Let Your Hair Down

While I haven't avoided reading variations of the the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel fairy tale (first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales), I have honestly not actively sought them out either.

In my attempts to keep up with books published by authors with Utah ties I read Shannon and Dean Hales' Rapunzel's Revenge (2008).


This graphic novel, illustrated by Nathan Hale (which every single reference you encounter will point out is no relation to the Shannon and her husband Dean) is a fun amalgamation of the Rapunzel story, with Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as other traditional fairy-tale and fantasy elements - all mashed together in a western setting with a various western twists. The Hales actually draw upon many of the overlooked, yet still child-friendly elements of the original fairy tale. The art is good and the layouts varied but easy to follow, although Rapunzel's face is inconsistent. Being a graphic novel, it is a rather quick read.

I get a little hesitant to read some of these modern interpretations of fairy tales where the female characters traditionally have been "damsels in distress" because the authors tend to swing the other way making all the male characters buffoons. This is not the case here - it is a well balanced book.

After reading this western telling of the tale (which I wouldn't be surprised if it is followed by sequels or companion books with similar takes of other fairy tales), I did a little research online. Wikipedia has some interesting tidbits, including a note that the story 'Of Beren and Luthien' in The Silmarillion (1977) by J.R.R. Tolkien seems to draw upon this tale. I didn't know that there is a Rapunzel Syndrome caused by the consumption of hair. Having younger daughters, I knew about the computer animated Barbie version, but I didn't know that Disney was working on a new, animated version with the working title Rapunzel Unbraided due out in 2010. I had forgotten that Rapunzel was in Shrek the Third (2007), and she is a character in Into the Woods (1986 - music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine).

In fact, you can see Into the Woods at the Hale Center Theatre in Salt Lake City from October 1st through November 29th. Click here for more information if you are interested.

Back to my research, I also encountered a new, favorite website for me - www.surlalunefairytales.com. While it has only covered nearly fifty fairy tales so far, for those tales it has the most complete listing of commentaries, illustrations, modern interpretations of, history of, related websites, etc. for those stories. You can even read annotated versions of the stories. Here is the link to the Rapunzel section on Sur La Lune.

One of the reasons that I don't think I ever really liked the basic story is that I couldn't understand why Rapunzel didn't figure out she could use her hair to escape herself since she did let the witch and prince use it to climb up the tower. I guess we could give her the benefit of the doubt since she was raised by a person who might not have let her develop these capabilities for deductive reasoning, but she managed to figure plenty out on her own once the witch cast her out.

OK, lets accept the fact that Rapunzel just didn't make that connection. This makes the prince a complete and utter cad. He should have figured it out. If you read the original version he only suggests that each time he visits he brings a little silk and eventually they will build a latter so she can escape.

In the sanitized version, the witch discovers Rapunzel has been seeing the prince because one time after bringing the witch up Rapunzel comments off-handedly that the witch is not as easy to lift up as the prince. In the original version, Rapunzel off-handedly remarks to the witch that her clothes are getting tight around her waist. Yes, Rapunzel was pregnant meaning that the young, handsome prince was keeping her up in the tower so he could take advantage of her and her naiveté. Yet no one ever complains about the princes' behavior or intentions in this fairy tale.

That being said, enjoy these family-friendly video versions of Rapunzel:

Ray Harryhausen did an 11 minute stop-action animated version back in the 1940's



Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tale version on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show (1959+)



Lastly, Kermit the Frog reported on the breaking Rapunzel story from Sesame Street.