Over on Fairy Tale Central, my other blog I co-author with Arielle and Faith, we’ve been featuring the story of Rapunzel for all the month of May. And, naturally, when one thinks Rapunzel, they’re minds probably jump straight to TANGLED.

I adore the original fairy tale of the girl with impossibly long hair stuck in a tower. The concept is rather fascinating, with such great story fodder. But my absolute favorite adaptation is most definitely Tangled. Actually, my favorite animated movie of all time is Tangled. Which is saying something, ‘cause I like a lot of animated movies. BUT GUYS. TANGLED.

With that said. In honor of featuring Rapunzel over on FTC, I thought it would be super fun to examine Tangled over here and look at why it’s one of the most beloved animated movies out there. There’s so much to learn from it! Disney is seriously a master at story making. A lot can be learned from watching their movies. (Yes, I totally watch movies and call it work. Sometimes being a writer is awesome. Bwahahaha.)

ANYWAYS. Let’s pick this story apart (my favorite activity #nerd) and examine some of the elements that turned it into an instant classic.

TANGLED’S KEYS TO A GREAT STORY

CHARACTERS TO ROOT FOR

This is, obviously, the #1 most important thing for any story. As much as I love big, epic plots, if the characters bore me, I won’t care about all the things going on around them. It goes the other way too. I’m not a huge contemporary or historical fiction reader, but if one has particularly loveable characters? Sign me up! I think most people feel the same. Storytelling is all about the characters. And I think that’s where Disney finds their success.

Who doesn’t love Buzz and Woody’s epic friendship? Or poor Hiro and loveable Baymax? Or Anna and Kristoff, the most adorkable cinnamon rolls? These are people we can root for, characters who take our hearts and won’t give them back. #Rude

And, probably my most favorite Disney duo to exist, is Rapunzel and Flynn (or Eugene, whatever you want to call him). But WHY?

The biggest key to creating great characters is making them relatable. Even if we’ve never been locked in a tower all our lives (hopefully not!) or are renowned thieves (again, hopefully not), Rapunzel’s and Flynn’s struggles are tangible. We can understand their choices in life. They make SENSE.

Rapunzel has known nothing but the tower walls for her entire 18 years of life. Her “mother” has instilled fear within her, but she can’t help but think there has to be something more out there. I think we can all, at some point in our lives, relate to wanting more but letting fear hold us back. Rapunzel taking matters into her own hands, overcoming her fears, and stepping out into the wide world is inspiring. We are rooting for her because she’s showing us we, too, can overcome our fears and do the grand things we’ve always dreamed of. And that right there is how you write characters. You give them emotional struggles your audience can relate to, let them fail every now and again, but, in the end, show that they can succeed. Stirring your audience’s soul is the true joy of a story-maker.

Aside from Rapunzel’s circumstances and reliability, she’s also just an utterly lovable ball of cinnamon roll goodness. She’s got such a bright and vivid personality. But her personality also makes sense.

That’s another thing with characters. There has to be a logical reason for who they are. Our circumstances and the people around us shape us, after all. It’s really annoying when a fictional character doesn’t have any basis for who they are.

Rapunzel is innocent, creative, and a dreamer. Which is perfectly logical for her lifestyle. She’s never been out in the world. She’s never been exposed to anything beyond her cozy little life in the tower. With nothing to do but read and paint, naturally she’s creative. But, as an almost-18-year-old, of course she’s a dreamer, of course she hopes for more in life. These things make sense. She’s also bubbly, kind, and a little awkward—the pudding on top that would make anyone in the world die for that sweet summer child.

Speaking of people who would die for Rapunzel…

FLYNN. My most favorite of the Disney males!

Flynn’s life is drastically different from Rapunzel’s, but he still has a relatable and logical personality. Flynn was Eugene Fitzherbert, the poor boy in the orphanage who was always made fun of. When he grew up, he aspired to be something grand, and became Flynn Rider, the renowned, charismatic, charming thief. His background led him to not-so-great choices. But, deep down, he’s still that little boy in the orphanage who wanted something more, just like Rapunzel.

We like Flynn because, yes, he’s charismatic and charming, but also because he sympathize with him. We understand making bad choices in order to try to get something better out of life, and the struggles it is to become who we should be.

Both Rapunzel and Flynn have FANTASTIC PERSONALITIES that pop off the screen (no cardboard cutouts here), their dreams and desires form from RELATABLE problems, and their actions in life are LOGICAL due to their current circumstances.

Vivid personalities, relatable problems, and logical actions—that’s how great characters and, in turn, stories are made!

