The DreamWorks Formula and the Post-feminist Disney Couple: Tangled ’s Romantic Parodies

First, this chapter analyses Disney’s reappropriation of what can be described as the ‘DreamWorks formula’ in Tangled, combining ‘contra-diegetic intertextuality’ and critical parody. This reappropriation stands out throughout the paratextual and textual portrayal of Flynn Rider, and is particularly notable in the first half of the film. In parallel with Flynn’s double act, this chapter examines how Tangled gradually reveals its formulaic identity, mediating its DreamWorks-style performance through tropes typical of the studio’s sentimental fairy tales and idealised romance. Such a delicate balance between parody and idealisation also characterises the construction of gender and coupledom. The second part of this chapter investigates the typically post-feminist sensibilities characterising Rapunzel’s and Flynn’s portrayal both in Tangled and in the subsequent short Tangled Ever After. From a wider perspective, this chapter uses Tangled as a case study to reflect upon the influence of an animation studio beyond Disney’s cinematic universe (DreamWorks) on the former’s contemporary output and its formula.