Disney Versus Reader Expectations...
Adapting to Change…
We have all been there. You watch a movie and find out that it was based on a book. Because you enjoyed the film version so much you think surely the book must be better. Most of the time you are right. Sometimes though, you read the book and find out that it is filled with things you never would have imagined while watching the movie. A good case in point is the 1985 film version of The Color Purple and its comparison to the actual novel. Many people are shocked that the novel is way more explicit than the film adaptation ever thought about. They are also shocked to discover that the lesbian aspect of Alice Walker’s work was far more overt than in the film adaptation.
Screenwriters adjust the source material all of the time. Why they make the creative choices that they do often have to do with the film rating system that is in place in various countries. This is much the same reason why editors make suggestions to authors about changes they think will make a book sell better. For example, Roald Dahl initially wrote Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a black character. This new information might change how some of the depictions of Dahl and/or his Oompa Loompas are perceived. Even if it doesn’t it is worth noting that his editor is the one who told him that to have a black character as the protagonist would be signing the death warrant for the book. The film adaptation of this same book also recognized that little black pigmies as Oompa Loompas were problematic so the changes you see in both the 1971 and the 2005 versions of the film adaptations were made.
Many of the Disney films that several generations grew up watching also had problematic aspects to the original source material which is why changes were made as the narratives were adapted for the screen. Some of these problems were as simple as the story being a bit too scary or complex. Others involved adult themes such as self-harm. Still, others just made more sense for the format that Disney was using. With that in mind, here are five Disney Classics that had original storylines and how the narratives were adapted. The first full-length animated film distributed by Disney was Snow White so we will start there.
Childhood Ruined…
Not all of the alterations that Disney made to the story of Snow White are drastic. Some are as subtle as the reason given for Snow White’s name. We are told by Disney that Snow White was named for her pale white skin. This is an easy statement for small children to accept without question, and it is certainly less traumatic than the Brothers’ Grimm reason which is that her mother pricked her finger, saw the blood fall on the snow along the windowsill where she was seated, and proclaimed “If only I had a child as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and as black as the wood in this frame.” Disney did give small children some part of this explanation though when they said Snow White’s skin was as white as snow and her hair was dark as ebony.
Disney also leaves out the fact that Snow White’s mother died in childbirth. This one is a practical decision since the young children who the company was targeting would not be able to comprehend all that goes into pregnancy and birth. Disney did leave in the part about the stepmother wanting Snow White’s heart in a box though. Incidentally, this is something that would probably never fly in today’s society, but things were a little different in 1937. Luckily for audiences then and now, the part where the evil Queen wanted to eat Snow White’s lungs and liver was left out of the film adaptation.
The ending of Snow White is also less dramatic in the film version when the Queen plummets to her death off-screen. The story tells the reader that she was forced to dance in red-hot iron slippers until she dies from exhaustion instead. This creative decision may have just been made for time purposes though rather than for dramatic effect or trauma prevention. I say this as I consider the shadow of Clayton’s body hanging in the tree in Disney’s 1999 animated adaptation of Tarzan.
Things are Looking Grimm…
Snow White was not the only Grimms Fairytale to be adapted by Disney. Cinderella got its chance to shine in 1950 and Sleeping Beauty was released in animated form in 1959. Like Snow White, Cinderella has to contend with an evil stepmother in both versions of the story. In Cinderella though, the father has a notable presence in her young life and witnesses and participates in the cruelty that the young girl suffers at the hands of her stepsisters. Cinderella’s father even refers to her as deformed at one point in the story. This is different than the way Disney does away with the father completely and makes the stepmother the prime villain of the piece.
Disney’s version of Cinderella also omits the self-mutilation that the step-sister undertakes in order to fit into the slipper. Here the reader is told that when the step-sister's foot would not fit “her mother gave her a knife and said, “Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.” The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince.” It is easy to see why Disney cut this part out (pardon the pun).
As if all of the suffering and self-mutilation weren’t enough, there is also no fairy godmother or lavish ball in the story of Cinderella. Instead, the reader is treated to a white bird and a three-day festival. These are small prices to pay for the animated Disney classic version of things that so many generations have now enjoyed. It is a good thing that Disney opted to leave out the part of the step-sisters getting their eyes plucked out at the end as well or the adaptation may never have made it past the censors.
