What is happiness? To everyone, that is a question that will have a different answer. Let's take a moment to look at the title of the episode I'm reviewing, this episode from season two of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (originally Tangled: The Series) is titled Happiness Is... Which for many may evoke thoughts of a phrase from Peanuts such as this.
This does make sense as considering the Disney Wiki, the title comes from a song from the Broadway show, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
The Episode's title is a reference to a lyric from the song "Happiness" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Which I would say that this episode seems to argue that one cannot rely on true happiness to come from a material thing. Which I hope to address for a moment here as I have mentioned in the past, I have a stuffed Mickey Mouse and he is my most prized possession. I love him dearly and while he is a security blanket of sorts, I know that the happiness that he brings me isn't the same as happiness from other people and the happiness that I find within myself.
Which is an interesting concept to consider as this episode continues Tangled's trend of being emotionally draining as it looks at the question of true happiness and throws it in the audience's face by showing Rapunzel dealing with homesickness that leads to depression that leads to addiction.
Now, in many regards, this description may sound akin to those old Very Special Episodes of sitcoms aimed at teaching the youths the dangers of drug use. A la...
However, the subject matter in this episode is handled in a more nuanced manner. And I also wish to recall a review that I did from season one of Tangled: The Series when I looked at the episode, Queen for a Day. Around the time of writing that review, there was an article stating that adults who like Disney movies need to grow up. And this quote stuck with me.
And ever noticed how everything ends perfectly fine and dandy, no matter the problem?
Which leads to something that needs to be addressed here. The movie was not Rapunzel's happy ending.
The show has gone out of its way in it's two seasons to show that while Rapunzel being reunited with her parents is a happy moment, it was not the end of her story and there were more dramatic moments to come. Let's see, having a friend turn on her, Pascal almost dying, almost losing Eugene to his ex-fiancee, being turned into a bird and almost losing her humanity, and almost being replaced by an evil mirror duplicate. BTW, none of those are made up...
So, while the reunion of Rapunzel and her parents may have been the happy ending of the movie, it was not the happy ending of Rapunzel's life. I'm going to bring in a song from season one that helps convey this idea.
Take a strong listen as this song covers just half the hardships that my favorite character faces. With this long introduction out of the way, let's move on to the plot.
The Plot
Something that should be stated is that is season 2 of Tangled is comprised of mini-arcs that could take up 3 -4 episodes and this episode come from the show's island arc, where we are introduced to creatures known as the Lorbs.
These creatures are important as they created the thing that led to the addiction problem that our characters face. These are interesting little creatures that are quite enjoyable in their own right as they have their own culture and we see it on display here with one of the items that are part of their culture and how dangerous it is.
We open on everyone celebrating and having a good time, all except for Rapunzel as the lanterns from her birthday have also landed on this island. And that leads to Rapunzel's funk of homesickness. This is perhaps best exemplified when Rapunzel is asked to dance with Eugene.
Which let's consider two things here for a moment. Rapunzel for all her life was sheltered and didn't have much of a support system until she met Pascal as seen in Pascal's Story.
The pilot for the tv show takes place six months after the events of the movie and the season one finale is one year after the movie as it falls on Rapunzel's nineteenth birthday. So, aside from Pascal and Eugene, she was just getting to know everyone else in Corona and let them into her heart, which is a very big heart. So, while Rapunzel has always wanted adventure and to see more, she was just learning to let them into her life. Which she did as she quickly came to love her parents, even if there were some speedbumps along the way such as her father lying to her, which can be summed with this quote.
You know, you are not the first person to lie to me and tell me I am not ready for the real world
But here's the thing, Rapunzel and her father work through their hardships and we see their bond grow stronger. And now that is a presence that is missing from Rapunzel's life. Which isn't easy for her. This isn't to say that she doesn't love the friends that she has with her on her journey as Eugene is the love of her life and she thinks of Cass as an older sister but Rapunzel is just in a funk. And as the Tangled Wiki describes.
She comes across one that includes a letter written by her father seven years after she was kidnapped. Upon reading the letter, Rapunzel begins to miss her family and friends and quickly feels homesick
This is a very real feeling for her to have. And Rapunzel attempts to cheer herself up by exploring the island and this is when she finds a magic idol that can show her whatever she most desires. In her case, it is her family as it shows her a hallucination of her father.
I find it interesting that for Rapunzel, the first thing this idol showed her was her father as season one of the show spent a lot of time exploring father/child relationships. Not just with Rapunzel but also with Cassandra and the villain of season one, Varian. As they all had varying relationships with their fathers, Varian became twisted in trying to make his father notice him and be proud of him. Cassandra admired her father and wanted to be like him, even if they too hit a rough patch as he lied to her as well. Rapunzel was learning to trust her father but it was difficult because of all the secrets that he had kept from his daughter. In the end, though, it was clear that they loved each other.
Which leads to another point, there was a while there between the night and the morning after the party where Rapunzel's funk led to a depression where she didn't want to do anything. However, finding the idol pulled Rapunzel out of her homesickness funk and gave her the high of seeing her loved ones again. So, Rapunzel is on a high right now but it will come crashing down sooner or later. After this discovery, Rapunzel shows the idol to her friends and they take turns with it. Most of the things they desire are materialistic such as Eugene's as observed below.
