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A single drop of sunlight fell from the skies and landed on the rocks, which grew into a magic golden flower.

To activate its power, one needs to sing a very special song, which begins with:

'Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine...'

But the flower didn't come with a manual or music sheet, so how did anyone figure this out?

1 Answer 1

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I'm going to copy the answer from here.

Credit for this answer goes to Valorum.


The official 'Tangled Junior Novel' (issued by Disney Press) specifically recounts how Mother Gothel learned the "Healing Incantation":

One day, an old woman named Mother Gothel was singing softly to herself during one of her walks along a craggy hillside. She looked down and discovered the Golden Flower.

Just as she was about to pluck the flower from the ground, she noticed that it was glowing. As she kept singing, Mother Gothel's brittle voice become strong and clear. Her old bones didn't seem to ache any more. She looked at her shrivelled hand and saw that all her wrinkles were gone. suddenly, she was young again, and her eyes widened with selfish delight!

Right then and there, Mother Gothel decided to leave the flower where it was, so that she could continue to use its power. It was a secret she kept all to herself. For centuries, she lived contentedly, singing to the flower each day, making it glow with the magic that kept her young and beautiful. And because of her covetous protection of the flower, no one else benefited from the blossom's healing gifts.

It seems that it's the singing that's important rather than the actual words, something that's borne out by the fact that the power can be released either by brewing the flower or crying out some magic tears.


The words of the song are not important. All you have to do is sing.

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  • How did they know the song is what I was asking.
    – natural
    Aug 4, 2017 at 3:38
  • 4
    @natural, what Tim is saying is that any Song would do. It doesn't have to be this specific song, it's the singing of any song that makes the magic happen
    – AidanO
    Aug 4, 2017 at 10:41
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    I don’t think this is true. Rapunzel is seen singing multiple times in the movie without her hair glowing. She’s even seen singing ‘And then I'll brush and brush, and brush and brush my hair’ (from ‘When will my life begin’) while brushing the hair. Here again, her hair does not glow.
    – MiaC
    Aug 4, 2017 at 10:55
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    @MiaC: rule of musicals: the story happens as though characters weren't actually singing/dancing, except when the story clearly requires they are. We might also theorize that brushing the hair is necessary along with the singing -- in the intro she's either singing or brushing, but not both at the same time. Aug 4, 2017 at 13:02
  • @JeroenMostert - expect that when she activates the power (with Gothel holding the hair) she only sings - no brushing takes place. But I think you're right - a musical number is not the same as singing the song as part of the plot.
    – Tim
    Aug 5, 2017 at 0:26

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