Tangled (2010 film)/Shout-Out

Flynn Rider is a bandit and swashbuckler, the very same type of role that made Errol Flynn famous.
To Independence Day of all things, which is a beautiful touch, since that's what Rapunzel got from meeting Flynn.

Flynn: Oh, mama, I have got to get me one of these!

The film also contains shout-outs to other Disney films. Maximus the horse seems like a Composite Character of Prince Eric's sheepdog Max from The Little Mermaid and Achilles the horse from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- The love scene between Rapunzel and Flynn on the boat could also remind some of The Little Mermaid, right down to the kiss right after the love song being interrupted by the main villain's sidekicks.
- During the escape from the guards after the Snuggly Duckling, Flynn briefly imitates Tarzan's tree-surfing while escaping on the log flume leading away from the dam.
Mother Gothel's hood and also the shiny red apples she packs into her basket recall the witch from Snow White.
- And similar to Snow White is when after Flynn cuts off Rapunzel's hair, his hand falls on the floor dropping the object he was holding. The scene looks pretty similar to the scene in which we see Snow White's hand falling on the floor and dropping the apple.
There's even a shout-out to the film's long development; the pub thug that goes and gets the guards? He's one of the earlier designs for Flynn–he even wears the same colors.
- It's actually Nathan Greno, one of the directors.
A little more obscure, but still there–when Gothel, during "Mother Knows Best", snuffs out the candles, it's a mild reference to "Snuff Out the Light", a Cut Song Villain Song from The Emperors New Groove.
Rapunzel and Flynn stroll into town and Rapunzel is excited about everything she sees, just like Ariel was, and they also took a dance there.
Eugene's death scene seemed strongly reminiscent of the Beast's death in Beauty and the Beast. Even to the point that Rapunzel is leaning over him like Belle leaned over the Beast.
- Rapunzel's first meeting with Flynn resembles a gender-flipped version of Beauty and the Beast as well when Beast comes before Belle from the shadows to the light.
  - Not to mention, Mother Gothel uses "be my guest" in her Villain Song. It's possible that this is another Beauty and the Beast shout-out, given the fact that Menken composed the music for both films.
- And, when Rapunzel is finally out of the tower and sings "When Will My Life Begin", she looks at a dandelion and it blows into seeds, much like that scene in Belle's "I Want" Song (which was itself a Shout-Out to The Sound of Music).
- Flynn and Rapunzel sitting on the floor and reading a book together during their "Falling in Love" Montage is reminiscent of Belle and Beast doing the same thing during "Something There".
- Rapunzel and Flynn singing their two separate parts of "I See the Light" as thoughts they are thinking is very reminiscent of how "Something There" from Beauty and the Beast is sung, with both characters "thinking" at each other.
When Rapunzel meets her parents for the first time, first she gets hugged by her mother. Similar thing happened in Sleeping Beauty.
Pinocchio can be seen in "I've Got A Dream", when the camera pans around.
Another reference: An evil adoptive parent locks their charge in a tower, scaring them into submission by exaggerating the cruelty in the world. Watching Rapunzel's Calling The Old Woman Out scene is reminiscent of Quasi's Calling the Old Man Out at the end of his movie, especially when they both recognize that the people who've told them that Humans Are the Real Monsters are really the worst parts of their worlds.
- What's really delicious about this is how the two songs are mirrors of each other in mood and emotional impact. "Out There" is dark, brooding, threatening, a brow-beating type song where Frollo forces Quasi to obey—basically, Scare'Em Straight. "Mother Knows Best", save for the part at the end where she makes her "one request", is happy, bouncy, and light—vinegar versus honey. And that makes it all the more insidious and cruel.
- And Rapunzel wears a purple dress, has Green Eyes, and goes barefoot. Look familiar?
Flynn said "I don't sing." in the same tone and expression as Robert did in Enchanted, and he then sings only emphasizing the Enchanted reference all the more.
- This is all the funnier in the Latin American edition, where Flynn is voiced by Chayanne, a famous singer.
- The entire scene is something of a Shout-Out, with a more cynical character watching in bemused exasperation as a more idealistic character leads a bunch of unlikely people in a cheerily optimistic musical number right in front of him.
