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 debut appearance in the "Kingdom Hearts" series in the upcoming "Kingdom Hearts III", with Murphy reprising her role in the English version. Mother Gothel has garnered mostly positive reviews from film critics. Nigel Andrews of the "Financial Times "felt that the character was given the film's "best lines and tunes". Film4 described Gothel as a "fun" character "to the extent that she risks making the good guys seem a bit dull." Hailing Gothel as the film's ""pièce de résistance"", Georgie Hobbs of "Little White Lies" wrote that Gothel "performs ... 'Mother Knows Best' ... with a schizophrenic frenzy worthy of