I see Rapunzel as more of an archetype while Anna encompasses all that and more- they may not be exactly alike, Anna is more interested in love and helping her sister while Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns- neither have similar goals- Rapunzel still suffers, to me, from being more a marketing ploy, hitting every Disney Princess "note", and all her flaws are played off as adorable and cute. Anna,on the other hand, has actual flaws that make her feel more human- like making stupid decisions, being inconsiderate of her sister's feelings at times, clumsy in a sometimes real way although I feel they push it on certain occasions, and being sort of mindless but some girls really are like that- so I love her a lot more.

Anna is a failed rip off, imo.

^ That.

What PL said. Everything about Punzy's personality and looks just says "Made by Disney! Buy our dolls!" I don't think Rapunzel is an improved version of Anna OR Ariel like people say, they both are more rounded, realistic-feeling, and the movies don't really ask you to excuse their bad choices or attitudes like Tangled does. And Anna's development, even if it's not a lot, was better done to me.

I definitely agree Frozen pretty unfortunately acts ashamed of the older movies, but Disney in general does now; it isn't just that movie. Look what they did with Rapunzel- her being cute, innocent and girly with housewifely hobbies isn't good enough. She still has to impress everyone with her action-girl skills and be better than the man at everything she does in order to please feminist moms and be a role model for girls. (I am glad the movie still has those traits, however.) You're not meant to see her as a damsel at all even though she definitely has damsel moments. Whereas at least Anna and Elsa, they have plenty of them. Anna may save the day and fight off wolves but she still needs help from a man and her sister, and Elsa too. Of course the movie doesn't want you to think they need help, but it's true.

I would say Elsa fits the best though, even if that wasn't the question. It's kind of nice that all three sort of do in different ways, even though that obviously wasn't the intent of the filmmakers and most of the fans who hate the Classics certainly wouldn't admit it.

See, I had the opposite reaction when I saw Frozen. I saw Anna as the one created as a marketing ploy as her flaws seem almost cute and how she has to be awkward in order to be "relatable" (and she loves chocolate! girls love chocolate!). Rapunzel also suffers from weak characterization but I think they pull it off a bit better with her anxiety over leaving Mother Gothel, her anger at Gothel for lying and manipulating her all these years, and finally her willingness to sacrifice her freedom to save Eugene's life. She's still annoyingly cute and perfect but Anna doesn't really learn anything about herself and others, her relationship with Elsa is magically saved by "Love" and it just all seems very derivative.

Um. Let's just say that Rapunzel is a reboot of several iterations of Renaissance DPs combined into one, and then Anna is a watered down copy of this "Rapunzel reboot." There. That's what I think.

They both come from the same school of "marketing princesses". They just play with what is safe. Granted, I don't like Anna and i do think she's too much of a copy of Rapunzel, but at least her flaws and questionable actions affect the movie. They aren't just there to make her look cute or unique like with Rapunzel.

I don't see them as copies of one another.

Sort of. Honestly I don't think either is more improved, but they're both very similar.

What princesslullaby and AudreyFreak, and ESPECIALLY with what scarletunicorn abou Punz's flaws making her more cute, unique, likable and relatable.

I agree with princesslullaby. Rapunzel is an overdone character that making her almost flawless.

Quite the opposite. Rapunzel grows and matures through the story. Anna pretty much stays the same and just learns you shouldn't marry a man you just met, that's it. Rapunzel actually learns about the world, how to survive, how to trust, and stands up to Gothel. She becomes a more mature person by the end of the movie, Anna does not.

Absolutely, I agree with princesslullaby and AudreyFreak.

I remember how much time I spend to defend Anna before Frozen hit the theatres...that just because her design looks similar it doesn't mean that she is just a Rapunzel rip-off. But then I saw the movie, and that is exactly what she is. And while Rapunzel is a layered character with relatable problems who develops during her story, Anne is just a copy (grew up in isolation - check, is easily excitable - check), but one which doesn't make any sense (because Anna grew not up truly isolated in the first place, and while Rapunzel being excited to touch something as simple as grass for the first time in her life, Anna's clumsiness comes off as a "token fault"...something which is supposed to make her more relatable, but has no real bearing on her story (see Mulan as an example for clumsiness being something which the heroine does have to overcome to succeed instead of a stupid quirk)).
For once, I totally agree with KataraLover. Rapunzel is the better realized and more layered character. She is based on the princesses that came before her, but she is still her very own and interesting variation of it. Anna is just the cheap knock-off.