddle. Thanks to Rule of Cool, nobody gets hurt.
  • Le Parkour:
    • Flynn and the Stabbington brothers use this at times, perhaps most noticeably while climbing on the palace roof in their first scene.
    • Maximus does this while Flynn is riding him.
  • Let's Duet: "I See The Light".
  • Light Is Good:
    • Exaggerated. Rapunzel, a gentle, caring girl who is a Friend to All Living Things, loves daylight (as well as starlight) and has shining golden hair because her mother ingested a flower that had grown from a drop of liquid sunlight.
    • Inverted at the end, when Rapunzel's hair is cut and reverts to its natural brown color, while at the same time Gothel's hair turns gray/white due to rapid aging.
    • Symbolically wise, yellow/golden light is good, while green light is cold and threatening.
  • Living MacGuffin/MacGuffin Girl: Rapunzel, to at least half the cast.
  • The Load: Flynn regards Rapunzel as this at first, mainly because he just wants the crown back.
  • Love At First Punch: Rapunzel's first encounter with Flynn involves her hitting him with a frying pan twice.
  • Love Epiphany: Rapunzel and Flynn realize they love each other during the song "I See The Light". In a bit of a twist, they never say "I love you" but instead admit that they are each other's new dreams.
  • Love Hurts: When Rapunzel is led to believe that Flynn betrayed her, the look on her face is heartbreaking.
  • Love Redeems: Rapunzel's love for Flynn causes him to change his thieving ways and return to bearing his old name Eugene Fitzherbert.
  • Loyal Animal Companion: Pascal.
  • MacGuffin: The crown, although only for part of the film.
  • Made of Iron:
    • Flynn should at least be bruised from head to toe with many broken bones and concussions from all the abuse he goes through in this movie, but most of it doesn't leave a scratch on him. Though, he's still vulnerable to daggers and pointy rocks.
    • The abuse that Maximus' legs put up with would cripple a normal horse a dozen times over. But thanks to Toon Physics, they do fine.
  • Magic Hair: Rapunzel's hair has magic healing powers and serves as a Fountain of Youth.
  • Market-Based Title: The film is called "Rapunzel", or at least contains the name Rapunzel, in some countries.
  • Marshmallow Hell: Mother Gothel does this a couple of times...or manipulates Rapunzel into running into it, which is basically the same.
  • Meaningful Echo:
    • Mother Gothel wearily proclaims that she looks like "the bad guy" after an argument with Rapunzel in the beginning of the film. The second time she says it, she decides to take the role much more literally.
    • Mother Gothel and Rapunzel have a "playful" mother/daughter game: Mother Gothel tells Rapunzel "I love you" Rapunzel replies "I love you more" and Gothel concludes with "I love you most" while kissing Rapunzel on the top of the head. This takes on some sinister connotations when you realize that Gothel appears to be saying this last line to Rapunzel's hair, rather than to Rapunzel—implying that she sees Rapunzel as nothing more than a life-support system to the magic hair.
    • "The Healing Incantation" starts as a symbol of Gothel's greed ("make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine.") When Rapunzel heals Flynn's hand, the emphasis is on "heal what has been hurt." After Flynn dies and Rapunzel tried to sing him back, it's sadder and echoes the entire movie -- "change the fate's design" and "bring back what once was mine", referring to Rapunzel's belief in destiny and her love for Flynn.
    • When Flynn and Rapunzel are about to see the lights appear, Rapunzel is worried that it won't be anything she expects it to be after waiting so long. He consoles her by telling her, "Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream." This turns up again later when Eugene has returned to the tower in an attempt to free Rapunzel. Dying, he says, "You were my new dream." Rapunzel responds, in a tear-filled voice, "And you were mine."
    • The first and last times Flynn sees Rapunzel's long hair emerge from her tower are nearly identical, with her golden hair forming a loop as it flies out of the window into the sunlit air as he clings to the wall of the tower. The second time, it's not Rapunzel throwing it down.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Rapunzel's name derives from the magical rampion of the beginning prologue. Eugene is Greek for "born to royalty", so it's only fitting that he later marries the princess.
    • The Stabbington Brothers are a little more obvious.
    • The kingdom's name is Corona which means "Crown" and is usually used to refer to the halo around the sun.
  • Milestone Celebration: The Walt Disney Animation Studios Vanity Plate has a Logo Joke proclamation that Tangled is the 50th movie in the Disney Animated Canon.
  • Misfit Mobilization Moment: When Maximus recruits the Pub Thugs to help Flynn escape execution.
  • "Mission Impossible" Cable Drop: How Flynn steals the crown.
  • Mood Swinger: Upon escaping the tower, Rapunzel rapidly lurches backwards and forwards between delight over being free ("THIS IS SOOOO FUUUUUN!") and guilt over disobeying Mother Gothel ("I am a despicable human being.")
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • After the gorgeous love duet that is "I See The Light" and Rapunzel and Flynn Almost Kiss, the atmosphere immediately darkens—Gothel is afoot and intent on getting her "daughter" back by any means possible.
    • In-story, there's Rapunzel running around yelling "I'm free!"/"Mother is going to kill me..."/"This is the best day of my life!"/"I'm the worst daughter ever!" Flynn points out, "You seem a little at war with yourself here."
    • To the townspeople, the Lantern Festival is a fun celebration full of music and dancing. Inside the castle, the King and Queen are very somber, nearly crying, trying to compose themselves to go out before the people and release the first lantern.
  • Moody Mount: Maximus won't let Flynn Rider ride him. Perhaps it has something to do with him being the Captain of the Guard's horse and Flynn being a wanted criminal.
  • Morning Routine: The song "When Will My Life Begin" details Rapunzel's rather full morning.
  • Mundane Utility: Rapunzel's 70 feet of hair has magic that can heal grievous wounds and reverse aging. It also serves as a handy blanket to wrap around herself with when she's sleeping outdoors. It even serves as the world's longest flashlight when she and Flynn need to find a way out of the cave-in.
  • My Friends and Zoidberg:

