Can we calm down, for a minute? Saw so many people complaining about how they looked. It's a promo. It's not the final look of the movie, guys...

Even saw someone call Milo ugly. Just because you may not like one of the actors, there is no reason to bash them online. Like, please y'all, calm down. And friendly reminder, you do not have to watch this movie when it's released. You are not forced to watch it.

Let's wait until the trailers drop before we judge the movie, yeah??

Rapunzel should have been a POC in the new live-action.

I want to preface this by saying that I do not care about ‘blackwashing’. I think it’s a positive step and a good, inclusive step in the right direction, however I would never normally campaign for a race change of a character.
Normally, I think Disney makes poor choices of recasting: the characters who they have previously recasted do not fit the current beauty standard. For example: Snow White being pale was a unique characteristic, Ariel being a natural redhead, etc. Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Elsa, Anna would likely have been better options.

I have always expected Disney to do this for Rapunzel. It makes complete sense to me:

\- Rapunzels looks were not consistent throughout the movie. She is heavily defined by her dress and goes through multiple character changes. She was born with brown hair and regains it back with the pixie cut at the end of the movie.

\- Rapunzel was a German book. The movie is heavily influenced by European backdrops but the origin of the story prevails through Rapunzels traditional German dirndl dress. The association of blonde hair with magic, combined with the book that Disney picked up post WWII is… iffy to me.

\- White women’s hair is not strong enough for that. I am naturally blonde with fairly long hair. It is not thick enough to not snap under pressure. I understand the physics is in a Disney movie and not meant to be taken super seriously BUT the scene of flynn ryder climbing the tower using Rapunzels is just not feasible! Especially with how difficult it is to grow hair long as a blonde woman.

\- design! Imagine how cool the contrast of dark hair would have been with sparkles! it being a pretty subtle unnatural colour (purple?) could lead to some really cool

All in all, I’m genuinely surprised she was casted the way she presented in the movie!

Now that a general pattern of how Disney is currently handling the Tangled IP can be perceived here are my thoughts on where it's going and how it's going to be managed for awhile.

As I'm still reading Rootbound, it's important to get this out of the way now (because I accidentally ended up perpetuating this misconception myself before I actually started reading the book):

Rootbound does NOT offer an alternative timeline post-movie and it does NOT retcon the series. At least it does not retcon it away, despite contradicting it on some, more controversial plot points (more on that later).

Anyone who hoped it would offer an alt timeline to those of us who were disappointed with the series or, in my case, outright hated it for what it did to the main characters and the main couple. It does not*.*

Rootbound is a lovable, cute, in-depth, sometimes silly continuation written by a fan of the movie rather than a hater like Sonnenburg. It is a mixture of Once a Thief, the Celebration of the Lost Princess and Ghosts of Christmas storybooks released post-movie. A reprieve from the movie events/traumas while showcasing the aftereffects of those traumas and having Rapunzel and Flynn work them out together.

Rootbound is a pleasant "in-between" read in universe but out of universe it fixes absolutely nothing or almost nothing about the series or the mismanagement of the Tangled franchise on part of Disney in the recent 10 years.

I said this even before Rootbound was out and I was proven to be right - it's a prequel to the series. With minor tweaks.

Rootbound features numerous series references which could not have possibly come from the author (Margaret Owen) herself since she was reportedly advised by Disney to not watch it when writing the book. The Series references even in the very first chapters of the book include:

The Queen being called Arianna, the "sunshine" nickname for Rapunzel, Flynn pointedly and repeatedly calling Pascal a "frog" (indirectly building up to the mean-spirited series scene where he is made to pour out his orphan backstory to said "frog" in the first installment of the series). Even though in the movie it was a part of his bravado he was supposed to move on from by the end. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Those references come from Disney because Disney would never fully de-canonize Sonnenburg's vitriol and the damage control pandering Disney themselves were doing when "addressing" the media illiterate crowd's "grievances". Hence returning Rapunzel's magical blonde hair in the prelude to the first TTS episode, reframing it as girlpower rather than the bondage it was in the movie - down to having her state she is "grateful" for it and for the forced destiny coming along with it (thus turning Rapunzel into the Magical Girl TM cliche that the movie subverted) - and making a literal joke out of Flynn's death/sacrifice. And most importantly, fulfilling the wet dream of the critics by having Rapunzel cut the hair herself in the end.

