What do these two ladies have in common?
Yes, they are both 18, but both of them are also daily accused of failed hair physics. I cannot even count how many times people bring these two up to me when Iâm ranting about animation errors. So Iâm now here today to make it clear why Rapunzel and Anastasia (and their character designers) do not deserve the criticism.
Complaint:Â âWhen Rapunzel gets her hair braided it turns super short.â
Backstory: Yes, she has long ass hair. 70 feet of it to be precise. And her hair does indeed get shorter when itâs braided. But the hair itself is still 70 feet long.
The secret: Itâs just folded on-top of itself several times.
The proof:Â We donât see much of the branding process itself. The image below is actually from the only shot we get.
But take a look at normal braids from âTangledâ as well as âFrozenâ.Â
Pretty small, right? Also check out how thin Rapunzelâs hair is when you grab it all in your hand: itâs not unaturally thick in any way.
Now look at Rapunzelâs huge ass braid. The thickness of it proves that there are several layers of hair hiding in there; folded over and over and arranged in a way so that the tips of the hair will still be at the end. Another design choice would have been to give Blondie a 70 feet long thin braid, but it would still have gotten stuck everywhere due to itâs length. So making a shorter and THICC braid was the best solution.Â
Conclusion: The braiding girls in Corona really know what they are doing and have bright futures up ahead.
Complaint:Â âAnastasiaâs hair goes from short to long out of the blue.â
Backstory: When we first meet young Anastasia she has long hair, but when we meet her again as an adult she seems to have cut away her long locks.Â
But in later scenes her hair reaches her lower back??? But no worries! The animators havenât been smoking gummybears while making this decision, since her hair was just hiding right under our noses all this time.
The secret: Anastasia hair is layered and she used her own hair to tie up the longest part.
The proof: When Anastasia removes her hat we can see a high ponytail; completely plausible for someone with short hair. But look at whatâs keeping Anastasiaâs hair in itâs place; itâs her own hair, twisted tightly in a loop. We even see this same technique used by all the burlesque dancers during âParis Holds The Keyâ.Â
If this had indeed been a hairband of sorts then it wouldnât have the exact same shade as her hair, nor would it have been drawn like this. But what about the hair at the nape of her neck? Itâs just the shortest parts that did not reach the messy ponytail, a very common occurance for people with layered hair. But these short parts become practically invisible if you let down all your hair over it. Same thing if you let a professional do your hair, which happens to Anastasia  after meeting Sophie (The secret here = Bobby pins).
For further proof you can below see real life examples of twisted hair, as well as short hair that does not reach a high ponytail.Â
Conclusion: Anastasiaâs hair is misunderstood and deserves love.
I will now go eat vanilla ice-cream with hot raspberries. Ciao.
Movies used: Tangled (2010), Frozen (2013), Anastasia (1997)
Photo sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6
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