A Look at Disney: Queen for a Day

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we continue our look at Tangled: The Series.  And today, we have reached the episode that changes everything the course of the show as we hit the halfway point of season one with the episode,  "Queen for a Day".   I recall around the time of this episode Disney Channel was hyping up this as a one-hour episode but there is so much more to this episode than that.  While this phrase may be overused in these days, I feel that applying the phrase "Everything changes is rather is appro for this episode as that is very much the case here.  As we've discussed before with Tangled: The Series, it can be divided into two halves.  The first couple that we have looked at being the slice-of-life setup episodes that introduced us to the newer characters and the world of Corona at large keeping the mystery in the background.  This episode sees the overarching mystery come forward and becomes the start of a rather emotional roller coaster ride for the characters and the audience.


Before we get too far into the episode, there is something that I wish to bring up as it somewhat applies here.   About a week or so ago,  there was this article making the rounds on Twitter titled Adults who Like Disney Need to Grow Up from the Metro UK.  In the interest of fairness, I will link to the article but there are a few major things that I wish to address.  The fist being the train of thought that Disney films are for kids.  I can understand this notion, if you only have a base of knowledge of Disney but I don't think that that is the case.  This line of thought reminds me of one of my favorite Walt Disney quotes.

It's been said that we make films that children are not embarassed to take their parents to.  

Now, we may be looking at a show from Disney's TV animation department but I think that they have been experiencing a Renaissance akin to what the feature film department experienced in the '90s and it's show like Tangled that show that as this is a show that as we have discussed before is promoted towards a young audience but it's writing shows that this is a show that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age.  And that is usually true of Disney's movies.   And personally, I think this show is very grown up.


Now,  the next thing that I wish to address is a bit understandable how someone could view this but again I take umbrage with this train of thought.

And ever noticed how everything ends perfectly fine and dandy, no matter the problem?

If one is to look at just the ending of the movies, that could almost be considered a fair criticism.  I say almost as well, it is well known that a lot of Disney's movies are fairy tale movies and those are known for their happy endings.   One  doesn't go into a Disney movie expecting a pretty big downer.  But if we looked past the happy ending aspect of Disney movies,  it can be well established that this is just one moment in the characters' lives and that may face more trials and tribulations later on in life.  And things such as Tangled: The Series show that characters will face many more trials and tribulations.

All in all,  I'm not shocked by this line of thought as it is also something that I have heard directed towards the MLP fandom and it is just as aggravating there as it is here. I apologize for bringing this up as this perhaps could have been it's own blog but I do think that something such as "Queen for a Day" disprove the rather absurd notion that adults who like Disney need to grow up.


With that outta the way, let's get into the meat of the plot and there is quite to unpack here.



The Plot


We open in Old Corona and we get another look at Quirin,  Varian's dad as a dark cloud comes blowing in.The villagers express their concern of the black rocks to Quirin and he promises to go to the king to express their concerns.  Varian asks to to tag along as he has been experimenting on the rocks, even after Quirin has told him not to.


Back at the palace,  we witness Rapunzel sitting in as her parents take in problems from the citizens of Corona.  Rapunzel is happy to do this as she will need to be able to do this as her parents are heading out for their anniversary.   Quirin enters the throne room to speak to the king and to the dismay of Varian,  his father lies to the king.

Quirin lied to the king saying that they were so prosperous with their crops that they needed more land to accommodate them. Even though there were no crop reports from Old Corona, King Frederic granted Quirin's request.

This causes the start of a rift between Varian and his father.   Which helps to start the path that Varian will head down.   Rapunzel sees Varian is upset and asks what is wrong and Varian explains what is happening with the rocks.  And Rapunzel makes a promise to help Varian figure out what is happening.   In the courtyard,  we see Rapunzel and her friends send her parents off. Frederic offers to stay behind but Rapunzel has got this.  And Frederic gives Rapunzel a key piece of advice. "Listen to the voice in your heart".


We hit our first song number of the special and we soon learn that Rapunzel doesn't quite got this.   And this is where we start to see Rapunzel start to go through a bit of self-doubt that will carry on throughout the rest of the season and will even be the major theme in the next episode. Back in Old Corona, we see Quirin continue his lies as he tells the villagers that the king has agreed to help them.  This ties into something that we touched upon briefly in the review of "What The Hair?!" in that within Old Corona, Quirin is viewed as a leader.  And Quirin is giving the people in his village, a sense of false hope.  And to an extent, that is understandable but ti also reminds me of a phrase that I am not sure where it originated but does kinda apply in the situation.

Hope is not a plan!

I haven't always been the biggest fan of this quote as I fall more in line with this line of thinking from Once Upon a Time.

If there’s one thing I’ve gleamed from you hero types it’s that there’s always hope.

