Tangled and Repunzel
One would believe that a movie based on a storybook would have the same plot. In comparing and contrasting the movie Tangled to the short story “Rapunzel”, one can find many differences and very few similarities. Tangled was developed by Disney and has grossed 590 million dollars in the first year; however, “Rapunzel” is only a folk tale handed down through the years until it was finally written down in the 1800s. This is only the beginning of the differences. Looking closely at the plots, one can definitely see there is a difference in the two.
In the following paragraph, the expositions of the movie Tangled and the short story “Rapunzel” will be compared and contrasted. In Tangled the parents were rich and lived in a kingdom. On the other hand, in “Rapunzel”, the parents were very poor and lived in a small house. In Tangled, Mother Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel for her magic gift, and kept her locked up in a tower and wouldn’t let her leave. Every year on Rapunzel’s birthday, her parents, the king and queen, would light lanterns in the sky. They were hoping that one day, their lost princess would once again return.
In “Rapunzel”, her parents practically traded her to Mother Gothel for stealing from her magic garden. Also in Tangled, Rapunzel’s hair is magic. Her hair glows and can turn a very old lady, to the youngest, and prettiest woman. In “Rapunzel”, her hair isn’t magic or anything like that, it’s just very, very long. Now, we will be discussing the rising actions of the two stories. We will basically be stating their differences and similarities. In the movie Tangled, the guy that took her on her amazing journey was a poor thief. He was being chased, when he saw a mysterious tower.
He then climbed that tower and that’s how he met Rapunzel. In contrast, in the short story “Rapunzel”, he was a prince who heard her singing. He went searching for her, because her beautiful singing softened his heart. In Tangled, Mother Gothel is evil and selfish. She could care less about Rapunzel, basically all she cared about was staying young forever. On the other hand, in “Rapunzel”, she was actually trying to help Rapunzel by getting her away from her unstable family. As you can see, the rising actions of these two stories are very different.
Next, we are going to be comparing and contrasting the climax of these two stories. In Tangled, in the beginning of the climax, Rapunzel realizes that she is the lost princess. Rapunzel is furious with Mother Gothel, and she states that she will never ever let Mother Gothel use her hair again. Mother Gothel is determined to never let Rapunzel leave the tower, even if Rapunzel can’t stand her. Flynn Rider, the thief that Rapunzel met, was about to get hung for his crimes. He actually escapes, with the help of friends he met on his journey with Rapunzel.
He gets to the tower, and climbs up it. He gets up there, and he then sees that Rapunzel is all chained up. Mother Gothel then stabs him, attempting to kill him. Rapunzel then promises to Mother Gothel, that if she lets her heal him, she will stay with her forever. When Rapunzel is just about to heal Flynn, he cuts all of her hair off. Rapunzel’s magic then fades, making Mother Gothel turn old and crusty. Mother Gothel falls out the window to her death at the end of the Climax. In the short story “Rapunzel”, Mother Gothel sees that Rapunzel has deceived her.
Mother Gothel then cuts all of Rapunzel’s hair off, leaving her hair on the ground. Mother Gothel tricks the prince, leading him up the tower. When he finally goes in, Mother Gothel reveals that he will never see Rapunzel again. At the end of the climax, the prince is left heartbroken in tears. Now, the falling actions of the two stories will be compared and contrasted. In Tangled, Rapunzel returns to her family. The kingdom rejoices, because they now know that their lost princess has returned. In “Rapunzel”, the prince kind of lost himself.
He wandered around the forest, and ate nothing but roots and berries, and only weeped over the loss of Rapunzel. He roamed around in misery for years, and then he finally came to the desert, where Rapunzel and her two twins she had given birth to, lived in wretchedness. He heard a voice, it sounded familiar to him. He went towards it, and when Rapunzel saw him she fell on his neck and cried. This ends the falling actions of the two stories. Next, the resolutions of the two stories will be compared and contrasted. In Tangled, Rapunzel and Flynn end up living happily ever after in the kingdom.
In “Rapunzel”, the prince led Rapunzel to his kingdom where he was joyfully received, and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented. There’s not much to the resolutions to these two stories. As you can see, the resolutions are a little similar, but mainly different. To end this essay, the movie Tangled and the short story “Rapunzel”, have two totally different plots. There were lots of differences and very, very few similarities. They both have some of the same characters, but totally different stories behind them.
