by Anti-Racist Parent Columnist Jae Ran Kim, originally published at Harlow’s Monkey
When my daughter was five, one of her favorite movies was Disney’s version of “Annie.” She would kneel on the kitchen floor, dishtowel in hand, and sing, “It’s a hard knock life!” as she swiped the linoleum. Once “Annie” arrived in our house, our bedtime ritual of singing “Your are my sunshine” turned into mournful renditions of “Maybe.” Ouch. There is nothing like it. An orphaned child grown up, singing nightly to her child,
maybe now it’s time,
and maybe when I wake
they’ll be there calling me “Baby”
– maybe.
But what would she know about orphans who end up being adopted by the richest man in America? It’s only a movie. Though Disney has long promoted its wholesome, family values in its movies – or have they?
Many of my daughter’s favorite movies featured orphaned “child” characters – such as Littlefoot from the “Land Before Time” movie series, whose mother dies and he has to learn to depend on help from his “different” dinosaur friends to find his way to his grandparents. The movie is all about diversity (each dinosaur species is a different “race”) and overcoming adversity. For those who write children’s stories, what could be a bigger challenge and fear than the loss of one’s parents (hiccup: Harry Potter, orphaned. Hiccup: Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events children, orphaned. Hiccup: The Secret Garden/The Little Princess, orphans)?
Just for fun, I thought I would apply a social worker’s perspective to the wholesome characters in popular Disney movies. Though not meant to be a rail against Disney per se; the Disney power of influence continues to affect millions of children around the world, and I thought it would be cheeky to take a closer look. How many of these beloved characters live in a married, two-parent (hetero) household?
• Aladdin (Aladdin) – orphaned and homeless; petty crimes for food and shelter
• Annie (Annie) – orphan adopted by rich single dad
• Ariel (The Little Mermaid) – dead mother, rebellious teen who runs away to be with a man
• Aristocats – Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse – three kittens raised by a single mother
• Bambi (Bambi) – raised by single mother who is murdered, has never met his absent father
• Belle (Beauty and the Beast) – dead mother, raised by single father
• Cinderella (Cinderella) – dead mother, raised by abusive Stepmother and neglectful, absent father
• Dumbo (Dumbo)– raised by a stigmatized, depressed single mother
• Elliot (Pete’s Dragon) – orphaned, runaway from abusive foster parents, adopted by single mother
• Hercules (Hurcules) – son of gods transracially adopted by humans
• Lilo (Lilo and Stitch)– orphaned, raised by older sister
• Mowgli (The Jungle Book)– orphaned, raised by 2-male heads of household (bear and panther)
• Mulan (Mulan) – cross-dressing teen girl with intact, multi-generational family unit
• Nemo (Finding Nemo) – dead mother, raised by single overprotective father
• Oliver (Oliver & Company) – orphaned kitten transracially adopted by rich girl
• Peter Pan (Peter Pan) – orphaned, troublemaker and gang leader of Lost Boys
• Penny (The Rescuers) – orphaned girl kidnapped from orphanage
• Pinocchio (Pinocchio) – wooden toy adopted by aged creator Gepetto
• Pochahontas (Pocahontas) – dead mother, raised by single father
• Quasimoto (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) – physically disabled male adopted by evil church minister Frollo
• Simba (The Lion King) – father murdered by uncle, raised by 2-male heads of household (meerkat and warthog)
• Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty) – parents transferred custody to 3 fairies
• Snow White (Snow White & the 7 dwarves) – dead mother, raised by abusive Stepmother and neglectful father
• Tarzan (Tarzan)– orphaned, transracially adopted by gorilla family
Jae Ran Kim, MSW is a social worker, teacher and writer. She was born in Taegu, South Korea and was adopted to Minnesota in 1971. She has written numerous articles and essays and is most recently published in the anthology “Outsiders Within: Writings on Transracial Adoption” from South End Press. Jae Ran’s blog, Harlow’s Monkey, is at http://harlowmonkey.typepad.com/
And our current favorite on the Disney Channel, the 13th Year, where a boy on the swimming team turns into a merman and in the last 15 minutes of the film just swims off with his “other mother” to learn about the mer life, with his parents telling him to “be back in time for the start of school” This movie had my five year old in tears at the end, she was trying to figure out why anyone would want to leave their family just like that. Lots of comforting and discussion followed.
Heh heh, I love that you called Hercules a TRA.
Interesting post. Interestingly enough, you see that trend in kids lit too…
I think it speaks to a pretty universal fantasy of being free of one’s parents rules and demands. My (TRA) 6-year-old what-ifs pretty regularly now about how much fun all the kids would have if all the adults in the world died…
But then she’s also made us write a list of emergency numbers to call in case we do meet untimely ends.
And though he’s not Disney we shouldn’t forget Superman. Or Spiderman. Or Curious George.