Bedtime Stories…
Sleeping Beauty is another Grimms Fairytale that has been watered down for Disney audiences. For starters, there was never an arranged marriage between Aurora and Prince Phillip. One can speculate that Disney added this in to make the kiss at the end to wake the princess a little more socially acceptable since Prince Phillip was her intended after all rather than a random stranger. The “witch” Maleficent is also one of 13 wise women. She was not invited to celebrate the birth of the new princess though the King and Queen didn’t have enough gold plates and didn’t want to offend her. Because she was slighted, the thirteenth wise woman curses the baby, but the twelfth wise woman softens the blow by limiting the scope of the curse.
The scope is that the curse is changed to Brier-Rose sleeping for 100 years rather than dying on her 15th birthday. So how about that kiss? No, it does not do the magic trick. The price just happens along as the curse expires and kisses her. This makes the Grimm version of Prince Phillip a bit of a creeper for kissing a stranger’s seemingly dead body so you can see why Disney changed things around a bit.
All About Alice…
Another classic tale to be adapted by Disney was Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This one has fewer problematic themes in it than some of the Grimms Brothers' original source material, so Disney didn’t have to work too hard to make it age appropriate. It also has a lot of vibrant characters that were meant to appeal to young children rather than to warn them against certain behaviors. This made Disney’s task much easier than in previous cases. So what is the major difference between the two? Well, in the book Alice is a lot more introspective. She also talks to herself a bit more. This is in keeping with the Victorian understandings of childhood that were prevalent when Carroll first published his book.
If you read the original source material you will also find that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are noticeably absent. They do not actually appear until the second book, Through the Looking Glass. This means that the Walrus and the Carpenter are also missing from Carroll’s version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. One thing that readers may not be prepared for when encountering the book after watching the movie is that the incident at the white rabbit’s house actually consists of an angry mob and Alice is stoned. These stones turn into cakes though and Alice eats them allowing her to make the suitable size adjustment to move on to her next adventure.
Another missing aspect of the Alice story that many have come to love is actually a Disney invention. This is the Unbirthday Party. Yes, Alice has tea with the Hatter, Hare, and the Dormouse, but the unbirthday aspect is not present. Such an event is briefly mentioned in the second book, but here again, there is no depiction of the event itself. In both the book and the movie though, the tea party is great fun.
Splish Splash…
In 1989 Disney took on another classic story. This time it was the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale of The Little Mermaid. Let's start in the shallow end of the pool with this one though because still, waters run deep. To begin with, Anderson’s mermaid is never named. Anderson’s mermaid also did not fall in love with a man causing her to want feet either. Instead, it was a quest for an immortal soul that makes Anderson’s mermaid seek out a human man to marry. The mermaid does make a deal with a sea witch for feet though, but here again, the sea witch has no name.
Anderson’s mermaid also has to endure something that Disney’s Ariel never did. When she makes her deal with the sea witch she is told that after she drinks the potion her tail will “disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and [she] will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through [her]. But all who see [her]will say that [she is] the prettiest little human being they ever saw. [She] will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly, but at every step [she takes] it will feel as if [she] were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow.” To make matters worse, for all of her troubles, Anderson’s mermaid does not get her prince. Instead, she turns into sea foam after all. Not very Disney huh? Anderson’s mermaid did sacrifice her voice though so at least Disney got that part true to the source material.
Love Them or Hate Them…
Whether you love them or hate them, Disney’s classic animated fairytales did introduce generations of people to characters and stories they might never have been exposed to before. The characters and stories also demonstrate just how diverse humans and other earthly creatures can be. Disney allowed its viewers to escape the grim realities of life for a little while with each of these films, and for that reason alone Disney animated classics will always have a special place in my heart.
As fun as this has been, it’s time to move on. In the coming weeks, I will be discussing Mary Shelly and Frankenstein as well as creating a whole new list of books that you should only read if you are in the right mindset. Until then, feel free to visit Grace Slick and me over on Instagram by clicking any of the images in this post. You can also read most of the selections in this post by clicking on their associated links. Have a great week my friends. Remember to seek joy, and go read!
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