BELIEVABLE ROMANCE

As much as I adore fairy tales, the instalove sometimes makes me want to poke my eyes out with a fork. Ahem. It’s bad. And it’s not just in the original tales either. It happens far too often in retellings as well. I think people rationalize it by thinking, “Hey, it happened in the original tale, so why not my story?” NO. Please stahp. People don’t fall in love instantly. That’s called attraction, not love. How can you be in love with a person if you don’t even know what their personality is??? That makes no logical sense.

Thankfully, Disney has learned from their past mistakes (gotta love how they made fun of instalove in Frozen).

And…just…brb while I flail for a while because AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Rapunzel and Flynn are like my OTP!!!

Ahem.

There is no instalove in Tangled. In fact, Rapunzel and Flynn really aren’t even all that attracted to one another at first. I mean, Rapunzel didn’t even fall for The Smolder, she’s a tougher girl than all the rest of us eheheh.

Rapunzel uses her actual brain and ties up this strange man who lands into her tower, and Flynn is a little freaked out to wake up tied in yards of hair. It’s great! And it makes sense.

The romance doesn’t even begin to develop until we’re a good halfway through the movie. After the two have gotten to know one another, and have helped each other out of multiple scrapes, then they start to think maybe they are attracted to the other. Once they actually, ya know, know who the other person is. In Flynn’s lifestyle, he’s never really been exposed to such a kind, innocent woman and it’s refreshing to him. While Rapunzel, who always sees the good in people (she brought out the soft side of every single one of those thugs in The Snuggly Duckling after all), knows there’s more to Flynn than a thief.

After nearly dying in the flooded mines and working together to escape, they have a quiet moment and, at last, reveal who they really are. It is then that they start to fall for one another. Not through attraction, but because they genuinely are starting to care for the other person.

The next day, they make it to castle town and spend an entire day together, sharing interests and fun and more and more getting to know one another.

They have time together. They talk and laugh and save one another’s lives and open up to the other person. And thus, by the time we make it to the floating lantern scene, we can 100% believe that they have, genuinely, fallen in love. Whereas if they had been wanting to kiss since the second Flynn stumbled into the tower, we’d all be groaning at the heavy, unrealistic romance we’ve been exposed to. Or…I would anyway. Eheh.

Then, to wrap it all up, after Mother Gothel stabs Flynn, he cuts Rapunzel’s hair before she can heal him so she won’t have to be imprisoned by Gothel anymore. The man who had only ever lived for himself for so long, sacrificed everything so Rapunzel could be free.

Again, if there had been instalove, his sacrifice would have seemed unrealistic. It wouldn’t have had as much impact. But, as it was, it was a beautiful, tear-jerking moment.

The slow, steady, sweet pace of their romance made it 10000% more satisfying once they finally got together in the end. AND their personalities work together. They’re both a little adventurous, both a little stubborn, and had both been dealt one in life. Rapunzel’s kind, gentle heart makes Flynn a better man, and Flynn’s sacrificial spirit is everything Rapunzel has ever needed in her loveless life.

THEY’RE JUST A GREAT COUPLE OKAY. I LOVE THEM!!! Serious romance subplot goals right there.

<333

BALANCED PACING

The romance wasn’t the only point that had great pacing. The entire plot was so perfectly balanced.

I actually did a post last year on pacing and used Tangled as an example, so I’ll try to be brief (I know, I know. Christine being brief? Is that possible? I’m trying my best, guys!).

Tangled uses the proper method of sandwiching quiet moments between exciting ones. After the introduction scene, we have the real opening scene with Rapunzel in her tower, giving us a good look at her ordinary life so we can then root for her to escape her circumstances. We then jump to an exciting scene of Flynn stealing the crown. This scene does two things, it brings in some excitement while also showing Flynn’s ordinary life. (Every scene has to have a purpose, and any time you can make one scene hold multiple purposes, that’s even better!) We then go back to Rapunzel’s quiet life, and then Flynn entering the tower.

The movie continues this back and forth pacing, assuring there are plenty of action scenes to keep us interested, but also quiet moments so we can catch our breaths, as well as get to know the characters.

Midway, we have the big scene where Rapunzel and Flynn escape from the guards through the secrete passageway in The Snuggly Duckling (yes, I totally snort every time I type that, it’s the best XD), there’s a fight scene, and then they nearly drown in the flooding mines.

This is quite a long action scene so, to balance it out and give everyone a bit of a breather, we then have the sweet fireside chat moment where Rapunzel heals Flynn’s hand with her magic hair, and Flynn reveals who he really is. After this, we’re then back to some action when Gothel shows up and tries to convince Rapunzel Flynn doesn’t really care for her.

It’s all in the balance! Too much action can make your audience tired, as well as not give us a chance to really get to know the characters. But too many slow scenes will, well, put people to sleep.