Gothel: Rapunzel, do you know what I see in that mirror? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady. (Beat) Oh look, you're here too.

  • Mythology Gag: Rapunzel's tears restoring Eugene to life at the end follows the actual ending of the fairytale where Rapunzel's tears caused her prince of the original tale to "see the light" again. There's also Flynn yelling out "Rapunzel! Rapunzel, let down your hair!" to let her hair down again, like in the original fairytale. The line in "Mother Knows Best" about Rapunzel's weight ("Plus, I believe / Gettin' kinda chubby...") also references the original tale, in which the witch discovers Rapunzel's secret visitor due to the fact that he's made her pregnant and she's putting on weight as a result.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Stabbington Brothers are a parody.
  • The Need for Mead: The Snuggly Duckling.
  • Never Say "Die": Played straight when it is only implied by Flynn touching his neck that he's being taken to the gallows and then nicely subverted when Mother Gothel says point blank that Flynn will hang while a clear shot of a noose is on-screen. Later, she says the secret will die with him, shortly before Rapunzel and Flynn both say they don't want the other to die. Amusingly, in Flynn's case, instead of using a metaphor for death, he's using death as a metaphor... which completes the hat trick by also making this trope inverted. The subversion really ramps up the tension.
  • Never Trust a Trailer:
    • Half the scenes in this trailer aren't in the movie. Particularly the bit where Flynn fights Rapunzel's hair, and the part where she throws him out of the tower. Revealed during a Q&A of the screening, they had planned on making scenes specifically for the trailer.
    • And in this one, the bit where Flynn asks the guard whether he was guarding what Flynn was about to steal. In the movie, there was totally different dialogue for that scene.
    • In a few trailers, when Rapunzel shouts out Flynn's name while running in the grass, the scene in the movie is entirely different. In the movie, the scene displayed is when Rapunzel is singing her Triumphant Reprise.
    • The trailers in general tend to make the movie look like a poor imitation of the Shrek formula. This is one of the best examples of a film that looks a million times better than its trailer lets on, rather than the reverse.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Most obviously Maximus and the dam.
  • Nobody Touches the Hair: Rapunzel will only let her hair be touched by her "mother", although this may be a case of having being told that people would use her healing locks for their personal gain. She also does not want to talk about her hair much, to the point she neglects to mention its powers ("I have magic hair that glows when I sing") at a time when they may be needed.
  • No Immortal Inertia: The immortality granted by Rapunzel's hair is immediately revoked if her hair is cut, causing anyone surviving in such a way to age rapidly if they touch the hair while it is losing its powers.
  • No Infantile Amnesia: Near the end of the film Rapunzel has an epiphany and realizes that she's been subconsciously painting the symbol of her city-state -- a sun -- because of dormant memories from infancy. Or it was the magic flower, which just happens to also be the symbol of said city-state, since it was inside her to begin with.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Rapunzel has a chameleon named Pascal as a sidekick, and their group is later joined by Maximus the horse.
  • Non-Indicative Name: The Snuggly Duckling, a Bad Guy Bar. Subverted when it's revealed that all those bad guys have rather touchy-feely hobbies and aspirations.
  • No Ontological Inertia: This trope is demonstrated to the viewer when Mother Gothel cops a youth-charge off a lock of baby Rapunzel's hair. As soon as said lock is cut, witch gets old again. It's surprising that anything sharp was left in the tower. And again, later. Cut the hair, snuff the witch, it's just that easy.
  • Not Distracted by the Sexy: Flynn tries to woo his way out of being Rapunzel's guide, but unfortunately for him she has absolutely no experience with or understanding of seduction of any kind, and so has absolutely no idea what he's even doing. When she's not amused, he reluctantly agrees.

Flynn: [In mid-Smoulder] This is kind of an off-day for me, this doesn't normally happen.

