Intergalactic Comics: Tangled Before Ever After DVD: A Closer Look at the Included Shorts

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Tangled Before Ever After DVD: A Closer Look at the Included Shorts

By: Michaela Bush

I’m going to channel Mother Gothel here: I have a big surprise!

Unless you already knew about the bonus shorts that came with the Tangled: Before Ever After DVD? Okay, good – that makes one of us, because I was super surprised and excited to see them listed on the back of the case. But if you didn’t know about it or just want to read about them, here you go.

Along with the film, there are four short (around two minutes each), independent clips included on the DVD. Their names are fairly explanatory of the plots: “Checkmate,” “Prison Bake,” “Make Me Smile,” and “Hare Peace.” Honestly, they don’t add depth or much of anything to the movie or franchise as a whole, but they’re cute and have quite a few Easter eggs referencing back to the original film. I noticed a lot of the trailer footage must have been derived from these shorts, which I was glad to see, because I waited for each of those trailer scenes during the movie and didn’t get to see them! Anyway, here’s a rundown of each short:

“Checkmate”

This is a Maximus and Pascal-centered short in which Pascal attempts extreme measures to get Max to play chess with him. When he manages to set Rapunzel’s bed on fire (by accident), Max comes to the rescue, but also starts to chase Pascal as a sort of revenge…until he hurts Pascal and the little frog – er, chameleon – uses it as leverage to get Maximus to finally agree and sit through a game of chess.

“Prison Bake”

Attila describes the dark days that led him to baking: the other pub thugs were thrown into jail. He uses his baked goods to break them out of jail – who knew icing, cookies, and croissants were so deadly? (Along with the pun “cookey,” for the key-shaped cookie he uses to unlock the jail door.) The castle’s baker somehow ends up involved, too, and tries to foil Attila’s escape plan for the thugs until he criticizes Attila’s baking, and Attila goes all-out ninja on him with his rolling pin. At the end of the flashback montage, Attila is apparently at tea with some ladies in the castle, and the baker makes the mistake – once more – of criticizing his cooking. The screen goes dark and the sound of a frying pan’s clang is heard. Who knew, right?

“Make Me Smile”

The character of Old Lady Crowley is spotted in a window while Eugene and Rapunzel are dancing in the town square. Eugene tries to convince Rapunzel that Lady Crowley incapable of smiling. (He also kisses Pascal by accident, when he moves in for a smooch and Rapunzel is so distracted by Lady Crowley that she dodges out of the way.) Rapunzel is certain she can make Lady Crowley smile and tries her best to make it happen, in true Rapunzel form. This was my favorite short; it had a lot of Easter eggs from the original movie, specifically the “When Will My Life Begin?” montage, along with the addition of what Rapunzel deems to be her “ugly face” expression in an attempt to be comedic. Eventually, she sits down and vents to Pascal out of frustration for her failures, mentioning the tower they lived in for years. Crowley hears this, perks up, and asks about the tower and how quiet it was, which tips Rapunzel off to the perfect gifts: noise-cancelling headphones and a curtain for the window. Silence makes Lady Crowley smile.

“Hare Peace”

Rapunzel watches Feldspar’s rabbit, who promptly gets away and leads Rapunzel on a wild…hare…chase through Corona. She also makes a crack about “princesses and woodland animals being best friends.” Additionally, Feldspar is voiced by Zachary Levi himself, and has only made one other appearance on the TV show so far.

Has anyone seen these yet? If so, what were your thoughts?