40 Years, 40 Disney Movies: Counting Down to Daddy’s Birthday Night 31 – Tangled!

I had a dream…once.

And it involved writing yet another installment of DADDY’S CRAY CRAY MOVIE STRAVAGANZA TIME SO LET’S WATCH MOVIES AND EAT FOOD AND HAVE ACTIVITY-PA-LOOZA.  And I would also like to remind everyone we have just over 4 weeks to get this done. In just a hair over 4 weeks, the Goody clan (and about 20 of our family and friends) will be getting down Disney-style.

It’s ok. You can be jealous. I’m fine with it.

So for this Disney night, we watched one that actually struggled to find a place on my list. It was on there. Then it was replaced with Wreck-It Ralph. Then I replaced Miracle with this one. Then I brought Miracle back on and took off another. It’s been quite a tangle.

Quite a TANGLE.

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It’s Tangled. Doy.

And now that I have given it another watch, it’s kind of insane I struggled with it. I do love it so. So much so that I literally cannot ever say “tomorrow night” without singing it. You think I am joking. But my kids’ constant embarrassment at said fact begs to differ.

Just goes to show how much awesomeness Disney has in its arsenal.

The food

So for food, we had angel hair pasta as the main course. You know, cuz it has the word “hair” in it. And eating actual hair would have been much less delicious. We also had meatballs…so let’s call them Mother Gothel’s meatballs. Since hazelnut soup sounds super gross. Unless it tastes like just a big bowl of melted Nutella. Then it sounds better. We should have had that.

We also had breadsticks. Ahem…Um, Pascal’s breadsticks? Sure.

For dessert, we had apple pie. Because Maximus likes apples. The end.

The activity

The activity for this one was super fun. We got some paints and markers …

And all contributed to a mural of sorts on a poster board.

This mural’s theme was “what we are all looking forward to on our upcoming Disney trip.” As you can see, there are characters, rides and also a bunch of different types of alcoholic beverages. Parents of the year.

The movie

As I said, I feel shame at not having this one be a “no duh” inclusion on the list. I am as dumb as the fact that Flynn didn’t have her save him BEFORE cutting her hair at the end.

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See what I did there? Oh also, spoiler alert.

Kidding. I kid. I really do like this movie. Rapunzel is another in the recent “princesses can be badass” line, yet she still pulls off that whole cute naiveté thing quite well. In fact, part of what makes her so awesome is her sunny view of the world that exists beyond her tower. She embraces everything that the world throws at her with excitement. And it’s this that saves her at the Fuzzy Duckling. Which results in a musical number involving mentions of both broken bones AND goiters and the involvement of an old man in a diaper. I had a dream…once. And it was LITERALLY this.

No YOU made two “I had a dream…once” jokes in the same post.

And beyond Rapunzel, the other characters are pretty amazeface as well. Flynn is a lot like me. Except more handsome. And in better shape. And funnier. And a better person.

Pascal and Maximus also, despite not talking at all, bring a lot to the table. I especially love how Maximus and Flynn are totez frenemies.

And Mother Gothel is one of those “funny and evil all wrapped up in one” type of villains. Which happens to be my FAVORITE kind of villain.  I mean, sure. She kidnapped a baby and forced her to live in one room for like 18 years while she used said baby’s magical powers to keep her young. But that time when she stands in front of the mirror with Rapunzel and says “Look in that mirror. I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady…oh look, you’re here too”? Gold.

But there are two things at the heart of this movie that really solidify its place on this list. One thing that I really like about this movie is Rapunzel’s realization that her fears about the world outside her door are all in her head. Put there by a mother that fueled the fear fire every day. Heh, fuel the fear fire. Great album name. But once she gets into the world, she realizes that these fears are not all the way grounded. The Fuzzy Duckling is probably the best example of this…she walks in, afraid of you know, ruffians and thugs and finds out that they aren’t really all that different from her. Sure – there are things to be afraid of, but she had a better chance of being in trouble at home than out and about.

And this is, to me, a pretty deep lesson. That no matter how much we might fear what the world has in store for us, we need to get out and live. This world we live in today has so much that could keep us afraid. Keep us locked up. But we can’t live in fear because, well, that just ain’t livin.

But of course, the main thing driving the whole story here is Rapunzel’s determination to see the floating lights even at the, let’s say urging? of her mother. So the big lesson here? Defy your parents. Obvs squad.

Eh, no…its to follow your dreams, dummy. No matter what it takes….don’t give up on your dreams. I mean, they sang a song about it and everything.

And obviously this is a great message but to me, the piece that stuck with me more from this movie was that it’s ok to form new dreams. Once you fulfill your dream (like Rapunzel) or if you decided there is a better dream out there for you (like Flynn). And I love this message….because, when you are young, you have dreams of being maybe an actor, or a famous athlete…or in my case, a famous comedian. Yeah, I was that kid. I once wore windshield wipers on my glasses for like a week. Laughs were THAT important to me. But when you grow up, most of us have to come to the realization that this may not happen. And that’s…ok. Because there are still amazing dreams out there to be had. I literally live my dream every day. A beautiful, amazing wife. Two boys that make every day fun…and interesting. And of course…super cute dog. It’s an amazing life. And a dream worth following.

I’m living the dream, man.