Mother Knows Best (song) siren motif" for Gothel's appearance and personality. A "big" musical number, "Mother Knows Best" begins within the first fifteen minutes of "Tangled" during the film's first act when, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel finally summons enough courage to ask Gothel for permission to travel and see the floating lanterns in person. Gothel, whose eternal youth and beauty solely relies on the safety and protection of Rapunzel's magical hair, denies this request by sarcastically reminding her that "mother knows best," warning her ward that "the world is full of wicked people who want to steal her hair's magic,"
Mother Gothel for the storyline" remains one of the "classic hallmarks of Disney animation". According to Kay Turner, author of the book "Transgressive Tales: Queering the Grimms", "Gothel" means "godmother" in German. The directors admitted that they were not keen on hiring solely big-named, A-list celebrities or top-billed actors to voice the film's main characters. Howard explained that, in order to be cast, the actors simply had to have the "right voice" for the characters, preferring voice actors "who could ... bring a natural ease to those characters." Greno elaborated, "It was never about how big the star was ... It was