The exquisite costumes and sets were inspired by the art of Austrian painter and illustrator Gustav Klimt.
Very nearly 50% of the plot revolves not around Rapunzel, but rather around her hapless parents. It is much more of an "origin story" than many other renditions.
In the fairy tale, the witch learns about the prince from Rapunzel's own carelessness. In the original Grimm version, she innocently says that her dress is growing tighter around her waist, hinting at pregnancy. In later editions, she asks the witch, in a moment of forgetfulness, why it is easier for her to draw up the prince than her. Here, the witch learns about the prince from Rapunzel's foolish pet macaw. She searches the room for some sign of him and stumbles upon the silk ladder Rapunzel had been weaving.
Shelley Duvall and Jeff Bridges both play dual roles here. Duvall plays both Rapunzel's mother, Marie, and Rapunzel herself and Bridges plays both Rapunzel's father, Claude, and Prince Henry.
When the witch is in the tower with Rapunzel and introduces her to the macaw, you can clearly tell that the sky outside the window is a backdrop due to the actors' shadows. Also, when the macaw flies from the witch's arm to Rapunzel's, the bird trainer's shadow is seen off to the left of the screen as he signals to it.