Getty Rebecca Marklew poses as Rapunzel from Tangled during the MCM Midlands Comic Con Expo at The International Centre on February 16, 2013 in Telford, England.
Corona is the name of Rapunzel’s kingdom in the “Tangled,” Disney’s version of the Grimm brothers fairytale.
The story goes, Rapunzel is the princess with long blonde hair who is kidnapped by Mother Gothel. Goethel tells Rapunzel that the lockdown is for the princesses’ own protection. Despite the hardships, Disney’s official website describes Rapunzel as the “crown princess of Corona” and a “spirited and determined young woman.”
In the Midst of the Coronavirus Outbreak, Rapunzel Became a Trending Topic on Twitter & Google
Rapunzel is then forced to spend her time in self-quarantining and socially distancing in a tower. The tower outside the reaches of Rapunzel’s family’s kingdom of Corona. At the age of 17, Rapunzel escapes the tower with the help of a local thief named Flynn Rider.
Obviously, that link wasn’t lost on social media users who linked the fairy tale to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. This led to Rapunzel and “Tangled” becoming trending topics on Twitter and Google.
One of the earliest social media posts regarding the coincidence came from Lee Ann Abbott:
It’s Difficult to Pinpoint Exactly Where Corona Is Based on
Wikipedia
Unlike “Frozen,” which takes place in an arctic town named Arendelle which is named for the Norwegian city of Arendal, pinpointing the real Corona is more difficult. According to Disney Wikia, “By looking at five things: architecture, nature, landscape, politics, and the styles of dress in Tangled, the best fit for the real-world Kingdom of Corona would be along the Baltic Sea coast of Germany and Poland at some point from 16th to the 18th century.”
The blog, Finding Corona, offers four options for where the fictional city of Corona may be based. The four options are Gdynia, Pomerelia in Poland, Lindau, Holy Roman Empire in Germany, Wolgast, Pomerania, also in Germany or Stockholm, Sweden. The blog quotes “Tangled” production designer Doug Rogers as saying that the nature seen in the movie is based in Hungary, Poland and eastern Germany.
Rapunzel Is Thought to Have Been Based on the Christian Virgin St. Barbara
Getty In this handout photo provided by Disney Resorts, actress Mandy Moore poses with Rapunzel during a visit to the Magic Kingdom Park on March 6, 2017 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Moore will continue to voice Rapunzel in the Disney Channels new series “Tangled: The Series”.
Rapunzel is thought to have been based on St. Barbara. She was a Christian woman who lived in a pagan family in the ancient Greek city of Nicomedia, which is now in Turkey. When her father was away on business, she installed a stained glass Christian window in the family’s home. When her father returned, he attempted to kill his daughter with his sword.
St. Barbara prayed for help and a hole opened up in the floor, allowing her to escape. Eventually, St. Barbara was discovered and beheaded by her father. Throughout her short life, St. Barbara remained a virgin despite many suitors coming forward to ask for her hand in marriage. The story says that St. Barbara’s father was then struck down by a bolt of lightning.
St. Barbara has become an inspirational figure for people who are in trapped situations. In 2010, when the 33 Chilean miners were freed after being trapped underground for 69 days, a spokesperson said that they had used St. Barbara as an inspiration.
In 2019, the kingdom of Corona also appeared in a crossover in the game “Kingdom Hearts 3.”
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