Mother Gothel was the despicable villain of Tangled, and she could have gotten away with her evil deeds if not for two fatal mistakes. The woman had kidnapped Rapunzel from her royal parents to keep her magical hair all to herself, and she was successful at this for 18 years. However, the lonely girl couldn’t resist following her dream of seeing the ‘floating lights,’ so she set out on her own and ultimately discovered the truth about her parentage. This led to Gothel’s death—but it wouldn’t have come to that if the Disney villain had done things differently.
Tangled was one of the first Disney Princess movies to significantly differ from its original fairy tale. Rapunzel’s long hair was explained by the inclusion of the Sundrop flower, which the queen had ingested to save herself while she was pregnant with the princess. As it turned out, this flower had been used by an evil old woman named Gothel to stay young for centuries. The only way that Gothel could continue to live forever, beautiful and young, was if she kidnapped Rapunzel and used her hair (and a magical song). So, this was what she did—but errors were made.
Mother Gothel Shouldn’t Have Told Rapunzel Her Real Birthday In Tangled
Kept away in her tower, one of the only joys in Rapunzel’s life was watching the lights that appeared in the sky on her birthday. Since this spectacle happened every year on her special day, she began to feel as if they were just for her—and they were. The king and queen of Corona led the kingdom in releasing floating lanterns for their lost princess, and luckily for them, this was precisely why they were eventually reunited. This was unfortunate for Mother Gothel, who could avoid the whole thing if she had just given Rapunzel a fake birthday.
Of course, Gothel couldn’t have known that Rapunzel could have eventually made the connection—especially since she never stopped to think that the girl could be intelligent—but why take the chance? The villain took every precaution to ensure that her abducted daughter wouldn’t be discovered by anyone, including keeping her entirely confined to a tower for 18 long years. It would have been the least of her deceptions to tell Rapunzel that she was born on a different day. Then, she might have kept her “flower” forever.
Rapunzel & Mother Gothel Could Have Traveled Far Away From Corona
Before the royal family dug up the Sundrop flower, Mother Gothel had been forced to periodically return to the same place to sing her song and regain her youth. However, once the flower’s magic had been imbued into Rapunzel’s hair, it became portable. Therefore, there was no reason for the woman to stay near Corona. In fact, since she had just kidnapped the princess and the king and queen were clearly not willing to stop looking for her, it would have been in Gothel’s best interest to get as far away from the kingdom as possible. And really, nothing was stopping her.
Tangled‘s villain is often considered at the same level as those like Snow White‘s Evil Queen or Sleeping Beauty‘s Maleficent. However, her evil planning wasn’t entirely up to par. Not only did Gothel tell Rapunzel her actual birthday, but she also left her day after day within traveling distance from her real parent’s castle. Sure, she never expected the girl to escape. Still, considering she took every other precaution, she could have taken her to another kingdom where they could theoretically live for all eternity.
Gothel’s Tangled Mistakes Don’t Fit Her Villain Personality
Mother Gothel is a classic Disney villain—evil, selfish, conniving, manipulative, and willing to do whatever it takes to live forever. Her treatment of Rapunzel was disturbing, but Gothel was difficult not to love during her “Mother Knows Best” musical number. Other types of villains are bumbling and foolish, but that isn’t Rapunzel’s adoptive mother. Each of her moves was calm and collected, and she always had a clever answer to each of her problems. Therefore, the fact that she made such fatal mistakes in her plans to keep Rapunzel all to herself just doesn’t fit.
Of course, that isn’t all that doesn’t make sense about the ending of Tangled. It was strange that, even though the Sundrop flower’s magic was still active in Rapunzel’s tears, Mother Gothel deteriorated to nothing once her daughter’s golden hair had been cut. Still, these kinds of convenient plot devices are typical for a fairytale. If Gothel hadn’t made her mistakes, Rapunzel and Flynn wouldn’t have met, and there would be no story. So, the Tangled villain’s oversight can be forgiven.