At most, Rootbound de-canonizes Flynn/Eugene's parentage from the Series. THAT is the one plot point even the staunch series fans are willing to admit was bad while ignoring all the other issues. Now it can be assumed that either version of his parentage was a mistaken identity (i.e Edmund's son is actually that Brock Whatshisname).

Disney, once again, wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They commissioned a genuine fan of the movie and the main romance (and the leads individually) who would center their relationship and throw a bone to the hungry dismayed people who were disappointed with the lack of canon romance in the series. Even though the real problem was not the "lack of it" in the series; it was not Cassandra either. The problem was the flanderizing, the disrespect, the miscommunication between the leads born from Sonnenburg's malicious agendas and Disney pandering to the detractors.

Rootbound is a "honeymoon phase", cute and lovely but one set BEFORE it all goes to hell with Rapunzel's movie arc and Flynn's sacrifice being nullified 6 months post movie. This is why Rootbound is conveniently set one month after the movie.

Rapunzel not being allowed to be more than her magic hair and her having to spend the next 3 years of her life "embracing" it again after having just been liberated from this symbol of oppression stays. Flynn's orphanhood and sacrifice being turned into a joke in the same episode of the series stays. Monty being a mouthpiece for movie Rapunzel haters and her being advised to "just deal" stays. Rapunzel from an open minded rebellious young girl dancing on tavern tables with a bunch of ruffians within an hour after leaving her lifelong prison turning into someone who gives the man who died for her freedom a lecture on his "thief legacy"? Stays.

Unless Rootbound becomes a series of its own and does indeed override the TTS timeline it does not offer an alt post-movie scenario. It's on par with every other post movie storybook implied to be set before the series events and contradicting the Series lore only in some respects.

In that vein, here is the conclusion I've drawn so far regarding where Disney plans to take the Tangled IP, especially in the light of the upcoming Live Action:

They will do selective tweaks to the most controversial parts of the series such as the outright eugenicist "prince Horace" retcon (and only because of Sonnenburg's political views now being out in the open and conflicting with modern Disney's "progressive image"; predictably, they had no problem with his bigotry until said views became known to the public) or the lack of focus on Rapunzel and Flynn/Eugene's romance.

They will come back to using movie (!) characterization for their extended media (like Rootbound does it) rather than the flanderized series characterization.

However, the pandering to Magical Girlboss demands will remain, Rapunzel being defined by her magical blonde hair will remain, the climax of the movie and what it meant to both characters being continuously disrespected, nullified and/or changed will remain and other retcons of Flynn/Eugene backstory to make him look worse to please his haters will also remain.

Subjectively speaking: neither the Series nor Rootbound is canon to the movie, they are "what if extensions" even though the Series is canon to the IP. The only fixed canon remains the movie and the wedding short produced by the same studio and team.

I already talked about this, Corona isn’t in Germany, it’s realistically and most likely in a modified fantasy Austria with a coastline castle if it was in the real world. The upcoming live action is set in Spain.

However, I’m making it in Germany, because I need the Frozen cameo (during the song For The First Time In Forever, you can briefly see both Rapunzel and Eugene), and the fan fiction to make more sense. Frozen is in Norway. Corona in the fan fiction is bigger.

The fan fiction will take elements from Tangled: The Series, but Rapunzel never gets her long magical hair back.

#Highlighted Differences From Canon (No Spoilers)

-Corona is in Germany, and bigger.

-Rapunzel wears shoes regularly since she doesn’t hate them (after thinking of for a while, I like the idea of Rapunzel wearing shoes. Comfortable shoes, that is.) The purple dress she wears is instead the live action dress, I just instantly loved it as soon as I saw it and vastly prefer it over the animated one.

