YMMV / Tangled Ever After

• Fridge Horror: About 27-30 seconds into the film, we see Rapunzel's tower being sold amongst the wedding merchandise. That's right, Rapunzel's prison. The symbol of the emotional abuse she underwent, of her abduction, of her parents' heartbreak, of Rapunzel's lost youth and her lost years with her real parents. Why on earth would they sell, let alone would anybody buy, something that stands for everything negative and traumatic in the life of the princess? Especially since such a big deal is made about how the people all love and adore her and are very happy to have her back. As we see in the series when she goes back to the tower, Rapunzel is still haunted by painful memories connected to this place, has nightmares of it, and it's difficult to even just be there for her. The use seems like a slap in the face to the princess, rubbing salt in her wounds and adding insult to injury.

• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The series didn't exist yet when this short came out, so the absence of Cassandra in it was not an issue then. Having seen the series though, especially how it ended, this is a heartbreaking tearjerker. While this originally was "the most beautiful day of her life" to Rapunzel, knowing what we know now it must be very bittersweet for Rapunzel...
  • Lots of other characters who were close friends of Rapunzel in the series are absent. Now that the series exists, it's very sad that Varian isn't present, given the history between him and Rapunzel, and Xavier (given his knowledge of the kingdom, he must have been there, if only the character had existed yet at the time), and Lance as Eugene's best friend, and Willow/Wilhelmina (the last one is sad not only for Rapunzel, but also for Arianna)...
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • The entire short becomes a serious case of Earn Your Happy Ending for the overall series in hindsight thanks to the events of the midquel Tangled: The Series, which, to make a very long story short, shows that Rapunzel, Eugene, their friends, and the kingdom of Corona itself ended up having to go through a lot to finally get to this point.
  • After seeing in the series (which came out after this short, but In Universe takes place before it) that Rapunzel's father took some time to warm up to Eugene being with his daughter, initially being skeptical of Eugene but eventually coming to genuinely appreciate him, it's even more heartwarming seeing how happy he to give away Rapunzel to him.
  • The fact that Pascal is there and is the one presenting the rings to the couple, is more heartwarming after having seen in the series and the books that Pascal felt quite insecure at times during the couple's engagement, thinking he was losing Rapunzel's friendship to Eugene. Clearly Rapunzel now has convinced Pascal that she will always be his friend; it's also a "Happily ever after" for Pascal!

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