  • Not the Fall That Kills You: It's the Rapid Aging.
  • Oh, and X Dies: The opening narration starts off with Flynn stating, "This is the story of how I died." It's pretty easy to miss or forget, if you aren't paying attention. Additionally the first-time viewer, after observing his personality, would think he was exaggerating for drama.
  • Oh Crap:
    • Mother Gothel when she sees Maximus; she quickly deduces Rapunzel is gone, fearing the royal guard have found her at last. And again when Mother Gothel returns Rapunzel to the tower after her adventure. As she checks up on her, Rapunzel walks out of her room in a daze and says, "I'm the lost princess." You know Gothel can't think anything but this!
    • Flynn has quite a few of these.
    • Anyone who's ever been caught by their parents sneaking out or sneaking back in at night knows exactly how Rapunzel feels.
  • Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: The date didn't start out this way, just ended up being so. Flynn took Rapunzel on a boat to see the lanterns she had always wanted to see, and their talk in this moment turned it into a date.
  • Ominous Fog: A sudden fog appears during the Dark Reprise of "Mother Knows Best" and disappears when Gothel leaves.
  • One Head Taller: Flynn and Rapunzel. Despite the height difference Rapunzel easily succeeds in capturing Flynn. Mother Gothel is also one head taller than Rapunzel.
  • One of the Boys: Rapunzel for the Snuggly Duckling thugs, mainly due to what kind of boys the thugs are.
  • Only Child Syndrome: Rapunzel. Made more noticeable by the fact that her parents are hereditary monarchs and, even given Rapunzel's disappearance, would thus presumably need a child to keep the lineage going. Although considering the first pregnancy almost killed mother and child...
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Flynn Rider. However, as the Character Development goes on, he starts going by his real name, Eugene, more often. Also The Stabbington brothers, Hook-Hand Thug, Big Nose Thug...
  • Opposites Attract: The jaded, worldly-wise thief and the spirited, innocent princess. Truly a perfect match.
  • Panacea: Rapunzel's hair, and the flower that she got her magic from.
  • Parental Abandonment: Inverted, as Rapunzel is kidnapped from them as a baby. Otherwise averted in her case, as in a shocking twist for a Disney movie, the girl has two loving parents to return home to at the end. Flynn was an orphan, though.
  • Parental Bonus: To adults familiar with the techniques of emotional abuse and blackmail, Gothel is even creepier than she would be otherwise.
  • Pet the Dog: Mother Gothel's doting over Rapunzel is somewhat difficult to place motive-wise, but there are a few hints that she may actually consider her more than just a walking Fountain of Youth.
  • Pietà Plagiarism: When Rapunzel is holding Flynn/Eugene after his Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Please Don't Leave Me: Invoked by Rapunzel to Eugene, while he is dying in her arms.
  • Plucky Girl: Hmmm, who could that be?
  • Royal Guards Are Useless: It says a lot that the most competent, efficient and devoted member of the guards is the guard leader's horse. Who ends up getting the guard leader's job.
  • Posthumous Narration: Flynn starts the movie by saying he dies at the end. Subverted when it turns out that he did die, but didn't stay dead.
  • Mural Gallery Bedroom
  • The Power of the Sun: See Light Is Good above. Besides the titular character's solar-derived healing powers, the kingdom is stuffed fit to burst with solar symbolism. Fitting, as the original story is overflowing with fragments of ancient Sun Goddess myths.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Would you really want the Eye Scream element of the story in a Walt Disney animated film? For those unfamiliar with the fairytale, the love interest got his eyes gouged out with thorns.