Having said that, I think there is a middle ground within these two trains of thought as you need both hope to launch towards solving something that is in your way but you also need to work towards it on your own.  And I think that is what this show is trying to display as Varian does have hope but he is actually attempting to take initiative whereas Quirin is giving the people that look him as a leader, a sense of false hope.   The show is good at showing both sides of this coin as while we do see this sequence mostly from Varian's point of view, we also get a good sense of why Quirin is lying to the villagers as if he had told them the truth, they would have been disparaged.   This ties into my belief that this show realizes that there is no black and white in a lot of situations and is doing it's best to show that.

Returning to the palace,  we see that Rapunzel out on the balcony expressing doubt over her day as queen to Eugene but Eugene explains that Rapunzel can do anything as she was able to leave the tower. Right as they are having this conservation, snowfall begins to come down from the sky and Rapunzel realizes that she had never been outside in the snow and decides to declare it a snow day in Corona.    And this is right around the time that things start to go from good to bad.


As we catch back up with Rapunzel's parents and we see that they are starting to experience some issues as a giant icicle falls and scares Max (who was carrying their carriage) and causes him to go backwards and break free from the carriage, which causes the carriage to fall leaving the king and queen trapped on a cliff in the carriage. 


We then cut back to Varian and Quirin as we see Quirin go through Varian's room and we focus on a rather interesting symbol that had been seen prior in the pilot movie. And we get a great quiet moment as Quirin looks at a picture of him, his wife and Varian as a baby.  Showing that Varian does love his son but he just doesn't know how to show that as Quirin is not the type to express his emotions as he is a rather stoic figure that from the little that we saw of Quirin up until this episode helps to establish this.  And while Quirin doesn't feature much as a character save for this episode, he is one of the most important figures to the show and especially to the character arc that Varian.  We covered this, when looked at how and why Varian ended up on the path of villainy.   Speaking of, we have come to that moment and I know that I haven't been using a lot of images but it is rather key here to show what happens. We see Varian in the basement that he uses as a lab experimenting on the rocks as he pours a liquid onto the rocks as Quirin comes to surprise Varian but soon, father and son get into an argument about the nature of the rocks and well, this is where Quirin starts to get trapped in the new crystal formation.

Just then, he noticed the growing crystals and pushed Varian away, getting himself trapped in the process. Varian came close to help him but Quirin told him to stay back. Varian then ran out to get help.

We've already talked about this and we will bring this up again but the song, "Let Me Make You Proud"  is a great number that really helps highlight what Varian is going through as he desires to make his father proud of him. Back at the palace, Rapunzel asks if it always snows this much and we get some history about Corona  from the local blacksmith, Xavier. 

He told the princess, Eugene, and their friends of a legend about a creature that made a winter storm so big it destroyed everything in its path. Then Lord Demanitus used magic and science to create a subterranean machine that is powerful enough to change the course of the wind back to the creature.

Right around this time, a strong wind comes in and things start to get worse as Max returns without her parents and Rapunzel is worried but Rapunzel is informed by her adviser, Nigel that she cannot leave her subjects.  And this is when Eugene along with the thugs decide that since the king and queen gave them a second chance, they need to return the favor.  We cut back to Old Corona and see that Quirin's condition is worsening as he tries to write a letter explaining things to Varian.  It is around this time that Varian reaches the palace to get help from Rapunzel but Rapunzel  can't  go to help Varian and he is carried away as the royal guards think that Varian was attacking the princess.  And he is dragged out by the guards yelling that she promised but Rapunzel can't help one person, when all of Corona is in danger.  I am not a Star Trek fan but Rapunzel's situation brings to mind a saying from Mr. Spock that has entered the lexicon of pop culture.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few

This is where Rapunzel finds herself in a very perilous situation as while she did promise Varian that she would help him but in this situation but she can't turn her attention to only one person as all of her subjects need help. We cut back to the mountains where the king and queen are trapped and Arianna assures Frederic that Rapunzel will make a great queen one day and this is right around the time that Eugene and the thugs reach the king and queen and save them.  And we get a fake out of the king almost dying but Eugene will not let that happen. 



This is right around the time that Rapunzel makes the decision that they need to evacuate the island and Rapunzel is still unsure if she made the right decision but Cass informs her that she made the only decision.  It is around this time that Rapunzel decides that she needs to find the device from Xavier's story.


Xavier was reluctant to help as he doubted the existence of the device but saw how important it was to Rapunzel and realized that they needed to find it.  And after finding it, it does seem as though they are able to get it working but a stone falls and stops the gear and this is when Rapunzel lowers Pascal on her hair to remove it but it's not long enough to reach.  So, with a tear running down his face, Pascal unties himself from Rapunzel's hair and falls down to remove the gear.


Yes, in this moment, Pascal is willing to sacrifice himself to save the kingdom and for a brief moment, it seems as though Pascal is really dead and considering what we saw in the last episode that we reviewed, I wouldn't have put it past the show to do something like this.

