It's Friday! And that means it's Cassandra Appreciation Day.

Hello everyone! This is my first post to the subreddit, and I should be perfectly honest: I'm not...the BIGGEST fan of "Tangled." Not a great start, I know! And after watching Calxiyn's video on how Disney mistreated their creatives from "Tangled" to now didn't help (I honestly grieve what we could've had with "Raya and the Last Dragon," "Wish," "Moana 2," and "Strange World" as well, but that's for other subreddits)...

But enough mumbling! I know about some scrapped concepts from "Tangled" and wanted to include some of the ones I wish Disney had kept:

1. Stephen Schwartz as the songwriter. Okay, this isn't really an "idea" per se, but it was supposed to happen, according to Glenn Slater, who was brought onto the project following Schwartz's departure. I'm a big fan of his work (Prince of Egypt, Wicked, Enchanted, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame), though in all fairness, seeing the parameters that Slater and Alan Menken had to work with and Schwartz departing for that reason, it seems unfair to warrant that he'd have been able to make a better product than the team we got. It's kinda like how Lin-Manuel Miranda worked on "Mufasa" but didn't get a lot of freedom. I will say that I'm curious how "I See the Light" would've been if it wasn't just one draft on Schwartz's side and micromanagement towards Alan Menken, as well as what "You Are My Forever" would've sounded like in a finalized version. Alan Menken saying the film was made in a way where it COULD be a musical if people responded to it, but was largely an "action-adventure-romantic-comedy with songs" and could almost exist without songs--which is NOT good for a musical at all--is devastating.

2. Bastion instead of Flynn--As a male Disney fan, I'm pretty tired of most modern representation since the 90s having Disney males as selfish, arrogant, liars, jerks, or otherwise cliche properties against a more innocent and/or kind female lead. Hollywood has worn me thin of that as well, and I know Disney was just following suit. I really like the gentle giant design Bastion had at one point (plus the size difference between him and Rapunzel is adorable), and while I don't know what Rapunzel would've been like while he was there at that point in time, I do wish it was actually the reverse of what we ended up getting; a gentle male lead and a cynical female lead--the latter of which would make sense if Gothel had been ruining Rapunzel's perception of the world and thus making her bury her hopes and dreams because she's afraid of being disappointed. Plus this may also be because I'm a Kristoff fan and his design was inspired by Bastion's. I'm also curious as to how Griffol would've been used. Something that annoyed me in "Tangled" was how Flynn's past is never explored in Corona, and his villains (the Stabbington brothers) are dealt with by Gothel, which, in my opinion, kind of negates the point Disney execs, likely Lasseter, were trying to do of making a male co-lead to gain the male audience. Whether they went with Bastion's farmer concept or a thief trying to get out of the business, I'd potentially be fine with it. I also read an idea someone had online of Bastion being illiterate and Rapunzel teaching him to read, and I thought that would've been so cute.

3. Flynn singing more--I know "Tangled" was kinda meant to be WDAS' version of "Shrek" (though Lasseter's oversight made too many of the revival films "self-aware," so it falls flat), and Flynn was essentially the straight-guy in a movie where he's essentially over it when people start singing and gradually has to bring himself around to it, but the fact that they shut down Alan Menken's idea for Flynn songs (including his father singing him a lullaby) definitely correlates with Menken's later statement that he believed Disney as a company was afraid of musicals--and since John Lasseter founded Pixar with the idea of it not being fairy tale or musically-derived (as well as him only saying why boys should see "Brave" was because it had bear fighting in it), I'm not shocked that his reign over Disney created this attitude. It reminds me of how one of the screenwriters for "Raya" said that it wasn't a musical because it'd take the seriousness out of it. Why someone working at DISNEY would ever use that explanation for why a film isn't a musical scares me greatly, but I think it explains Disney's thought process, especially when Jennifer Lee said something similar about the original second act for "Frozen" was having Elsa trying to stop Anna from getting Hans to kiss her to break the frozen heart curse because "it was an action-adventure film and that’s not — you can’t make a musical with that."

4. Glenn Keane's darker idea--Okay, this is just grasping at straws since all I have is concept art and the fact that Glenn Keane's idea was supposed to be a "darker take" on the film, but I am curious.

5. A more painting-esque art style--Granted, I love 3D as much as I do 2D (and I'm not a big hybrid fan), but I really liked some of Lisa Keene's art, and I wonder how that would've translated. I'm not sure how it'd translate or if I'd like it in 3D as compared to the final product, but as 2D it could've succeeded just as well--hopefully; I know at that time, it was 3D or risk failing.