  • Prehensile Hair: Unlike the trailers, this film mostly averts this trope. Rapunzel's hair is certainly much stronger than most and she's quite deft in how she uses it, but it never moves on its own. There's one scene where she uses it as grappling hook and the hair does seem to cling to the rock or knot itself, but that may be just the way it was drawn.
  • Primal Fear: Two in one shot—claustrophobia and drowning.
  • Princesses Prefer Pink
  • The Promise: Whenever Rapunzel makes a promise, she intends to keep it, from promising to return Flynn the satchel that has the tiara he stole to promising Mother Gothel that she will go with her willingly only if Flynn can be healed first.
  • Protagonist-Centered Morality: Gothel is treated as a bad guy for employing emotional and psychological abuse tactics against Rapunzel to get her to stay with her in the tower, including using intimidation to get her to do her bidding ("Don't ever ask to leave this tower again"). However, Rapunzel herself is framed as a sympathetic character and she gets the guy in the end despite shoving his unconscious body in her closet several times before tying him up to a chair (which she could have done to begin with), knocking him unconscious again while he was physically restrained and completely helpless, not saying "Sorry" after accidentally letting him fall flat on his face but a dismissive "Oops", and saying "I will use this" while holding up the pan that she had knocked him unconscious with three times, menacingly to his face, when he argues with her to abandon their mission - in short, she uses intimidation to get him to do her bidding.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
    • BEST! DAY! EVER!
    • Also: "Stop! Fighting! Me!" and "Just. Let me. Heal him."
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Rapunzel, who's pretty much in permanant puppy-dog eye mode.
  • Rapid Aging: Gothel has only kept herself young by using the magic flower for several hundreds of years, and later by using Rapunzel's hair. It's clear that by the time Rapunzel is eighteen, Gothel will age dramatically within just a few days if she doesn't 'top up'. When Rapunzel's hair is cut at the end of the movie, the magic is undone. Gothel ages extremely fast, and is reduced to nothing but dust within a matter of minutes.
  • Rapunzel Hair: Exaggerated Trope, with Rapunzel's hair being 70 feet long. In this case it is explicitly magical hair, which both explains how it was able to grow that long to begin with and how she can move about without it weighing more than she does.
  • Real Commercial, Fake Product: To promote the film, several commercials based on certain aspects of it were made, including one for a frying pan that focuses more on its conking capabilities than its cooking capabilities, a fake perfume called "Smoulder" by Flynn, and news coverage of the opening as if it were a high-speed chase ("Speeds in excess of 24 mph").
  • Really 700 Years Old: Mother Gothel. In the opening narration it's even said that she predates Rapunzel's kingdom by several centuries.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: All of the pub thugs at the Snuggly Duckling. Some of their dreams include: floral arrangements, interior design, miming, baking cupcakes, knitting, puppet shows, and collecting ceramic unicorns.
  • Real Song Theme Tune: The ending theme is "Something That I Want" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with rewritten lyrics.
  • Refrain From Assuming: The Tear Heals/Healing Spell/Spell Song gets the most.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Averted. Rapunzel's main sidekick is a little chameleon, and a very adorable one at that. However, the creators did state that they struggled with this and originally made him too realistic to be cute.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Rapunzel's magic hair must also be magically immune to split ends and other problems that would plague normal hair that hasn't been cut for 18 years. Mother Gothel has been using the hair's magic daily, which probably also has the power to heal the hair in ways that no Real Life shampoo can achieve.
