Jasmine, no mother. Ariel, no mother. Belle, yet again, no mother. What's up with that?!
2006-08-16 05:30:51 · 22 answers · asked by Amy B 1 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Movies
In an interview with Walt Disney he said that his father used to beat him and his mother stood by and did nothing so he leaves out mother figures in his movies.
Bambi
Nemo
Cinderella
Beauty and the Beast
Little Mermaid
Alladin
Pinocchio
Jungle Book
Pocahontas
2006-08-16 05:40:02 · answer #1 · answered by marie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ha ha. I wrote my BA honors thesis about this.
Part of the reason is that many of the "princess" movies are taken from fairy tales. Fairy tales are a form of folktale, and one popular motif in fairy tales is the evil or absent mother.
There are many explanations for this, depending on your analytical bent. If you are a Freudian, you might say that the stories fulfill an Oedipal fantasy for girls. That is, a girl's secret dream is supposedly to kill her mother and marry her father. Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan and Belle live in perfect happiness with their fathers, with no mom to start a rivalry and get in the way. But they are also kept in an immature state - Jasmine not allowed to leave the palace, Ariel not allowed to leave the water, Belle not allowed to leave her little town and Mulan not allowed to join the army. Only when they find a man to replace their fathers can they become real adults. All this fulfills the little girl's fantasy of being the ONLY girl - the only one who matters. A mother would just be competition.
Cinderella and Snow White have no fathers, but they do have wicked stepmothers. Sleeping beauty is raised by three grandmothers, but Maleficent sort of functions as an evil stepmother figure. That's because, to a little girl, sometimes her mother can seem like a wicked witch. Fairy tales allow girls to secretly fantasize that they are being oppressed by an evil harpy who isn't even really related to them. Disney's movies, being based on those fairy tales, simply take that motif up to the big screen.
2006-08-16 12:48:21 · answer #2 · answered by dark_phoenix 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In some cases, they're following the lead of the Brothers Grimm, who wrote many of the fairy tales on which the Disney movies are based.
In the case of either the Brothers Grimm or Disney, eliminating a parent makes you sympathize with the character. It makes the character stronger in a way -- the audience may be led to feel that since the character survived the death of a parent and is still doing so well (and possesses so many fine virtues: courage, humility, beauty, etc), then they are to be admired that much more.
Plus, when the happy ending rolls around, you can feel that it's justified -- that the character got what he/she deserved, and all is right with the world.
2006-08-16 12:47:21 · answer #3 · answered by chrissyberry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cinderella..no father and no real mother...just the step family
Snow White: Was the witch her mother?? If not, she didn't have parents. Hmmmmm
I think Sleeping Beauty is the only Disney princess who had both parents.
Maybe Walt had a prob with his own mother since it was mostly mom out of the picture.
2006-08-16 12:37:16 · answer #4 · answered by starikotasukinomiko 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Parents are supposed to be your moral compass when you're young...especially your mother. She's supposed to be with the nurturing and guidance. If you take her out of the picture, you're usually left with the father who spoils the character to make up for lack of motherly nurture which kinda skews their moral views and makes them a tad selfish @ times and they end up in dramatic situations that fuel the plot. If you take both parents out of the picture, then you usually have the character searching for love who is usuallya member of a quirky family and has quirky friends who feels a little out of place. Then in the end they learn all about love and accepting the non-traditional and doing the right thing. e.g. The Prince accepts the Peasantly Cinderella (she finds love and acceptance), Tarzan w/ his ape family, Beauty loving the Beast etc.
2006-08-16 12:48:29 · answer #5 · answered by denx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Snow white was an orphan, Cinderella too, Sleeping Beauty had parents but only later in life. Good point..... I don't know. Maybe becuase they have to go through some hardships, and its not Disney friendly to have them in an abusive family or parents in a divorce... but it IS Disney friendly if one of the parents is dead.
2006-08-16 12:35:46 · answer #6 · answered by socalgrrrl05 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lose always makes a character more dynamic, that is a little weird I never noticed before. What about the male characters do they have mothers both of Tarzan's parents were dead, Aladdin didn't have parents either.
2006-08-16 12:38:20 · answer #7 · answered by lawsonmc11 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It adds more drama but not reality though. It just makes the character more "pitiful" (can't find another word...)...people would pity the princesses more...I think. It's a good point though...they all seem to lose a parent.
2006-08-16 12:37:28 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Walt Disney hates women.
2006-08-16 12:38:05 · answer #9 · answered by WILSON 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It seems to be a real theme with Disney movies; Bambi, Jungle Book, etc. Only they can say why.
2006-08-16 12:37:05 · answer #10 · answered by i have no idea 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