While I had heard of the story of Rapunzel and knew that it was about a girl with extremely long hair who was locked in a tower, I had never sat down and read the fairy tale written so long ago by the Brothers Grimm. I had always thought Rapunzel was a princess that was locked away in a tower. However, according to the original fairy tale, she is the daughter of a couple whose backyard neighbored the Enchantress Dame Gothel's garden. Rapunzel's mother craved a certain flower from the garden and her father would sneak in and steal it for her. When he was stopped by the Enchantress one night, he was told he could have all of the flower he wanted in exchange for their firstborn child. The Enchantress took the child at birth, locked her in a tower and named her Rapunzel. A prince happened by one day and heard Rapunzel singing and fell in love with her voice. He soon learned to call to Rapunzel to let down her hair and this was how to get into the tower to her. Dame Gothel discovered his presence, cut Rapunzel's hair off and sent her to live in the desert. Dame Gothel tricked the prince, pushed him out of the tower where thorns blinded his eyes. He wondered around the forest for years until he finally stumbled into the desert where Rapunzel and her twin children found the prince. Her tears healed his eyes and they made their way back to his kingdom where they lived "happy and contented."
Disney's movie Tangled, which is based on the story of Rapunzel has quite a different version of Rapunzel. In the movie, Rapunzel's hair has a healing quality that the enchantress uses to keep herself young and beautiful. She kidnaps the child, who is actually the princess and locks her in the tower and treats her as her daughter. She tricks Rapunzel into thinking she is her mother and tells her how much she loves her. However, her actions are purely selfish. She brushes the hair while Rapunzel sings and it rejuvenates the queen's body. Rapunzel longs to get out of the tower to see the lighted lanterns that are in the sky every year on her birthday. She doesn't know it but the lanterns are a part of a commemoration ceremony put on by the Queen and King in honor of their lost child (which is Rapunzel). The queen adamently refuses to let her out proclaiming that the world is too dangerous. One day a theif stumbles across Rapunzel and her tower. She bonks him over the head, ties him up, steals his treasure, and tells him he can have it back after he takes her to see the lanterns. She and the theif go on this big adventure, all the while being chased by the royal guards, other theives, and the enchantress. They end up falling in love and longing to be together. Rapunzel discovers that she is indeed, the lost princess, conquers the enchantress, makes her way back to her family and lives happily ever after with her new prince.
Disney changed so many elements of the story, that it hardly resembles the one the Grimm brothers originally told. In Tangled, Rapunzel is the princess while her true love is a theif. I suppose Disney wanted to maintain it's Disney Princess theme that is present in so many of their other movies. As with other Disney princesses, Rapunzel goes from being weak to being strong and self-reliant. There is also humor thrown in throughout the movie that is not present in the fairy tale. She has a funny sidekick who is a chameleon. He helps guard over Rapunzel and advises her with simple gestures on what she should do. Disney seems to have tried to make Rapunzel relatable to her audience. Little girls would love to be Rapunzel with her long flowing hair and her handsome prince. I'm not sure many modern girls would admire the Rapunzel that was created in the fairy tale. She was locked away and banished to the desert to raise her twins on her own. She found her prince in the end, but only after enduring a hard life.
I enjoyed reading the fairy tale because it is so different from what I imagined it to be. I also enjoyed the movie with it's beautiful songs and breathtaking scenes. Both are entertaining stories told for two different eras in time.
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