Does "Princess" have to mean no mom?
What is it with the main characters of all of my kids favorite movies not having parents? This topic came up with my sister when I was visiting her and sure enough...it's so true.
Think about leading characters of Disney and see what the ratio is of parented to parentless children:
Snow White...only a step-mother
Sleeping Beauty...has parents, but is taken away from them for 16 years
Cinderella...only a step-mother
Beauty and the Beast...Belle only has a father
Little Mermaid...no mom
Aladin...no parents for him and only a father for Jasmine
Lion King...daddy dies (sorry if that ruins the movie for anyone!)
Dumbo...only a mom
Bambi...mommy is shot (probably by the likes of my husband or one of his friends:)
Toy Story...only a mom
Finding Nemo...mom was lunch in the first 2 minutes and dad spends the whole movie trying to find poor little kidnapped Nemo!
Then there's
Annie, Pollyanna, Newsies, Oliver Twist, Enchanted and countless other movies geared towards kids that only have one or no parent present.
Why does one have to be without a parent to over-come an obstacle? I guess if these characters were in the confines of a two-parent home, the story line would be lacking conflict. Would a mother have been more in tune with Ariel's needs? Would a father have allowed his new wife to treat Snow White so terribly? Are we depressing kids or showing them that they have it good by letting them watch these movies?
Just kidding.
Think about leading characters of Disney and see what the ratio is of parented to parentless children:
Snow White...only a step-mother
Sleeping Beauty...has parents, but is taken away from them for 16 years
Cinderella...only a step-mother
Beauty and the Beast...Belle only has a father
Little Mermaid...no mom
Aladin...no parents for him and only a father for Jasmine
Lion King...daddy dies (sorry if that ruins the movie for anyone!)
Dumbo...only a mom
Bambi...mommy is shot (probably by the likes of my husband or one of his friends:)
Toy Story...only a mom
Finding Nemo...mom was lunch in the first 2 minutes and dad spends the whole movie trying to find poor little kidnapped Nemo!
Then there's
Annie, Pollyanna, Newsies, Oliver Twist, Enchanted and countless other movies geared towards kids that only have one or no parent present.
Why does one have to be without a parent to over-come an obstacle? I guess if these characters were in the confines of a two-parent home, the story line would be lacking conflict. Would a mother have been more in tune with Ariel's needs? Would a father have allowed his new wife to treat Snow White so terribly? Are we depressing kids or showing them that they have it good by letting them watch these movies?
See, honey...if you didn't have a mommy and a daddy...you too might get lost in the woods, kidnapped, potentially poisoned, loose your voice, made to be a personal slave, locked in the attic and held captive by a very scary villain. Hmmm. Guess I'm not so bad now, am I?
Just kidding.
posted by Carly O'Quinn at
9:35 PM
4 Comments:
good point
I love this POST..I have often thought about this topic.
I actually went as far and wrote a letter to Disney . The next year, prior to the release of THE INCREDIBLES, they wrote me back apoligizing for their past films and let me know they added another parent into the script. J/K
I didn't know any of that! I guess I'm not up to speed on my Disney stories, am I? But that's really interesting. I think Allison really should write that letter!
I guess that is somewhat of a good reason the girls have yet to see a Disney movie. :)
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