Tag Archives: Disney Princess

Small girls are fascinated by Disney movies. It is what inspires them to dress up in costumes. Stories of princesses overcoming difficulties to marry a prince, then move into his palace and live happily ever after. The origins of these stories are not quite so nice. Take a t look at the stories in the books of the brothers Grimm, and you will find that the life’s of a princess was not so perfect after all. So which version is better, Disney’s or Grimm’s?

Grimm’s  tales are derived from German fairy tales. They may be interesting, and a valuable archive of literature. But that does not qualify them for instant  them kid-approved. Snow White’s the evil Queen is has the heart of a wild animal, and she thinks it is Snow White’s, baked to perfection so that she can have it for dinner. Her punishment for poisoning Snow White?  She has to put heated iron in her shoes and dance until she dies. Not a very nice story to send your daughter to sleep with.

Cinderella’s tale has the steps of the palace covered in tar to capture her. When the step sisters get the chance to try on the golden slipper they cut off parts of their feet to try to make them fit.

In Sleeping Beauty the author did not write up that the couple lived happily ever after at the end. Instead he wrote the part where the prince and princess are married, have two kids and when the prince is off waging war, his evil mother attempts to have the princess and her children cooked for dinner. Her plot is stopped at the end and she dies in a bath of vipers and other horrible creatures.

Disney princess films are totally different. But he has managed to create something much sweeter. Most parents don’t use Cinderella to show how evil characters suffer from nasty fates to demonstrate punishment for any wrong doing. We watch with our children to be entertained, and the Disney certainly achieves that.

Some say Disney has created a disservice  by changing fairy tales into more sugar-coated versions. But fairy tales have always taken on many versions. They originated as ones passed down from  family to family, orally. So the Disney simply takes his turn. Only in this case, they are stories that we can tell our young children without frightening them to death. They associate with the characters and sooner or later want to dress up as them in Disney costumes.