Mother Gothel Mother Gothel Mother Gothel is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 50th animated feature film "Tangled "(2010). The character is voiced by actress and singer Donna Murphy in her voice acting debut; Murphy auditioned for the role spontaneously upon learning from her agent that Disney was auditioning actresses for the film's villainous role. Loosely based on Dame Gothel in the German fairy tale "Rapunzel", Mother Gothel is a vain old woman who hoards the healing powers of a magical flower in order to remain young and beautiful for several years. When the flower is harvested in order
Mother Gothel dismissing her as a weaker, less intimidating Disney villainess than Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and Cruella de Vil from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961). Walt Disney himself first attempted to adapt the fairy tale "Rapunzel" into a feature-length animated film during the 1940s. However, the filmmaker's efforts were never fully realized because the fairy tale was considered too "small". In 2008, co-directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard decided to enlarge the film's scale in order to transform it into a "big event" in order for it to be successful. Meanwhile, the character Mother Gothel was developed into a