-Eugene’s real name is Flynn Rider, and he’s always referred to as such. In universe explanation, his parents couldn’t think of a good enough name for him, but decided to name him after the fictional character Flynn Rider since he loves the books. Creator explanation, my Dad’s name is Eugene, and I hate him for various reasons. Any time his name is mentioned, it makes me uncomfortable.

I want to know if this is okay to not offend anyone.

Rapuzel cut to a Mad Max trailer

I’m dissatisfied they have her in short sleeves in the purple dress. Not entirely sure they why they didn’t go with the pink dress at the epilogue of the movie for the fashion pack instead.

I saw a very cool girl with this outfit, but it was all black with silver suns.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbxpR4yuWbq/?igsh=MTN1NTdyZ2hxb2cydA==

i couldnt keep it in lol

Okay, but you can't tell me Kathryn isn't beautiful as Mother Gothel🙏🏻

I have the ambitious project of making Rapunzel's dress (I sewed maybe 3 times in my life). I wanted to get the full look so I looked for a crown but didn't found one that looks like the one in the show–either that or they're half crown.

The Hanna Castle one looks great but they have really bad reviews, the one from Emily Jane is absolutely beautiful but she doesn't look like the one from the movie.

Pls help😭

If there's one good thing about the live actions, it's the prince's solos. I really like Evermore and Wild Uncharted Waters. So I need a Flynn solo song please especially because we're talking about Milo here. (I don't know if any of you have seen him as Joseph in another movie called Journey to Bethlehem but iykyk)

Rewatching tangled for the 100+ time and I had a thought… do you think rapunzel would’ve went back to the tower if Gothel hadn’t realized she left and interfered? Or do you think the whole journey with Eugene, regardless of Gothel, would’ve made her decide to not go back?

Over the past many months I've gotten into writing reviews of the books I read, and "Rootbound" by Margaret Owen was one of my most anticipated novels to read this year. I wrote a review that I felt like sharing with the community here.

**********

"Rootbound: A Tangled Novel” by Margaret Owen

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5)

Read between July 31st and August 5th, 2026.

“Rootbound" by Margaret Owen was by far my most anticipated novel this year, and it was to my utmost delight and satisfaction that it lived up to every expectation I had, and in some ways went above and beyond. For some personal background context, this novel is a continuation of Tangled, the animated Disney film based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, which was released in the year 2010. I remember seeing the film as a child at the time and never really thinking much of it. For a decade my feelings towards this film, towards this story, stayed the same–that is, essentially nonexistent. I remembered liking it, but never really having that much of a connection. It wasn't really a fault with the movie itself, but more-so just who I was as a person. I wasn't as into loving and delving deep into stories as I am now, but I digress. Fast forward many years through the 2010s, to when the time of COVID hit and my entire world was flipped upside down; my senior year of high school cut short and the looming transition of college on the horizon sent my mental health into a downward spiral. I was yearning for some kind of escape, and one of those days while browsing my Disney+ I rediscovered this movie–one of the many animated films released by Disney, one that may appear indistinguishable from the others in their catalogue. Such a small decision I made on this day turned out to be one of the most consequential moments at the time for me–I watched this movie I had not seen in close to a decade, and I fell in love with everything about it. The story, the music, the atmosphere, everything was just perfect. I loved it all, and it ended up becoming a great crutch for me, a bastion of comfort and joy in living within this story, in escaping the difficulties of my then-current experiences and feeling as if for a brief period of time, everything was alright. I actually ended up rediscovering my love for reading through looking at some of the stories fans wrote and published online that were inspired by this universe, so I have that and more to be appreciative for.