  • Road Trip Romance: Fits the trope to a T. Interestingly, this was also the plot of Disney's previous animated feature.
  • Romance Genre Heroines: Rapunzel is an interesting mix between The Spunky Kid and The Free Spirit.
  • Rule of Funny/Rule of Drama:
    • Rapunzel's hair gets in the way only when it's funny or dramatically convenient.
    • The reason why Hook-Hand can play two handed showtunes like a virtuoso despite having, well, a hook for a hand: it's all part of the hilariously sudden absurdity—he also plays so hard at one point that he tears most of the keys off the piano, but since it's a gag it doesn't actually effect the song or his playing.
  • Rule of Symbolism: The sun, the stars, light in general, and unicorns are all important motifs in the story. And not in the way you think, at least for the unicorns.
  • Running Gag: Flynn's wanted posters never getting his nose right, the use of frying pans, etc.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Flynn and Rapunzel.
  • Say My Name: Rapunzel shouts "Flynn!" (and later, "Eugene!") a lot. Flynn shouts "Rapunzel!" a couple times, too. The first thing Flynn does when he wakes up after being knocked out by the Stabbington brothers is shout "Rapunzel!", which shows how he's started to think about people besides himself.
  • Scenery Porn:
    • Big time. Even the bland rocks manage to look beautiful with the amount of detail put into them.
    • If one looks closely at the lower levels of the tower, Rapunzel's paintings are actually relevant to the area that was painted—dresses on the closet, spools of thread in the sewing area, and apples in the kitchen. These get a few seconds of screentime at most. More than that it shows her aging, some of the pictures, such as the one on her dresser are of a child Rapunzel.
  • Sealed with a Kiss
  • Setting-Off Song: The reprise of "When Will My Life Begin?"
  • Sexophone: Accompies Flynn Rider's smolder. Not that it helps.
  • Shipper on Deck: Maximus, of all characters, gives Flynn and Rapunzel a little push. In the case of Flynn, literally.
  • Sibling Team: The Stabbington brothers.
  • Sigil Spam: Expect to see a lot of sun emblems in this movie. Special mention goes to Rapunzel's bedroom, where they're subliminally everywhere.
  • Silence Is Golden: Rapunzel's parents have no dialogue at all in the scenes they are in (except for narrative V.O.), and yet these scenes are some of the most dramatic and moving of the film.
  • A Simple Plan: Take the girl to see the lanterns, take her home, then get back the precious satchel. What Could Possibly Go Wrong??
  • Single Tear: The King before going out to release the first lantern. The Queen wipes it away.
  • Slap Slap Kiss: Rapunzel's first meeting with Flynn involves knocking him unconscious with a cast-iron frying pan three times, and rather clumsily stowing him in her closet.
  • The Southpaw: It's easy to miss because of the intensity of the scene, but in his wacky duel against Maximus, Flynn wields the frying pan with his left hand.
  • Spoiler Opening: Flynn Rider announces he will die as the first line in the movie. He gets better, though.
  • Spontaneous Choreography: The Kingdom Dance number. Justified, in that country dances of the era were a lot more structured than much of modern dance; it's not unreasonable that everyone could suddenly break out in a joyful and vigorous dance number at a festival or faire and not miss a step.
  • Squee: Rapunzel does a lot of this. Also, Flynn squees sarcastically before he and Rapunzel enter The Snuggly Duckling.
  • Stealth Insult: Mother Gothel is a master at this.