But here's the thing, we see the idol change Rapunzel as she becomes more greedy and locks herself away with the idol while all her friends think of ways to continue to having time with the idol. Here's the funny thing, the more time that Rapunzel spends with the idol, the more people from back home she sees but, in reality, she isn't seeing anyone. This is what Rapunzel sees compared to what is actually there and what Pascal is seeing.
Things go bad from worse while her friends formulate a plan to get the idol away from Rapunzel as I said and they start fighting over it. Rapunzel seems to have realized that this idol is ruining their lives. Or has she?
She lied to her friends as a way to keep the idol for herself. This once again ties into how addiction can change someone as this is rather out of character for Rapunzel as she would normally not do something like this. Note that just because I said out of character that does not mean that this action doesn't make sense in this episode as Rapunzel is yearning for that sense of happiness that the idol is giving her. Even if it isn't true happiness. Pascal soon leaves his best friend and warns the Lorbs. And well, we get the backstory of this idol.
the idol was created long ago by a Lorb to stop sadness. Unfortunately, his noble act quickly backfired when the rest of the Lorb culture grew obsessive over the power. He tried to destroy it, but it became lost in the chaos.
And right as Rapunzel is about hand it over. she hits her low as she sees a hallucination of Varian experimenting on her father.
Consider for a moment that the happiness that the idol that Rapunzel was getting from the idol was never real. It was just giving her something she wanted until she hits her low and the idol shows her worst fears. Now, I feel that this is quite important to look at if we wish to continue the discourse over Rapunzel's addiction. This article from the website, The Hope Line looks at the highs & lows of addiction. We've looked at the high throughout that the idol has given Rapunzel but as it states the low or the buzz as it calls it doesn't last.
The buzz might be good at first, but it comes at a price. Your body quickly builds up a tolerance to the chemicals or activity that gave you the high. As the addict continues using, the brain tries to adapt to the change by reducing the amount of dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine it would normally release. This leaves the user needing more of their drug or activity to feel the same effect.
Now, this is referring to drug usage here and for Rapunzel, the idol is the drug. Throughout the entire episode, she chases the high of the happiness that the idol has given her until it turns on her and shows her something she doesn't want to see and we see this further after the Lorbs have started to crave the idol. Rapunzel along with her friends (who still crave the idol). Seeing the Lorbs snaps Rapunzel out of this and takes the idol takes the idol to be destroyed. Where we get another harrowing moment as just as she is about to destroy the idol, hallucinations of her parents and the friends that she left behind in Corona appear and the false vision of her father says that if she destroys the idol, she will never see them again.
It's after seeing Rapunzel in danger that her friends finally snap out of their delusions and help her to destroy the idol.
And well Rapunzel has an answer to the question that I opened this blog with.
Happiness doesn't come from a thing. It comes from inside my heart!
This may be a Disney-esque answer but hey this is a Disney show and after the struggle that Rapunzel has had after the experiences with the idol, she deserves a happy reprieve. Which she gets as she writes a letter for her parents and puts it in a lantern for them. Now, there is something important to bring up here, Rapunzel is still feeling homesick. While it is a bit much to say this tackled depression in a serious manner, it does show that those feelings of sadness just don't magically go away. Something poignant here to consider as the false happiness that Rapunzel was feeling came from a magical item.
I wish to look at this final shot of Rapunzel as this shot is what has stuck with me the most from this episode as it is Rapunzel finding a place of solace after the hard times that she has faced (Sadly, unaware there are more hard times ahead of her.)
I wish to return something that I stated at the top of this review. The end of the movie was not the happy ending of Rapunzel's life, it was just one of many happy moments in her life. And this show through its two seasons has shown that people will have good days and bad days but powering through the bad days with people that love you makes the good days extra special.
Character
While the other characters did play a role in this role, what they were going through felt more comedic to the powerful story that Rapunzel was being put through. Which isn't to say that their story was bad far from it but Rapunzel's story felt more important. Granted, she did have some funny moments such as this face.
But that came from a place of heartbreak for me, at least. With that outta the way, let's look at Rapunzel in this episode.
Rapunzel voiced by Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore, in my opinion, delivers one of her strongest performances as Rapunzel in this episode as you see her go through a whirlwind of emotions from sadness and homesickness to enjoying in the happiness that the idol gave her to finally fighting for her real happiness by destroying the idol. That was such a beautiful moment that only went to show how strong Rapunzel can be when she has a strong support system around her.
My Final Thoughts
When I first watched this episode I was left shocked and this episode stuck in my head for a week after I watched it. This episode hit me hard and I wasn't sure why at first but I think that speaks to how powerful this episode is as I feel that this episode tackles something that everyone goes through at one point in their lives. In many ways, I love this episode and have watched it twice but I kinda consider it one of the greatest episodes of this show that I don't intend to watch again anytime soon. Because while it is good, I don't wish to have this episode put me in a shock like it did again anytime soon. Now, I'd like to end this review the same the way I opened but with a caveat: What is happiness to you?
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