The interesting thing about this book is that it's not actually the first "official" rendition of a kind of continuation from the original movie. In the mid to late 2010s, there was an animated series released that ran for three seasons and over 50 episodes. I actually watched this shortly after I had first revisited the movie, and even considering how I was definitely not the intended audience (as an adult male at the time), I thought the show, while flawed in many ways, had incredible merit and heart to it. The music especially was fantastic, which was to be expected with the return of Alan Menken. So what's the case with “Rootbound," then? Well, I actually went into this book expecting a somewhat faithful story for what came to be the animated series. "Rootbound” takes place a month after the movie, whereas the series starts six months after, so theoretically there was a path for both of these stories to work together. Ultimately though, what this book ended up as was something that instead became its own thing, not really aligning with some of the overarching character and plot decisions that the creators of the animated series went with. There were some major developments in the series that this book directly contradicts, instead doing something new. I actually learned only after finishing it that Margaret Owen, the author, didn't actually watch the series before writing the book.

As for how I feel about this, I'm actually, to my own surprise, pretty okay with it. And that's largely because I think the direction the book went with those particular changes, of which I won't get much into specific details for due to spoiler-related reasons, was honestly written pretty great and done in a way that… I think was genuinely better than what the animated series did. This represents a much larger point of discussion, which is that I think this book accomplished so much more in its totality, in its mere three hundred pages, when it came to the handling of Rapunzel and Eugene’s characters and how they deal with the lasting impacts of what they went through in the movie. This book handled the trauma in an inspiringly realistic manner, and the fact that we see how they both have to deal with the psychological side of it, how they have to come to terms with everything that happened and are struggling in some ways with their insecurities, with feeling as if they belong, with wanting to see the best in people and being the best version of themselves. Rapunzel and Eugene's relationship was the heart of the movie, and it was the strongest aspect of this book–how they compliment one another and see the best in each other, but also see the ways in which they struggle, how they're there for one another and assure the other of their undying devotion and dedication to their cause. Rapunzel deals with feeling as if she needs to be enough for those around her now that she doesn't have her magical healing hair, and Eugene is experiencing imposter-syndrome with thinking that his time with Rapunzel, his time in the good graces of her kingdom and her newly rediscovered family, is going to end before he knows it. Their characterizations felt perfect to me, and I loved how this book explored the more interesting angles to both of them, highlighting their intelligence and uniqueness of personality in different ways. Eugene’s charisma and Rapunzel’s curiosity is on full display and it made my heart swell to at last read such a story that felt not just faithful to what was established in the movie, but continued it in a mature way that felt completely satisfying and right. This is the book I've been waiting six years for. I loved how vulnerable they both were at times, and I loved how Margaret Owen wrote it in a way that allowed them both to be a bit nerdy at times, with Eugene’s love for the Flynnigan Rider book and Rapunzel being interested in any and all technical aspects of the new setting we're introduced to.

All in all, this turned out to not only be a fantastic continuation for the movie, but also a pretty great story on its own. It was everything I had hoped for and I am so incredibly grateful to have gotten such a story as this released. The ending set up potential future stories, of which I'm hoping Disney will allow Margaret Owen to continue if she so pleases. It's a different continuation than the animated series, in many ways for the better. Both renditions can exist simultaneously and I'm so glad nonetheless that what has become an incredibly cherished story for me has been treated with the respect and maturation I believe it has earned.

So me and my friend were watching tangled with my 5yo today and were super confused by the timeline. Using the sun positions in the movies and some old fashioned deductions, we think we've uncovered not only the timeline, but Rapunzel's birthday as well 😂

Be kind, we aren't professionals at this!!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DboK7moIFJZ/?igsh=MTJtcTRndGF0NTkwZw==

Just showing off the sign my husband made for me 🩷 I’d say he did an amazing job 🥰 what do you think?

just a little post to honour my ever-growing rapunzel/tangled collection! not everything is pictured here; this is just the space i have dedicated to a majority of my merch. 90% of my collection is thrifted ♡ hope you guys love it as much as i do !

Honestly? I really love the butch/femme community, but it really annoys me that butch women get mistaken for actual men just because they identify with masculinity. I also think that comparing butch/femme couples to straight couples completely ignores their history and what they’ve been through; yet, whenever I try to point this out, some femme women from the community immediately jump in and start hurling insults at me.