I was watching Sleeping Beauty the other day with a dear friend and we discovered something awful...Take a look and see how Disney portrays the family to children and audiences everywhere.
Bambi-Only Mom...and then she dies
Cinderella-Her father dies so she gains a step mother and sisters. Never a mention of a mother.
Alice in Wonderland-Family but never seen
Sleeping Beauty-Mother and Father but raised by Fairies
Peter Pan-No parents
Fox and the Hound-Nothing
The Little Mermaid-One Father
Tarzan-No parents, raised by a gorilla…hmmm
Anastasia-Orphan
Pinocchio-Father
Aristocats-Just a mother
Lion King-Father dies, raised by two male animals
Aladdin-Orphan and Jasmine only has her father
Beauty and the Beast-Only her dad
Snow White-Step mother
Robin Hood-No family
Sword and the Stone-No family
Lady and the Tramp-Mom, Dad AND a Baby
101 Dalmatians-Family. Why are the animals the only ones with family?
Mary Poppins-Mom and Dad, raised by Nanny
Jungle Book-Orphan who was raised by animals
Finding Nemo-Only a dad
Toy Story-Andy has a mom but only her voice is ever heard
Bug’s Life-Princess Atta has her mom
Cars-um, can cars have parents?
Up-Russell’s dad left
Monster’s-Boo’s parents aren’t mentioned
Kinda strange don't you think?
I love Disney. Duh. I went through every single cartoon Disney in my mind and thought of this. I'm not saying we shouldn't let little kids watch these movies either. That's CRAZY. But...media has a huge influence on our lives. Let's just be careful we're not letting these sweet cartoons feed us an alternative message. Man, the devil is sneaky.
Well I haven't seen the movie yet but I don't like the dirty joke featured in the toy story preview. "nice -----" -barbie
ReplyDeletei would expect that in Shrek but not in Toy Story, it's for toddlers.
That was always a bit of a joke while working at Disney. There's never a hero with both parents. I think it's intended to show how they came from hard circumstances (kinda like how shirley temple always gets orphaned) but I agree, the lasting message is that you don't really need both parents to do great. I think the incredibles has been one of the only disney movie that's genuinely about a family triumphing together.
ReplyDeleteHahaha you are so cute. I've noticed that Disney princesses NEVER have a mom in the picture (unless she's totally evil) but this is an interesting point you make: Why do only the animals have parents? Haha, so funny.
ReplyDeleteI've thought more about this since my last comment. I've decided that the biggest problem is there's not many family role models to aspire to in the media. If the show is about a family, it focuses on their dysfunctional-ities. For some reason script writers think we won't relate unless there's at least 5 minutes of bickering. Disagree.
ReplyDeleteRosie! So true. Thanks for your posts and thoughts. :)
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