The Untold Truth Of Tangled

It can be very interesting to figure out what is and isn't complicated to realize in computer-generated imagery. Sometimes, it's the simplest things that can prove to be a challenge, like fur or even just human skin acting like human skin. For "Tangled," a massive issue that came up was hair — specifically, Rapunzel's long blonde locks. Simply put, the character's hair was a massive obstacle to realize.

In a breakdown of Rapunzel's hair for NPR, it was revealed that one critical thing about Rapunzel's hair was to make it look realistic but not have it behave super realistically. As pointed out by senior software designer Kelly Ward, if Rapunzel's hair acted like it was supposed to, this woman would be dragging nearly 100 pounds of hair around daily! Juggling a sense of visual tangibility with a necessary stylized quality was crucial to getting this character just right. Luckily, Ward's experience in hair modeling in college, as well as the advanced technology at Walt Disney Animation Studios, helped overcome some of the endless challenges that came from realizing Rapunzel's hair in CGI.