“He’s fearless” – “He’s dangerous”: Disney’s Tangled announces with great fanfare in the opening scenes of its trailer. We learn a lot about the Prince in just a few moments as he fearlessly takes on the challenges of physical dangers until . . . he chooses the wrong place to hide and meets his match in the long hair of a woman he addresses in the trailer as (I kid you not) Blondie. The Adrien Brody/ Patrick Dempsey look-alike says a lot (in the voice of Zachary Levi), but poor Rapunzel manages nothing more than “Best day ever!” and a shrill laugh.
Tangled is inspired by “Rapunzel,” written down by the Brothers Grimm in the early part of the nineteenth century. Their Rapunzel also doesn’t say much, and Ruth B. Bottigheimer has pointed out that, as in many of the Grimms’ tales, the heroine is silent. “We learn of her ‘song’ and ‘her sweet voice’ but do not hear her sing. We are told that ‘at first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her,’ but the prince cries out his surprise and his intention: ‘If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune.'” The Grimms themselves were inspired by oral storytelling traditions in which Rapunzel, after her daily romps with the prince in the tower, becomes pregnant and asks the sorceress in the tower why her clothes are getting so tight. The Brothers edited out that question, and Rapunzel’s twins are never directly connected with those visits to the tower.
For The Grimm Reader, just published by W.W. Norton this fall, I put on the cover Arthur Rackham’s stunning illustration for “Rapunzel.” The image reminds me of how the story turns on the relationship between both banished girl and the enchantress (who becomes a witch when the Grimms edited their tales) as well as Rapunzel and the prince. Disney is evidently focusing on the prince in an effort to draw boys to theaters (think: lessons learned from “The Princess and the Frog”). Did they go too far with “Tangled”? I’m more worried about the creepiness of the long hair and how it is used to practice Hair Kwando.
I’ve only recently discovered your blog, and I’m very glad that I did.
I don’t have a direct answer to your question, but, given it’s Disney we’re discussing, they likely went too far. What I find interesting is that the young women in my life (ages 8 to young adult), and there are plenty given my status as mother to three girls and all of their friends, are not shrinking violets by anyone’s standards. They are empowered, educated, thoughtful and strategic. They have plans and few are boy crazy or even show much of an interest in having a boyfriend. If Disney is deliberately dumbing down their heroines, then I would say it could be an act of desperation on their part. The girls don’t seem affected by it. My eldest daughter grew up on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. She is one of the most assertive people I have ever known. My youngest daughter is under 10 and is not at all interested in Disney “princesses,” even though she is a very feminine girl and keen on the so-called domestic arts. She is attracted to humorous stories and quirky characters.
It’s complicated.