Tangled (formerly Rapunzel)

[Bill1978]

That was one funny movie title suggestion. That one made me laugh out loud. And strangely the title could wor, if Rapunzel was reworked to be like The Emperor's New Groove.

I still think Tangled is too generic for the movie and doesn't really conjure up anything to do with Rapunzel, for me it gives me images of being caught in a spiderweb.

I'm a strong supporter of keeping Rapunzel as the title, with The Hidden Tower as the next best title. But then I was also a fan of The Frog Princess and find it annoying that the eventual title is misleading or spoilerish since Tiana is not a princess until the dying minutes of the film.

[Foxtale]

I know this is changing the topic away from Rapunzel but they have shelved Ice Queen? I wonder why?

As for the title, I guess it depends on where the final plot direction went.

[Macaluso]

Oh good a title change. That's so much better than a G*D***ED TRAILER FOR THE MOVIE

ARGH

[James]

(Remember to watch the language!)

Gotta agree this is a bad move. It's not like they are going to be able to shake the "Princess Movie" label just because her name is not in the title.

[EricJ]

And I repeat, for the second time this page:
WHO EVER FRIGGIN' SAID the problem was with Princesses?????
And yes, that's "who" as in "Who"--Could we have a name, a face, a critic quote that we could date it all back to?

Otherwise, that one came straight out of Disney's own neurotic insecurities, with no audience involvement.
If anything, I seem to recall most of the "underwhelmed" negative reviews implying that PATF wasn't enough of a Princess Movie compared to what the audience wanted to remember.
No one would be saying that if we hated them as much as Disney punishes themselves for believing.

[Meg]

I agree that the problem with the profits of these Disney films lies not within their princess subject matter, but largely in the release dates of the movies. PatF went up against The Squeakuel this year, which we all new was unfortunately guaranteed to make more money. And a few days after both of those films were released, Avatar hit theaters - and THAT movie is still in the top five for box office grosses! The same goes to Bolt, which opened on the same day as Twilight - a film with an already established rabid fan base! And as far as PatF goes, I think audiences still might have had a lingering taste of all those awful cheapquels in their mouths, which I don't expect helped it's final gross all that much.

With that said, I personally would like to see Disney do more than fairy tale stuff in the coming years. I do enjoy it but limiting your subject matter to princesses and castles is a bit limiting, especially when it comes to a medium that can do virtually anything.

[robster]

I started a petition online to try and convince Disney execs to not change the title. There are plenty of reasons we could all think of not to call it "Tangled" or anything other then "Rapunzel" for that matter. Here's a few:

1. It's the 50th animated Disney feature film, how would a movie called "Tangled" be able to stand the test of time and stand next to classic titles like "Snow White", "Cinderella", "The Little Mermaid" etc, etc, etc
2. There's another movie with the exact same title from 2001, which is R-rated and contains male and female frontal nudity. Pictures are all over the web and not something you'd want your kids to find when looking for info on "Tangled".
3. The name is nearly impossible to translate in a lot of languages for the lack off suitable words to translate it to.
4. You lose the recognizability of the name "Rapunzel". That name might have a reputation, but at least people know what it is, "Tangled" will take a lot of time to nest itself in people's minds.
5. Another name is just that, another name. As soon as you start telling people what the movie is about, they'll know it's actually the fairytale "Rapunzel" with another title. That marketing trick would only work if they try and hide the character of "Rapunzel" completely, do not mention her name and totally ignore her. Which is impossible.
6. Merchandise is currently being marketed around on toy fairs using the title "Disney's Rapunzel", which is it now? "Tangled" or "Rapunzel"? Confusing situations.
7. The artists themselves hate the new title.
8. Disney fans, at least the vast majority, hate the new title and are disappointed
9. The general movie fan already aware of "Rapunzel" is confused by the new title.
10. The general public won't know what the hell "Tangled" is about untill you bombard them with info.

PLEASE read the petition, sign it (it's free and doesn't take much time) and spread the word! We have the option to do or say nothing, or speak up and at try to get some attention and maybe make some changes and talk some sense into the Disney execs and marketing people.

http://www.petitiononline.com/16GKRap/petition.html

[Macaluso]

It won't work

[robster]

It won't work

It probably won't. But if you read the feedback on fan forums and on general movie or pop culture forums about 80 to 90% of people commenting all hate the new title. If everyone would sign that petition, then maybe we'd get it through the skulls of the short-sighted Disney execs that the title is not the problem and that they should start worrying about the release date. Who on earth program this movie for release, one week before the release of the final chapter of Harry Potter. THAT is stupid and unforgivable, much like changing the title for "Rapunzel"

If this petition doesn't work and they stick to "Tangled" I'll simply make my own version of the posters, dvd covers, books, etc, etc, etc so I can avoid that monstrosity of a title. It's the worst title in Disney history and I won't just accept it without a fight!

