Presupposition as an Interpretive Mechanism in the "Tangled” Movie

Abstract

This study investigates presupposition as an interpretive mechanism in the animated film Tangled, with a focus on how implied meaning contributes to character interaction and narrative progression. The research specifically examines how presuppositions contribute
to the interpretive depth of the story. A qualitative descriptive approach was employed, emphasizing meaning construction within dialogue and context. The data were presented narratively to demonstrate how presuppositions operate in character utterances, while numerical counts were included to clarify the frequency and distribution of each presupposition type. The analysis identified 40 instances of presupposition: 18 existential, 1 factive, 1 non-factive, 5 lexical, 10 structural, and 5 counter-factual. Existential presuppositions appeared most frequently, suggesting that assumptions related to existence and possession play a central role in conveying shared knowledge and background information among characters. These findings indicate that presupposition is integral to guiding audience inference and enhancing narrative coherence. Overall, the study
demonstrates that presuppositions significantly contribute to implicit meaning-making in Tangled, reinforcing the film’s storytelling depth and interpretive richness.