ORIGINS OF
Disney Stories Mandy Mah
Growing up, many were entranced by the magic that Disney brought into their lives. The cartoonish characters donning in layers of sparkling fabric, Prince Charmings saving fast asleep princesses, and ordinary pumpkins transforming into extravagant carriages introduced a whole new world in addition to our own. These happily ever afters will likely be passed on from generation to generation, influencing children for years to come. While these stories are etched into everyone’s lives, the stories that Disney took inspiration from are fading into the background more and more.
Although many have noticed that Disney stories share similarities with those from the Brothers Grimm (Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm) and Hans Christian Anderson, few take notice that some of these stories can be traced back to decades before the aforementioned notable fairy tale authors began writing. Many variations of the stories popularized by Disney can be found throughout each decade, with each author putting their own spin on it. However, the one factor they all share in common is apparent: they are not nearly
as magical as Disney’s version. “I think it’s interesting to learn about the source and see how different it was, how it was originally conceived. When you’re able to read it as literature and are not very attached to the story it’s fine … But [the stories] shouldn’t be told to young children because they would get too attached to what they hear as a story,” said Guillermina Castellanos, a third-grade teacher at Sandpiper. Disney maintained a pattern of lightening up stories that might not have been seen as fairy tale stories for children otherwise. But is anything lost when Disney glorifies these stories?
Carlo Collodi’s “Pinocchio”: Pinocchio, a puppet carved by Geppetto, is troublemaking to the point of being malicious. As soon as Pinocchio is created, he begins to get involved in all sorts of schemes; he lies and lands Geppetto into jail, kills the Talking Cricket when the cricket admonishes him, and is often led astray at school. Eventually, Pinocchio finds himself swallowed by the Terrible Shark and discovers that Geppetto is also there. Pinocchio decides to save Geppetto and is turned into a real boy by the Fairy with Azure Hair. “I think this story, at least with the background of contrasting it to the more popularized version, would find a home with almost anyone who feels disillusioned by society in any kind of fashion.” – Nolan Scheetz, a senior at Carlmont who is planning to attend film school
The original version of The Lion King (an African legend about Sundiata Keita): Sundiata’s mother flees into exile with her children (including Sundiata or “the lion king”) in order to protect them from a power struggle in the palace. Sundiata then builds alliances while in exile after people express their wishes for him to return and take his rightful place on the throne. In this version of the story, the “lion king” has a disability. “With The Lion King, the original story had a disability that was taken out. In the Disney version, it was just a normal lion. It might have been better in a way if they had Simba have a disability because it would be more inclusive, realistic, and portray his struggles more in a different way.” - Nikhila Raman, a senior at Carlmont
46 HIGHLANDER FEATURES