Every scene in Tangled had purpose. It moved the plot forward, gave us insights into the characters so we can learn to love them, and kept our interest all the way through.

Okay, okay, I’m done. I really did try to keep it brief…

A COMPELLING VILLAIN

What would Tangled be without Gothel? Well, a plotless movie, but that’s beside the point. (Or maybe that is the point? Ahem, anyway.)

Gothel is truly one of the most chilling villains Disney has ever created. And I think a big reason is because, at first, she seems kind of harmless.

In the movie, we have three forces going against Rapunzel and Flynn—the palace guards, the Stabbington Brothers, and Gothel. And yet, amidst trained swordsman and barbaric thugs, Gothel is the scariest antagonist.

The Stabbington Brothers aren’t all that compelling because, well, they’re just a couple of brutes. Being big, strong, and scary does not always make a good villain. Sometimes it’s the psychology, not the physical strength.

Even though we know right from the start that Gothel stole Rapunzel away and is the villain, we kind of begin to wonder if maybe she’s not all bad. She seems to genuinely care for Rapunzel, is often gentle with her, and even tells her she loves her. Besides, how can you raise that sweet summer child for 18 years and not utterly love her, come on?

But then things get a little chilling. Gothel hunts Rapunzel down, plays mind tricks on her, and makes a deal with the Stabbington brothers. These are not the actions of a worried, loving mother.

When Rapunzel realizes she’s the lost princess and, finally, stands up to her “mother”, Gothel’s full nature is finally revealed. Next thing we know, Rapunzel is chained up and Gothel stabs Flynn in his attempted rescue. Her obsession with staying forever youthful completely corrupted her mind. She couldn’t see past anything but holding onto the magic in Rapunzel’s hair. No matter what. Even though she wasn’t a swordsman like the palace guards or giant and deadly like the Stabbington Brothers, her willingness to do anything to get what she wants made her a far more superior foe than any others.

And, to top it off, she’s got personality too. She’s witty, charismatic, and clever. Very clever. Gothel brilliantly played mind games with Rapunzel to make Rapunzel respect her enough to obey whatever she said. If she had been an outright cruel villain, Rapunzel most likely would have rebelled. But she was just loving enough to gain Rapunzel’s affection, and just controlling and passive-aggressive enough to keep Rapunzel under her thumb without much trouble. The complexity of her role brought such depth to the movie.

Way too often villains are portrayed as these brutish, ultra powerful, personality-less forces that merely takes a few punches to defeat. And, well, that’s boring.

Despite being one of the least powerful villains, Gothel was one of the most formidable foes in all the Disney films due to her complexity, charismatic personality, and cleverness.

A UNIQUE ELEMENT

Lastly, what truly makes Tangled stand out is the unique element interwoven into the story—Rapunzel’s hair.

Of course, the story of Rapunzel isn’t a new one. Lololol it’s been around for a while. XD BUT Disney’s reasoning for her having such long hair was something new.

There’s a lot of retellings out there, but most of the ones I’ve read had no explanation as to why Rapunzel’s hair is long. Which is kind of annoying. People don’t just have yards of hair for no reason. But Tangled, at last, made sense of her never cutting her hair. And it was such a unique reason!

Last year at Realm Makers, Nadine Brandes did a class on how to pitch your book. Aside from a great setting, characters, and problem, she said your book should also have a “golden nugget”, that “oooh factor”.  Every book should have that one special thing that makes it stand out from all the other stories out there.

Rapunzel’s magical hair was Tangled’s “golden nugget”. Not only was it fascinating to follow a protagonist with ridiculously long hair, it also brought everything together in a fun, original way. It gave the story of Rapunzel, one we have heard a thousand times over, a new, fresh twist. Something that’s not easy to do when it comes to fairy tale retellings!

Adding in a unique element to your story is the key to making it stand out in a world of “no originality”.

So there we are! Five reasons why Tangled is one of the best animated movies out there. It took all the essential story ingredients and wrote them brilliantly.

Great characters, a believable romance, balanced pacing, a compelling antagonist, and a golden nugget—the five ingredients to making any story great. (Actually, romance is entirely optional. Despite what Hollywood leads us to believe, you can have a great story without romance. >.> But if you are going to have romance in your story, please make it believable and not just there for the sake of romance. Please I beg of you.)

If you can’t tell, I reeeally love Tangled.

LET’S TALK!

Do you agree with my Tangled assessment? Do you have anything more to add? What are some movies you think are great for gleaning writing wisdom from? (No, I’m totally not asking so I’ll have an excuse to watch movies instead of be productive. Pssshhh.) Also feel free to flail with me about this movie because TANGLED. <333