[EricJ]

I started a petition online to try and convince Disney execs to not change the title. There are plenty of reasons we could all think of not to call it "Tangled" or anything other then "Rapunzel" for that matter. Here's a few:

Okay, a few points:
1) PetitionOnline became a JOKE back in the 90's. No, I mean that literally--People still laugh about it. It'd become synonymous with "Pathetic fanboy", and most people today aren't even aware it's still around in the 00's.
Something about the way the angry fan-wanks about everything under the sun were never forwarded to their intended targets, and then even when they did, weren't exactly dressed for success.

2) The Internet never impressed anyone in power. The last time we had to change Disney's mind (I'm thinking Ghibli/Mononoke), we had to do it on good old-fashioned paper and snail mail, and TO the right specific parties involved. Most execs don't even know the Net exists apart from All The Young People On Twitter.

3) Angry fans never impressed anyone in power. A petition should get to the objective-reasoning heart of the business aspect, and persuade that an alternative agreement can be reached.
There are some good business aspects--the toy marketing, the public awareness--but they should focus on how a mistake can be corrected for maximized results, rather than "the title sounds dumb".

4) More specifically, it must take into account the reasons for the grievance in the first place--Disney's own producers have started publicly selling/defending the title in press releases: It's fresh, it's new, it suggests a contemporary new twist on an old favorite!
Any complaints that aren't aware of the counter-arguments will be handed the press-release, patted on the head and sent home like good little consumers, if they don't diplomatically take the time to suggest to the target why his own reasoning may have missed a few important key issues.
(I wanted to get a few points in about how the title is clearly trying to suggest "Enchanted", and while that was a popular film for Disney, to stem it from the idea that "princess-phobia" had sunk PATF's business is a misconception should be more realistically re-examined in light of holiday box-office release strategy and competition, a problem the new movie may also face.)

To which end,
5) Drop the double-toothpicks, this's Disney we're talking to. (And it's "lack of".)

It's true that even Disney's own in-house artists hate the title or at least sadly shrug it off (and, from the Guild blog, are afraid to to start throwing stones at management), the core fans hate the title, any audiences that have heard of Rapunzel are still expecting that one to open, and those who haven't aren't expecting Tangled at all.
There's enough of a united front to start a letter-writing campaign--and the amount of it would certainly be an element of surprise to management, perhaps impressively so--but only if the results are organized directly. A few notes around the Jerry Beck community (in defense of PATF against princess-phobia) could get a print campaign to Iger and the specific producers/execs, but to fall back on 90's dreams of PetitionOnline is to spit into the fanboy sewer.

We should throw this one to the webmasters--Think we can salvage this idea?

[robster]

I'm all up for different ideas, if anyone else has suggestions, then please do share, because I'm willing to fight this battle, write a letter for people to print and post. If we can get a correct address then I'm all for a traditional print campaign.

I was hoping this petition might be able to unite people and if we had enough signatures it might attract some press of some sort, so the hype could build. I'm using twitter to raise awareness, there's a facebook group, etc, etc. I'm willing to try anything and everything!

[Ben]

I don't see how calling a film after its main character ever did any harm to Pinocchio, Dumbo or Mulan...none of those were exactly "household names" when those movies came out.

Yes, Pinocchio was a book, but largely unknown outside Europe, while Dumbo was an in-house creation and Mulan was a specific folklore to a region, perhaps vaguely known in other countries.

What about Lilo And Stitch? We didn't even know what a "Stitch" was!

What about Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille - or Up!? Funny how those films had very strange titles until the content was made clear, but they never underwent title changes. Up? What the heck is up? Much more enigmatic than "Tangled" OR "Rapunzel".

Hmmm...Rapunzel...that's the old fairytale about the girl with the long hair, isn't it? Something like that? Nope, never heard of it. But what's this Tangled movie? Isn't that the new Twilight franchise wannabe? But with human arachnids instead of vampires?

[EricJ]

Uh, Ben?--We're trying to stir up something a little more passionate than Curmudgeonly Cynical Irony.
The issue isn't about "Ew, the title sounds funny!", it's about Disney's in-house mistreatment and calamitous mis-perceptions of their last movie which was supposed to change the direction of the studio--And which might indeed change in some very BAD directions, if that silent audience and animation community doesn't take the initiative to start putting in their own valuable "Yop!" about just WHY P&tF "didn't make as much as they hoped", and that the reason had absolutely nothing to do with "You don't like us anymore! "
Quite the reverse, in fact.

If you're just going to sit back and be cranky-clever, we'll take it to James or Randall to start spreading the Rebel Internet/Mail Underground.
We just thought you'd, y'know, maybe want to help.

[Macaluso]

I don't think the title being changed to "Tangled" is a big deal in any way. At all.

[James]

Not that I'm passing on my responsibility as an internet provocateur, but we are a website always looking for content. If someone were to write a reasoned, well-written editorial on the issue we would probably post it to the front page of the site...