Mother Knows Best (song) songs. While the majority of "Tangled"'s music was inspired by the work of Canadian musician Joni Mitchell, Menken envisioned Gothel's song as "classic" Broadway. Before writing "Mother Knows Best", Menken and Slater researched appropriate moments in the film during which its main characters could potentially perform, ultimately determining that "Mother Knows Best" "flows directly out of the conflict between" Mother Gothel and Rapunzel. Menken observed similarities between Gothel and Claude Frollo, another Disney villain for whom he had written songs while working as a composer on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996). Menken described Gothel as "a scary piece of
Mother Gothel to make the villain appear more relatable. Gothel's "Mother Knows Best" line "Getting kind of chubby" was in fact borrowed from one of these interviews. Gothel embodies "the darker side" of overprotective parents; at the beginning of the film, Gothel and Rapunzel's relationship resembles more-so of "a pure mother-daughter relationship." Elaborating on Gothel's "unique mothering style", Howard explained to "Den of Geek" that the character" ""has to convince this smart girl that she is her mother ... whatever her motivations are." Citing Gothel as one of the film's most difficult characters to develop as a result of her complex relationship