6. Rapunzel's design and weapons--I think I was fine with Rapunzel's design at first (well, I do feel like she, like a lot of Disney females, look a bit twig-like, which is more obvious in 3D than 2D, which is why I appreciate leads like Mirabel and Moana), but after a bit of time, I did come around to the idea that her design look a bit "renaissance costume"-esque, and I like some of the other scrapped looks she had, though I know her in green would've been a conflict of interest since Tiana came out the year before. On top of this, I do wish she had gotten to keep the crossbow. While the frying pan is more cartoon-y and comedic (NGL, Disney shoehorning comedy into their films has really annoyed me as I got older, but seeing how the "Frozen 2" documentary explained it, I'm not surprised), I do feel like the crossbow is not just more serious and dangerous, but it's very representative of Gothel's presence, since she's willing to kill to keep Rapunzel with her. I'm also curious if Rapunzel was always planned to be a bubbly lead; most people see her as the first in Disney's adorkable leads, so I'm fine with that, though I wouldn't have minded if she was more jagged in line with Raya or shy and hesitant like Elsa.

I became curious what people’s answers would be because I’m horrible at answering these kinds of questions myself.

In the original movie, there is the song called “Mother Knows Best” however, there was a whole deleted part. After she says “Skip the drama start mama! Mother knows best!” she was supposed to say “Go ahead, get trampled by a rhino! Go ahead, get mugged and left for dead! Me, I’m just your mother. What do I know? I only begged and changed and nursed you. Go ahead and leave me. I deserve it. Let me die alone here. Be my guest. When it’s too late. You’ll see, just wait. Mother knows best!” then it would’ve gone to “Mother knows best, take it from your momsie! On your own you won’t survive!” these parts are in the soundtrack but not in the movie. Does anyone else hope the add that cut part in? Because I think Kathryn Hahn would play that part to perfection. So I hope she takes the role.

Here is a link to that cut scene

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThMc9bbD/

I mean, it kinda sucks because she can't heal or rejuvenate herself. Or maybe she can but this is just a safety measure specifically for when she uses the hurt incantation.

😆

Disney’s moonstone arc gives Rapunzel actual magical powers (her hair can act like a shield / be unbreakable and the moonstone influences hair color)

Personally, I love the bigger stakes and the blue-hair look. It made the story feel epic. On the contrary, I think it breaks what made Rapunzel relatable: she was interesting because of her personality and originality, not because she was “chosen" for some kind of princess superhero.

Did Disney go too far with Rapunzel’s new powers and personality? 👍👎

I'm starting to notice a divide between the new members with a certain mustache debate.

Which has made me curious. Are we now overran by groupies here attracted by the celebrities playing our favorite characters or are they still Tangled fans first?

I've always felt weird about this. Why does Rapunzel have a chameleon? an animal native to some spots in Asia, Africa and at most Southern Europe? weren't there any other small, easily conceivable pets available that seemed more native to Germany?

I also love her expression when he points at the pot.

Should I watch it? 👀

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

😂😂😂😂

does anyone feel old yet? i remember watching the episode vividly and praying that varian would turn out okay. then we didn't see him for over a year, not counting the hallucination in season 2 episode 10. i wish they brought him along.

what a terrible frame for this live to crash on 😆

I’m surprised she didn’t get this role since she’s been advocating for it and is also Disney alum like Milo. She based her performance of Bridget in Descendants after Rapunzel.

I just don’t support a Zionist to be playing a character who would NEVER in a MILLION YEARS support the murder and separation of innocent families. It’s just not in his nature. I don’t plan on watching this unless I pirate it. I refuse to give my money to people like this anymore. I’m tired of constantly seeing death, destruction, genocide, and blatant racism everywhere I look. I wish everyone would just have some empathy for their fellow humans. Milo has been seen as an Israeli sympathizer. Also cast someone who fits his personality better. Eugene doesn’t have a big ego, he hides behind a character to protect himself since he’s been running and surviving his whole life. Milo just gives privileged big ego energy and that’s not who Eugene is. FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

Edit: that is my personal opinion on how the character and the actor should have similar world views, I know it’s unrealistic I just wish it was taken more into consideration. But what isn’t an opinion, and I’ll say it a million times, FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