why why WHY!! Disney cannot have a set of parents in any MOVIE!!!

[daisyduck123]

I could be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Walt Disney's mother died when he was young and that is why most of his movies have only one parent. Like I said, I could be wrong....

No, he was not young when she died.

It was a sad story about her death though. As I recall, she died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the house that Walt had built for them. (I could be off on the story somewhat..it was years ago that I read about it).

 

[CanadianPaco]

Nemo - momma dies.
Fox and the Hound - momma really dies

 

[snookiedoodles]

I could be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Walt Disney's mother died when he was young and that is why most of his movies have only one parent. Like I said, I could be wrong....

Now that could make sense.

 

[snookiedoodles]

Walt's parents were both alive into their senior years, and got to see their son become an enormous success. In 1938, following the windfall that was Snow White, Walt and Roy bought them a huge house. Unfortunately, there was some problem with their furnace, which, tragically, led to their death by carbon monoxide poisoning. At this time, Pinocchio and Bambi were already in production (and, as previous posters have noted, were based on source materials in which the main characters were motherless) -- many of the other stories he based his films on had motherless characters as well. Was he attracted to these stories because of his own loss, sadness, and guilt? Or because they were timeless tales? We don't, and can't, ever know.

You learn something new everyday!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Maybe because it brings in a sense of loss and sympathy/empathy from viewers.. even though they are geared toward children. Many parents do watch these with their children and to hold their interest, Disney needs to put in something other than gushy fun... This is just a thought... thinking out of the box here...

 

[mthompson22]

I'm going to open up a whole new can of worms here, but that's okay. I'm working on an advanced degree in education and in many of my papers I reference Disney and my love for the place, nostalgia, etc..... I get flamed every time I do this by my professors for exactly what the OP is bringing up. They pointed me to a book called "The mouse that roared: Disney and the end of childhood innocence" by Henry Giroux that will supposedly change my mind about the way I feel about Disney. Which is exactly the reason I have not read it yet.

 

[bradk]

i'd probably sooner read the report that claims Flounder is a victim of sexual abuse.

 

[mthompson22]

i'd probably sooner read the report that claims Flounder is a victim of sexual abuse.

I'm with you

 

[iheartdolewhips]

In The Emperor's New Groove, Pacha and Chicha are still married and alive. Though Kuzco's parents are completely absent and unmentioned, so I guess that balances it out?

 

[phnguyk]

I know what you mean! I will be watching a movie with my husband and then realize that there's gonn be some tragedy about to happen and I'll say this must be a Disney movie! There is almost always some sort of tragedy in Disney movies. I guess they feel we need a good cry when we watch a movie .

 

[fairestoneofall]

Tiana has married supportive parents in Princess and the frog.. Of course, the dad does end up passing away when Tiana is an adult.

thanks for that spoiler alert.

 

[freepixie]

Mulan - her folks are together and they even have her gramma in there too!

Peter Pan - the Darling children have both parents!

101 Dalmations - the owners are together and so are the dogs!

Lady and the Tramp - the owners are together and eventually the dogs!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Why blame Disney? Correct me if I am wrong but most of the movies (especially made by Walt himself) were not written by Disney at all. He made movies based on the stories written before he was even alive.

 

[freepixie]

Swiss Family Robinson!!

Parent Trap - they are eventually together

Ugly Daucshund (sp?)

MARY POPPINS!!!!

Honey I shrunk the kids

** As a personal note - I have always felt more of a connect to Disney movies - I was raised by a single mother in a multi-generational household - seeing a "non-traditional" family in a movie gave me more of a sense of hope than anything. There is nothing wrong showing variations in famly structure in children's movies.

 

[MapleGirl]

In The Emperor's New Groove, Pacha and Chicha are still married and alive. Though Kuzco's parents are completely absent and unmentioned, so I guess that balances it out?

This is what i was thinking too. Chicha is a great, strong mother and role model. She is also pregnant throughout the movie. Is that a Disney first?

 

[PrincePrincePrincess]

There is nothing that leaves a child more vulnerable than losing one or both of their parents. Orphanhood is a common theme is all literature. It is heavily discussed in the Bible, the Koran and the Torah. It is the theme of Superman and Spiderman. The loss of parent is the most primal of losses. It's one that we can all identify with, regardless of culture, gender or race. We can all grieve with the main character.

As for the book The Mouse that Roared, it's an interesting premise but it should be noted that the only way to make money in academia is to write a controvertial book. Making Disney out to be the cause of all society's ills is ridiculous.

 

[debdreamsofdis]

Well, honestly, we can't really blame Disney for this, as many of the stories are fairy/folk tales passed down through hundreds of years- I'm sure mortality rates back then were not as favorable as they our in our day, hence, naturally more stories with one or no parents.

Also, animated cartoons based on animals can't fairly be judged either, since, in nature, many species of animal are raised by only parent.

At any rate, losing one or two parents causes conflict, and as it's been pointed out, conflict creates a good story.

 

[catyanna]

My guess is that those with strong, two-parent families just don't have enough conflict and drama in their lives to make a colorful, animated movie!

Obviouslly you've never met me or my siblings

 

[limace]

As mentioned above, most are based on fairytales, most of which have dead mothers. I've always assumed that is because fairytales were written when mortality rates were very high-as mentioned previously-especially due to death in childbirth.

 

[jpeka65844]

a Aladdin did get a scumbag of a father. he was actually intended to have a mother in the original film (who Ashman wrote 'proud of your boy' for).

Proud of Your Boy is in my top three Menken/Ashman songs. What a GREAT song!

The other two are "Human Again" from BATB and "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors...../.