7 Movie Plots That Could Have Been Resolved In Five Minutes

6. Tangled

Rapunzel tangled
Disney

The Plot: In Disney's 2010 reinvention of the classic fairy tale, young Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped by the nefarious Mother Gothel.

Gothel raises Rapunzel as her own, keeping her locked up in a tall, secluded tower. Obviously, this means that Rapunzel has limited entertainment, so she'll often just gaze out the window. While doing this, she begins to notice a huge collection of lanterns being released into the sky, on the same day every year - her birthday.

These lanterns prompt her to leave the tower and investigate their source - against Gothel's wishes - an action which pushes the movie's story into motion.

How It Could've Been Resolved Quickly: Turns out those lanterns are released by Rapunzel's people, a way for the kingdom to remember their lost princess on her birthday, and a signal to her should she still be out there somewhere.

So why would Gothel tell Rapunzel that "lantern day" is also her birthday? She kidnapped her as a baby, so could have given her any birthday she chose. Why not give Rapunzel a birthday that's months away from the launch of the lanterns?

This way, Rapunzel would be less likely to assume that the lanterns were somehow linked to her, reducing her desire to leave the tower, and making it easier for Gothel to keep her around.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!