Mother Gothel always about ... who’s best for the part". Film critic James Berardinelli of "ReelViews "observed that this decision echoed "Disney's approach during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when big name stars where often bypassed in favor of lesser known talents." An additional asset was that the actor be able to perform well both independently and collaboratively. Mother Gothel is voiced by American actress and singer Donna Murphy, a Tony Award-winning Broadway actress who was informed about the casting call for "Tangled "by her agent. Having never voiced an animated character before, the actress decided to audition for the role
Mother Gothel isn't all that villainous", while Tyler Hanley of the "Palo Alto Daily News "received Gothel as too "one-dimensional and generic". PopMatters' Bill Gibron wrote that, as a villain, Gothel "can't compete with traditional miscreants like Maleficent or Cruella de Vil". Alison Gang of "U-T San Diego "felt that Gothel was an "annoying" character at times, while "USA Today"s Claudia Puig wrote that "Gothel plays the role of Rapunzel's loving mom [only] sometimes convincingly". Although Michelle Orange of Movieline enjoyed Gothel's personality to an extent, the author criticized the character in a mixed review that "By reducing Mother Gothel to a