This is easily one of the best tragic moments in the entire series but of course, Pascal lives.   After everything  that our heroes have been put through,  they are all reunited and while it seems that for a moment, everything is fine, the downward spiral has only started as Rapunzel's confidence has been shaken and she is at a point, where she doesn't want to be queen.  And in the final scene, we get the fullest moment of Varian starting his path towards villainy. 



Characters



We've got quite a few characters to get through here, so let's get this outta the way.



Main Characters



Rapunzel voiced by Mandy Moore

This is the first episode that really tests Rapunzel as she realizes that while she may think that she had this in the beginning, there is more to being a queen, than she thought and she as of this episode isn't sure if she has the wherewithal for such a demanding role.  Yes, she may have saved the day but as Rapunzel acknowledges, this was just one day and there'll be more days like this in the future and as of the end of this episode, she is questioning her future.


Varian voiced by Jeremy Jordan

 












Varian's arc in this episode is fascinating to me as the show had set him up as a good person that was willing to do whatever was needed to help Rapunzel but after being dragged away, he felt betrayed and now he will exact revenge on those who he thinks that wronged him.  This brings to mind another quote from Once Upon a Time.   Perhaps, the most famous quote from that show. 

Evil isn't born, it's made.  

For those that do not watch Once,  this quote implies that no one is born evil (obvious I know) but rather the situations and circumstances that people face in life will make him choose which path, they'll go down.

 



















Obvious metaphor is obvious but it does seem applicable here as while, we will be faced with hard decisions in life, it is up to us as to how we react to them and in Varian's case, he chose the path of evil. To quote a later episode.

I'm the bad guy, that's fine

Varian acknowledges that he chose the path of evil and this episode is where we see Varian  take his first steps on the path of evil. 




Supporting Characters



Eugene voiced b Zachary Levi

Eugene has a bit of a minor subplot about figuring out, what it really means to be king and that is just more than taking advantage of things at the palace as he puts his best foot forward to go save the king and queen and in earn, he more than earns the respect of the king.


Cassandra voiced by Eden Espinoza

More than anything,  Cassandra showed that she was a great anchor of moral support for Rapunzel in dire times such as what this episode put her through. Cass may not always know how to show emotions but she will always be a rock that her friends can come to.


Quirin voiced by Jonathan Banks

This is the symbol that I mentioned during the plot section that showed up in the pilot movie and it'll show up again. There is quite the mystery surrounding it.   We will come back to that in the future but for now, let's focus on Quirin.    Up until this episode, we really didn't know much Quirin as we had only seen him in the first episode of the series, so this episode had an uphill battle in getting us to care about about Quirin and more importantly, the character between Quirin and Varian.   And I think the show did that rather well as we do get to see that Quirin is a stoic man that doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, he does care for his son very much.  He just has a hard time showing it. Father and child relationships are something that are very prevalent to the show's first season. 




King Frederic and Queen Arianna voiced by Clancy Brown  & Julie Bowen

This episode is really the first time that we get insight into the relationship between Frederic and Arianna.   We have seen them interact with one another in little moments here and there and Frederic is developed more as a character over time. Sadly, the same is not true for Arianna as she really only gets one episode that highlights her and it's the second weakest episode of the first season.  But here, you are able to understand the love that these two share and will always be there for one another.


Xavier voiced by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Man, I really hope that Xavier gets more to do in the second season as he just so fascinating a character as he is the keeper of Corona's history and the way that he is able to weave the stories of the history into the events that our characters are facing is enriching as he makes the audience care about the history and understand how that history can influence the decisions that the characters make.



Music



I've Got This








This song is decent,  not my favorite number from the show but the structure of this song is more or less symbolic of the show's path during the first season.  As the first half seems upbeat and happy but the second half is where stress starts to come in and Rapunzel starting to experiencing the emotional roller coaster that is the latter half of the show's first season. 


Let Me Make You Proud






We have already discussed this song at great length but I could talk about this song for days on end as this is one of the best Disney songs that I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.  This song perfectly captures what Varian is going through in this moment as more than anything, he just wants his father to be proud of him and that is something that most children can relate to.


Let Me Make You Proud (Reprise)







This reprise is a huge punch to the gut as we start to lose everything that made Varian such a good person as his decisions are starting to strip him of his good nature and he is letting his emotions dictate his decisions.   Which yes is also true of Rapunzel but as we will discuss, the paths that Rapunzel and Varian go down are two sides of the same coin.





My Final Thoughts



This episode shows why I love this show so much.   Tangled: The Series was able to take characters from an already great movie and make them even better than they were at the end of the movie by testing them and putting them through situations that may not always guarantee a happy ending.    This brings us back to the article that I brought up in the introduction about Adults who like Disney need to Grow Up.   Things like this episode prove that Disney can be very grown up and that while they may get happy endings at the end of their story in the movie, the characters may still have hardships that the will have to face after they get their respective happy endings.   There isn't too much else that I can say about this episode that  I haven't already said throughout this review.   This is an episode that you just need to watch. Peace!