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 heal the kingdom's ailing queen, its powers are inherited by the king and the queen's daughter Rapunzel, removing Gothel's access. With her life suddenly endangered, Gothel kidnaps the infant, imprisoning the princess in an isolated tower for eighteen years while posing as her mother in order to exploit her powers. Inspired by classic Disney villainesses such as the Evil Queen and Lady Tremaine from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and "Cinderella" (1950), respectively, Gothel was developed by directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard into a more original, complex villain than the witch upon whom she is based