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Jessica Donnan
Professor Michelle Robertson
Clar 110 Comp & Crit Think I
9 September 2014
Analyzing Film to Draw a Larger Social Issue
The clip I chose is named The Best Day Ever and it is from the animated movie
Tangled. Different aspects of the clip can be examined and analyzed such as the theme, purpose,
style, structure, and audience of the film. Most films have a larger social issue or a bigger picture
within them and it is the audiences job to determine what it is. By analyzing the clip The Best
Day Ever and using various sources to provide supporting evidence, it is possible to draw
conclusions through the details of the film that there is a larger social issue of the imprisonment
that her mother enforces on her.
The scene takes place outside but in a couple of different places. The characters in the
scene are Rapunzel and Flynn Rider and Rapunzel is going from place to place and each time the
scene changes her feelings about sneaking out change back and forth from feeling guilty and
miserable for leaving the tower to having the time of her life and loving it. In Kendra
Magnussons article Tangled Magnusson states that Rapunzel" is both vivid and unsparing in
its address of issues related to motherhood(1). The film supports this statement because in the
movie, her constant change of emotions and scenery, shows how much Rapunzel is struggling
with the decision to leave and break free from the detainment that her mother has kept her in.
Because she is struggling, we can conclude that she has been imprisoned by her mother.
Rapunzel even says at one point in the scene that she is a horrible daughter which is a detail

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that reinforces the idea that Rapunzels defiance towards her mother give the impression that she
has been imprisoned all of her life.
The scene starts out with her in a forest and then it changes to being by a river, in a cave,
in a tree, in a meadow, and she finally settles by some rocks. Rapunzels movements display her
uncertainty about leaving the tower. In Chris Carters article An Analysis of the Character
Animation in Disney's Tangled Carter mentions that The motion in Tangled therefore reflects
the emotional context of the scene helping to progress the story in an engaging manner (1). This
quote supports my earlier statement that Rapunzels motions of moving from place to place and
changing her opinion, reflect her emotional indecision which, therefore, helps to progress the
story in an engaging manner and help support the concept that she is distraught because she has
made the decision to break free from her mothers imprisonment.
In Joseph Champouxs article Animated Films as a Teaching Resource Champoux states
that The visualization of animation can create strong, lasting images of concepts (1). When the
scenes change, all of them are cheery and bright and the scene was made like this to help the
audience visualize the beautiful world and grasp the concept that everything Rapunzel is seeing
is vibrant because it is the first time she has seen any of it and the first time she has been outside.
Therefore, the fact that she is experiencing everything for the first time, reinforces the
imprisonment factor that much more. This is because she has never seen the outside world, and
the audience can determine that this is because her mother has been holding her in captivity for
her while life.

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The two characters express their feelings through the dialogue as well from scene to
scene with Rapunzel stating in one scene This is so fun and in the next scene saying I am a
despicable human being. Flynn also says Let me ease your conscience and Oh come on! What
is it gonna take for me to get my satchel back? These statements show that Rapunzel is
conflicted and Flynn only wants his satchel back and he doesn't really care if Rapunzel goes back
to the tower. Another point that Champoux makes is that Exaggeration in animated film helps
link abstract concepts to visual symbols (1). The exaggeration in Rapunzels voice as she
proclaims her happiness and her worry helps to develop the concept of her turmoil over her
choice to free herself from her mother and it connects the scene depicted to the audience to the
greater social issue. The dialogue also shows how Flynn is trying to manipulate Rapunzel into
going back solely for his benefit so he can get his satchel back from her.
In Jonathan Silverman and Dean Raders article Reading and Writing About Movies
they state Movies use various techniques to manipulate audiences (322). The directors and
producers definitely attempted to manipulate the audience into feeling bad for Rapunzel in this
scene. They used the scenery, her dialogue and even her expressions to convey the fact that she
was distraught. The creators did an excellent job of making the audience feel emotion, from
feeling sympathy for Rapunzels situation to feeling overjoyed that she finally got out of the
tower and away from her mother because they changed her emotions back and forth so much.
Also, the way that they cut the film to change scenes so quickly, helps to bring forth emotions
from the audience to feel both sympathy and happiness for Rapunzel.

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This is a big scene is the movie Tangled because this is the first time Rapunzel has been
out of the tower in her life and she is disobeying her mother by doing so. The purpose of this
sscene is to show viewers how conflicted Rapunzel is about the decision that she is making but at
the same time demonstrate how badly she wants to go and see the lights that show up every
year on her birthday. The fact that at the scene changes and her feelings change in each scene
supports that Rapunzel is conflicted. In Deborah Rosss article Escape from Wonderland: Disney
and the Female Imagination Ross expresses, about Disney films, that she would like to explore
the overall impressions these films may give children (1). This relates to Tangled in the way that
when children watch the film, they will think about the social issue of parental imprisonment and
they will get the impression, from seeing Rapunzels debate with herself, that parents
imprisoning their children is a bad thing.
Based on my analysis of the clip, the film is aimed towards children as an audience but
really anyone of any age can really watch it. Champoux makes another claim that Strong
caricature in animated film can powerfully show concepts (1). Rapunzel demonstrates good
caricature with her strong personalities and exuberant actions and these qualities help build the
image that she is conflicted about her decision. I would say that it is aimed more toward children
because the social issue of parental control and imprisonment that the film portrays, relates more
to children. The people who made the clip want the audience to feel like Rapunzel should leave
and go to the town because the audience knows that her mother isn't her real mother and that she
stole Rapunzel from her crib in the palace when she was a baby. The scene was made to make
you feel sympathy towards Rapunzel because she is ridden with guilt and is having trouble
making a big choice.

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Through a detailed examination of the clip The Best Day Ever and by taking advantage
of various sources to provide supporting details to my analysis, it was feasible to make the
connection that, because of the details of the film, there was a larger social issue of parental
imprisonment in the film. The change of scenery helped to portray the idea that Rapunzel was
conflicted. Rapunzels dialogue and the way that she speaks also help to develop the idea that she
is uncertain. Rapunzels inner debate shows the audience that she is in disagreement with herself
over the two options that she has. The clip is essential to the film because, in this one clip, the
social issue of imprisonment is brought to light and expressed in a very well manner. All films
attempt to portray a certain moral story or a issue with the world. Through a through analysis of
the clip, I was able to deduce the overall issue that the film was trying to convey.

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