Animation Short: Rescuing Rapunzel (2019)

A short film and different take on Rapunzel is currently a Vimeo Staff Pick (August 2019) and an Official Selection for the Shivers International Film Festival, 2019. Watching it, we can see why.

Animator Juan Pablo Machado looks at Rapunzel from a different point of view and, not surprisingly, since it's in the Shivers Festival, things get a little dark.

What might not be at first apparent though, is that Machado - whether intentionally or not - also asks us to redefine the age-old idea of "rescue". Machado's opening scene follows a knight, who, just like Sleeping Beauty's prince, bravely climbs the tower past corpses of past would-be rescuers, and must navigate the towers own 'maze of brambles' before he can find the trapped girl.

Following this adventure from the (initially heroic) knight's point of view, it's made clear that even well-intentioned knights (perhaps especially those) need to seriously consider their motives before rushing in.

Machado does all this at a wonderful pace, with succinct storytelling and characters explored just enough to get a wider sense of the story beyond this episode. It even makes us reconsider just what a tower might be.

Enjoy!

Knights climb the tower to find Princess Rapunzel and deliver her from a monster in this new interpretation of Rapunzel by Juan Pablo Machado, student at Emile Cohl.

You can find Juan Pablo Machado's website with portfolio and much more HERE.