How to answer Tangled question

[LILOLO]

Tangled is one of my neice's (7) and my favorite movie. We've watched it a bunch of times. On our last trip, she got to meet Rapunzel and was so excited. Well we watched the movie again last night, and at the end she was real quiet and thoughtful. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "her hair got brown and wasn't magic anymore, but when we saw her it's long and magical again"
I had noooo clue what to say. I told her being at Disney made it magical again. I'm so scared she's going to see Rapunzel on our next trip and ask or say something that'll shoot my theory out of the water... Any better suggestions on what to tell her? Kids are too smart for their own good nowadays

 

[alicat8]

Tangled is one of my neice's (7) and my favorite movie. We've watched it a bunch of times. On our last trip, she got to meet Rapunzel and was so excited. Well we watched the movie again last night, and at the end she was real quiet and thoughtful. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "her hair got brown and wasn't magic anymore, but when we saw her it's long and magical again"
I had noooo clue what to say. I told her being at Disney made it magical again. I'm so scared she's going to see Rapunzel on our next trip and ask or say something that'll shoot my theory out of the water... Any better suggestions on what to tell her? Kids are too smart for their own good nowadays

I'd say at that age she can handle a lot more than you think. I worked with 7 year olds for 9 years, and I'd have been surprised if any of them hadn't known the characters were just people in costumes.

 

[lalasmama]

I'd say at that age she can handle a lot more than you think. I worked with 7 year olds for 9 years, and I'd have been surprised if any of them hadn't known the characters were just people in costumes.

I think that's the trick right there... It's harder to explain if they still believe in the characters... But at 7, my DD knew Santa at the mall was just a man in a costume (she also knew Santa wasn't "real" but chose to pretend anyway), so we just connected the princesses the same way--it's just a person in a costume, because _____ (movie) took place a long time ago. In the case of Rapunzel, I'd say something similar--it's a story that took place a long time ago, and it's fantasy, and children would be expecting to see Rapunzel with her long, blonde hair, not her short, brown hair, so that's how DL decided to make her look.

 

[LILOLO]

I guess my niece is a "young" 7 years old? (she did just turn 7 in February) I don't have any of my own kids so no basis of comparison. But as far as I know, my niece believes the characters are real, and it's not my place to let her think otherwise. She also believes in Santa Claus, Unicorns, and Pixie dust

 

[LILOLO]

I guess I could just hand this one off to her mom, and let her explain as she wishes... Who knows, maybe my niece does know, and pretends for my sake.. but I just don't feel it's my place to call her out on it, just in case she does truly believe.

 

[alicat8]

I guess I could just hand this one off to her mom, and let her explain as she wishes... Who knows, maybe my niece does know, and pretends for my sake.. but I just don't feel it's my place to call her out on it, just in case she does truly believe.

They do that a lot Most still believed in Santa, but knew the mall guy was a fake.
I'd say the important thing is that she was thinking very philosophically

 

[theluckyrabbit]

When "philosophical" questions like that have come up with our little ones (including nieces and nephews and friends' kids), we've let them know we take the question seriously (no chuckling or laughing it off) and answered, "Hmmmm, that's a very good question. I'm glad that you are such a good thinker! Next time we see _________ (fill in character in question), let's ask him/her about it." That has always satisfied the child asking the question at the time. If the question has continued (and many times the child will come up with his/her own answer -- quite creative sometimes!), we do ask the character. The costumed CMs are well trained to answer all kinds of questions while remaining in character. We always admire the CMs' poise and wit, and no child has come away scarred for life yet!

 

[Sundancer UK]

Let her ask. Seriously, let her You can even tell her next time she asks you that you don't have the answer, but she can ask Rapunzel herself.

My daughter asked that exact question about the hair when we went, as I'm sure many other children have. She had the perfect answer So you're not alone.

 

[LILOLO]

Thanks all Now I'm kind of curious, I think I will encourage her to ask when go. I'm sure it'll be much better than my answer! Oh well, it's good training for when I have kiddos of my own.

 

[ZenMondo]

When children are still at the age where they sincerely believe fantasy, and the parents are ok with holding off rationality and reality for a few more years, when confronted with some gap in the narrative -- or something that does not have a good explanation, and they ask you to explain something they do not understand about this fiction, I have always found that turning the question around into a form of, "well how do you think it is done?" (The classic example is, "how does Santa visit the homes of children without chimneys and fireplaces?"). When they ponder it out for themselves, they will usually be satisfied by their own reasoning or imagination, whereas if you give them your answer something may ring untrue to them and lead to further questions.

That being said, the characters at Disneyland, have pretty much anticipated every trick question you can throw at them, and literally live the lives of these characters and know them (and their associated media) inside and out.

Seriously, it is impossible to stump them -- and have read on occasion some of the character's friend's accounts of the attempts to do so -- and how they have failed.

 

[seagodess]

I'd say at that age she can handle a lot more than you think. I worked with 7 year olds for 9 years, and I'd have been surprised if any of them hadn't known the characters were just people in costumes.

This.
My DS was 4, turning 5 on his first trip to DL. He knew the characters were just people in costumes. We have taught him from the start that cartoons were not real and not to believe everything in movies and on tv. It doesn't make seeing the characters any less fun.

I would talk to her mom about it and see what she has to say. Some parents like to let their kids believe in that kind of stuff, others dont really care. So dont go either way without talking to her parents first. You could also just say she would need to ask Repunzel the next time she is there.

 

[SultanPprShkr]

i've had this question myself but knowing ourselves as adults or something, that we know the answer to who rapunzel is in the park.. i don't have the actual answer to my own curiosity to why her hair is golden and long again. but the same could be said about Beast.. and Lumiere/Cogsworth.. and Ariel (though that one we can just say she has a special necklace she wears or fork in her hair that if she has it, she has fins, and if she doens't have it, she has legs. LOL).. or how come Tiana's not a frog again.. things like that.

What's great about the characters though, even if they kids know they're costumed people, is that they are very much into character and are great actors. Anna & Elsa are perfect examples. When I went to see them I asked how Kristoff was doing, and Sven.. anna replied that he's doing great. I followed up with, "so has business slowed down now that Elsa can control her powers? or do you let him do the ice cutting work? or if business does slow down, can you just make the lake frozen for him to keep his job? or is he a prince now?" and they answered all those questions, then went on to talk about elsa's castle and that it's too cold to live there but they visit often.