Gothel: Rapunzel, do you know what I see in that mirror? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady. (Beat) Oh look, you're here too. (laughs) I'm just teasing, darling. Stop taking everything so seriously.

  • Stepping Stone Sword: Flynn uses crossbow bolts to scale the tower the first time.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Between Rapunzel and her real mother, the queen. Especially at the end, when they're both brunette and the camera frames them reuniting, right down to the huge green eyes. Rapunzel does not need to do anything else to show that she's their daughter, despite having a completely different hair color when she was a baby.
  • Swiss Army Tears: At the very end, though you may see it coming if you're familiar with the fairy tale.
  • Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Maximus. Though once Flynn develops, this ends.
  • Take a Third Option: Mother Gothel is about to forcefully take Rapunzel away, but Rapunzel promises she'll go with Mother Gothel willingly if she can heal Flynn first. Flynn invokes this trope by cutting Rapunzel's hair before she can heal him, allowing Rapunzel her freedom while denying Mother Gothel her source of eternal youth and himself the chance to be healed from his mortal injury.
  • Teens Are Short: Despite being 18, Rapunzel is shorter than most adults, including her real parents.
  • They Have the Scent: How Max tracks Flynn. He's a horse, by the way.
  • Third Person Person: Mother Gothel while singing "Mother Knows Best" and its Dark Reprise.
  • Those Two Bad Guys: The Stabbington Brothers.
  • Title Drop: In The Foreign Subtitle in countries where the movie was released under its original Rapunzel name.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: Maximus. He chooses good, surprisingly rapidly. Also an example of Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right.
  • Too Dumb to Live: You'd think that Flynn, a career thief, would know that the woods alone at night is the last place you ever want to have a handoff with two violent, untrustworthy thugs who have very good reasons to be mad at you. Though, it could be seen as more proof of his Character Development; he's too concerned with Rapunzel's safety to worry about himself, and he had no way of knowing Gothel was skulking about or that she told the Stabbingtons about Rapunzel's magic hair.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Rapunzel goes up a level at least once every ten minutes.
  • The Tower: Rapunzel's abode.
  • Traumatic Haircut: Not only does she get the hair she's been growing out her whole life chopped off, losing it means she can't save Flynn's life.
  • Triumphant Reprise: "When Will My Life Begin? (Reprise 2)".
  • Troperiffic: The promotional shorts on YouTube: Yes but What Does Zataproximetacine DO, Infomercial, an Anvilicious educational film, Perfume Commercial and more.
  • Tuckerization: The thug that's sent to fetch the guards is named Greno, after co-director Nathan Greno, and the guard assigned to watch over the Stabbington brothers is named Conli, after producer Roy Conli.
  • Unfortunate Names:
    • Well, with a name like Stabbington, there's just not a whole lot of viable career choices.
    • Not to mention Flynn Rider's real name, Eugene Fitzherbert. The poor bastard...
  • Unreliable Narrator: Flynn.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: You'd think a girl with 70 feet of hair would get a bit more notice when she first strolls into town, and that the guards would have had an easier time finding Flynn if they told people to keep an eye out for his new accomplice.
  • Verbed Title: Originally titled Rapunzel, it was specifically renamed to invoke this trope, hoping to appeal to a wider audience.
  • Villainous Breakdown: After Rapunzel calls her out, Mother Gothel switches from a selfish My Beloved Smother to a hardcore, homicidal Disney villain.

