Recently I have been reading The Complete Works of the Brothers Grimm Fairytales by the Grimm brothers, and I have learned some interesting things pertaining to Disney movies. Disney sure has changed the endings, middle, and let’s not forget the beginning of a lot of their classic fairytale stories from their original versions. Let’s take for example Cinderella, in Disney’s version Cinderella’s step sisters try on a glass slipper and they don’t fit their feet so the prince knows they aren’t the right girls. In the original brothers Grimm version the one step sister cuts off her toe to fit into the shoe and the other cuts off her heel. The prince actually doesn’t even notice they are the wrong girls until he looks down and sees their feet bleeding, and then the two wicked girls get their eyes pecked out by birds and live as blind beggars for the rest of their lives. A tad different, No? Then there is the story of Snow White(ironically I am eating an apple right now), where the wicked queen orders a hunter to go out and kill Snow White and bring back her heart as proof. That already is a little dark for Disney, but the original version is even worse when the Queen requests her lungs and liver to boil and eat for dinner. Snow White is not woken up in the end by a kiss from her Prince, but actually by being carried away by his servants to the Prince’s castle and the coffin being shaken on the journey causing the poison apple to dislodge from her throat. What the prince was planning to do with a dead body in his home I do not want to know. Lastly, we have Sleeping Beauty, which really isn’t too different. Basically there are thirteen fairies instead of three and when the castle is surrounded by thorns a bunch of princes try and rescue Sleeping Beauty only to get caught in the thorns and die horrible deaths. If these stories are interesting to you I would check out Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid which has a very different and much more sinister ending than Disney’s version.
Here’s the link:http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html.
The Grimm brothers are the ultimate fairytale tellers and it’s almost a shame that Disney has butchered their stories so much, but at the same time I gotta say I love Disney movies. Also, if these stories interest you I would check out an episode of my favorite show Supernatural which has an entire episode dedicated to the Grimm Brother stories. It is season three, episode five, titled Bedtime Stories. Here is a link to the promotion for that episode:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUW7QNEt5w.
So now that I have pushed one of my favorite books on you and my favorite TV show on you, I’m going to leave you with the final thought: the fairytales in Disney movies were not made up by cheery little elves or something, they were created in order to teach a moral and are gruesome and somewhat disturbing.
-J.
My friend told me about this book as well and I think I will check it out after I finish my current book. I myself grew up on Disney movies an even though I like them they do tend to butcher original stories. Like the way the book "The Lightning Thief" was completely different from the movie made by Disney. I believe they change things to make them more kid friendly because how many movies did your parents let you watch were some girl cuts her toe off. Also "Supernatural" is one of my favorite shows as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the Brother's Grimm--love proper fairy tales altogether. They are generally very gruesome, dark, and sinister to teach a real moral lesson, as you say. They often worked on scare factor, when it came to children, but it is important to remember that the idea of fairy tales being something for children is a relatively recent development of the Victorian Age. Prior to the mid 19th century, grown ups and children alike used to delight in these dark and twisted tales of mystery. What Disney did was, in essence, take out a lot of the material that appealed to the adults in order to make the stories more kid-friendly, which, in my opinion, completely ruins the stories. The wicked sisters of Cindy NEED their eyes plucked out as it properly represents to system of justice the fairy tale is preaching.
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