Flynn's narration states that the kingdom is "a hop, skip, and a boatride" away from the magic flower. Except for the last word, this is actually the distance between Captain Hook's ship and the Lost Boys' hide-out: a hop, skip, and a jump away.
- Hookhand is similar to Captain Hook, they both even play piano.
In the cave, there's a skeleton with a sword sticking out of it in the same pose as one of the skeletons in a certain ride.
Just like in Aladdin, there's a princess trapped inside her home who longs to go out until her 18th birthday, and then she meets a guy who happens to be a thief.
"I See the Light", the song on the boat before/during the mass-lantern release, was reminiscent of the Magic Carpet Ride ("A Whole New World") from Aladdin. Both tunewise and somewhere in the midst of the lyrics. Alan Menken made both scores, by the way.
- In that song, Flynn sings "it's crystal clear", a line that is also sung by Jasmine in "A Whole New World".
  - And just after this moment, the Lovable Rogue is trapped by the bad guys.
Gothel's Villain Song seems to bring to mind another film musical which also features a villainous, overbearing mother who sings "mother knows best".
Look closely at Gothel's dress. The entire thing is decorated with curly hearts... that are identical to the ones on the Kingdom Hearts logo. The design also incorporates what may be modified versions of the Unversed or Heartless sigils.
The rats in the Bad Guy Bar look remarkably like the rats in Ratatouille but uglier.
One of the Pub Thugs collects ceramic unicorns, and at the start of Flynn's prison escape he leaves one as a signal to Flynn. This is actually a Shout-Out to Gaff in Blade Runner who would leave pieces of origami as his caling card. At the end of the film he leaves Deckard a unicorn.
Flynn and Maximus' escape has a Shout-Out to Lupin III's initial assault on The Castleof Cagliostro.
There are two lines in "I See The Light" that have the exact same melody and almost the same words as a line from A Whole New World: "And standing here,/ it's crystal clear/ I'm where I'm meant to be" "And now she's here/it's crystal clear/ I'm where I'm meant to go" compare with "But when I'm way up here/it's crystal clear/that now I'm in a whole new world with you." In addition, the very last note of the song is the same note from "A Whole New World".
- Not really. Also the lyric is "Standing here,/ it's oh-h so clear/ I'm where I'm meant to be" for Rapunzel. The tune remains distinct (though they are both Award Bait Songs, so they'll be similar).
"When Will My Life Begin Reprise" ends with Rapunzel stretching out her arms and spinning around in a field.
After Flynn cuts Rapunzel's hair, Mother Gothel exclaims, "Aaaah!!! Look what you've done!!!" Her demise is also reminiscent of that of the Wicked Witch.
I think someone on the production team may have been a fan of Dragonlance seeing as Rapunzel uses a frying pan as a primary weapon just like Tika did.
The film starts with the line "This is the story of how I died."
Rapunzel says "Don't freak out" and "It's complicated" to guess who.
When they first enter the city, in the background noise someone calls out "fresh cockles and mussels", and the background music turns into an Irish style melody. When combined it seems to be shouting out to the Irish folk song Molly Malone.
When Rapunzel swings away from Maximus at the dam, she goes into Bullet Time for a moment, complete with a brass fanfare.
"Mother Knows Best"/"Mother Knows Best(Reprise)" hold many similarities to "Stay With Me", another song sung by the witchy mother of Rapunzel about the dangers of the world in the musical Into the Woods.
Likely unintentional, but the scene where Flynn is dying at the end and is saved by one of Rapunzel's glowing tears is very reminiscent of the scene in Sailor Moon where Tuxedo Mask is dying in Sailor Moon's arms and she sheds a tear which starts to shine and turns into the Silver Crystal. The tear even enters into him, much in the same way that a fragment of the Silver Crystal stayed in Mamoru. In fact, it was so reminiscent of the scene that I found myself thinking, "I bet she's going to cry and that will save him" right before it happened. Not to mention the similarities between Mother Gothel and Queen Nehellenia.
The scene where Rapunzel and Flynn go into a small air pocket while inside an underwater cave resembles a particular scene from a lesser-known Disney film involving a princess.

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