Gothel: You want me to be the bad guy? Fine -- now I'm the bad guy...

  • Villain Song: "Mother Knows Best", possibly Disney's cutest. Its Dark Reprise is a straighter example. Inverted with "I've Got A Dream", which is really sort of an anti-villain song.
  • The Voiceless:
    • The king and queen never speak on-screen. This keeps the focus more on Rapunzel, Mother Gothel, and Flynn, and their emotional scenes together are stronger because of it.
    • The Stabbington brother with the eyepatch never talks.
  • Wanted Poster: Except they never get the nose right.

Flynn: Okay, now they're just being mean.

  • Where Are They Now? Epilogue: Flynn explains at the end how all the Pub Thugs have their dreams come true, and how he marries Rapunzel, after many years of asking.
  • White Stallion: Maximus.
  • Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Mother Gothel to Rapunzel, though it's more along the lines of "Why did you make me stab your boyfriend?"
  • Wicked Stepmother: Technically, a wicked adoptive mother.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Mother Gothel is a grandmaster; her only goal is to get Rapunzel back in the tower. First, she was just going to kill Flynn and drag her back, and by the end the only three other people in on the secret are all going to be hanged for their crimes and no one in the kingdom would know she was even there.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: The Queen. She is more emotionally resilient, or at least better at looking the part. She's also the one who literally pulls Eugene into the group hug at the end, when he hesitates.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Flynn really starts to grow after Rapunzel tells him that she likes Eugene better. She also takes to calling him by that name as well, a gesture of respect that greatly fosters Flynn's later Character Development.
  • You Are Grounded:

Mother Gothel: You are not leaving this tower! Ever!

  • You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!: The only appropriate response to seeing your not-quite girlfriend making friends with the hellbeast of a horse that's been chasing you all over the place.
  • Your Favorite: According to Mother Gothel, Rapunzel's favorite is hazelnut soup. (Actually, she shows little enthusiasm for it either time it's mentioned, though that may just be that she has other things on her mind).
  • Your Size May Vary: The length of Rapunzel's hair changes between shots. Drastically. This is entirely intentional.

Tropes in Tangled Ever After

Eugene: They still can't get my nose right?!

  • Close on Title: The title card doesn't appear until after Eugene and Rapunzel are declared husband and wife , and then Maximus and Pascal have a Here We Go Again moment.
  • Disaster Dominoes: Pascal and Maximus basically destroy the town by setting off the doves.
  • Disturbed Doves: Per the above. It was part of the celebration, but got set off early.
  • Frying Pan of Doom: Maximus smashes into a series of "commemorative frying pans", including an oversized one being used as a sign.
  • Giant Wall of Watery Doom: Maximus and Pascal have to outrun a wave of wine (presumably, there aren't many purple liquids in barrels).
  • Here We Go Again: When Maximus sends the cake out the door as he did with the rings.
  • Imagine Spot: Maximus, upon losing the rings, briefly imagines the consequences. The castle explodes for some reason.
  • Lost Wedding Rings
  • Manly Tears: The Stabbington brothers.
  • Posthumous Narration: Eugene does it again, this time using the phrase "when my life ended." Immediately subverted when Rapunzel admonishes his description of their wedding.
  • Sneeze of Doom: Maximus sneezing is what sets off the whole mess.
  • Suddenly Voiced: The Queen gets a line, albeit in an Imagine Spot.
  • Tar and Feathers: Well, half of it anyway. After running into several clothing carts and ending up in drag, Maximus and Pascal crash into a tar shop. They return to the wedding covered in tar.
  • Tongue on the Flagpole: Pascal gets his tongue stuck to an ice sculpture while trying to catch one of the rings.
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