LOL this is lovely. My favorite: “Sleeping Beauty – parents transferred custody to 3 fairies”
Yes, the literature is overflowing with orphans and foster kids and “broken homes”. Much could be said…
This doesn’t seem to be a perspective so much as a summary of main character’s family situations. I guess I don’t really get your point. Disney is promoting parental death? Kids in traditional families are lacking role models?
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What is interesting to me is that we (including me) so easily see the trans-SPECIES adoptions in movies as metaphors for transracial adoptions.
Do we really think we are THAT different?
Also, poor Mowgli’s first trans-species adoption was disrupted (the wolves sent him away because they knew he was putting the rest of the pack in danger).
Robin: I think this kind of post invites debate, interpretation, and people chiming in. Makes it more of an open discussion.
Generally: The folktales that the Brothers Grimm compiled and in some cases revised and cleaned up do have the common orphan/adoption/changling theme. Personally, I think it’s a main storytelling device because it helps explain WHY characters are placed in extraordinary situations and almost certain peril – if not outright orphans, they are sometimes saving the one parent they have, searching/saving for their parents, or placed in peril by a parent strapped for an alternative (that may have been provided by the absent parent). Not to get all Josept Cambell, but storytellers for millenia have tapped into the concept of the heroic outsider who is searching for his/her place in the world of the living or sometimes the rhelm of the gods.
Possible extrapolation: how does the cultural portrayals of adoption, orphans, etc. affect the way we think of real-life orphans and adoption situations? Are we more apt to want a fairy-tale ending? Do we demonize biological parents, or expect them to always be either evil bastards or dead saints?
Wow Wow Wow. I never saw all this. You opened my eyes there.
http://www.cwluherstory.com/Salon/kristin.html is pretty interesting. I must say, though, as a widowed mother, I am pretty appreciative of movies (like Finding Nemo) that show single-parent-by-death families.
I love this! I’m forwarding to so many people…
There is a huge tradition in storytelling for kids where the protagonist either has no parents, gets separated from their parents, or their parents are wicked and the kid needs to escape from them. It’s as if no one can have an adventure if their parents play a meaningful role in the story. The Incredibles was a really refershing antidote to this becuase the whole family had a role to play in fighting the Big Bad.
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You know, many of your points are only relative to what a modern human family would be like. You waste all your time blaming Disney for these stories having “anti-family values” but you seem to have forgotten that Disney didn’t actually write these stories.
Aladdin (Aladdin) – His mother died, life is hard in the Middle East, especially for women. His father disappeared long before from what I can remember, to become the king of theives. He found family in Abu, then Jasmine and the Sultan and Genie and Carpet.
• Annie (Annie) – orphan adopted by rich single dad
• Ariel (The Little Mermaid) – I agree Ariel was irresponsible, but this story was alot softer than the original fairytale, where Ariel kills the prince through jealousy and then commits suicide. Which story would you prefer your kids to hear?
• Aristocats – How many cats do you know with a full, 2 parent family?
• Bambi (Bambi) – Deer don’t mate for life. His mother was killed by hunters – it shows us the effect killing animals can have on the animals around them. Besides, Bambi gets adopted by his dad who teaches him how to survive. Being a deer in a forest can be a tough life.
• Belle (Beauty and the Beast) – true.
• Cinderella (Cinderella) – Her father isn’t neglectful or absent, he died when she was a young girl! Take it up with Hans Christian Andersan.
• Dumbo (Dumbo)– How happy would you be if you were locked in an abusive circus? It’s obvious they love each other dearly. Didn’t you see the scene where Dumbo visited his mum when she was locked up for protecting him? I cried for the unfairness towards the animals in circuses and the huge love for family.
• Elliot (Pete’s Dragon) – can’t say much, I don’t remember this movie
• Hercules (Hurcules) – Would you prefer the original story of Hercules wanting to be a god so badly that he killed his wife and children? Didn’t think so.
• Lilo (Lilo and Stitch)– This movie is ABOUT the significance of family! It’s the sweetest movie. Lilo and Stitch have the lack of family in common – Lilo has only a sister who struggles to take care of her and Stitch has no family at all. But Lilo wants so much for Stitch to have a home that she loves him no matter what, and eventually Stitch, wanting to help Lilo gain the family she has lost, does the same.
• Mowgli (The Jungle Book)– Ahem. Ruyard Kipling. The boy lost his family and learned survival in the jungle. He had 2 families – the wolf pack and Baloo and Bagheera. No lack of love, he didn’t WANT to leave the jungle to be with his own kind. And what’s wrong with 2 male heads of family? Is the antiracist parent a homophobe?
• Mulan (Mulan) – Originally a Chinese legend. She went to war to save her handicapped father from certain death. That’s pretty pro-family to me.
• Nemo (Finding Nemo) – Wouldn’t you be overprotective too if your partner was killed along with all your other children? Besides, it’s about the strength of family. Do you know how far it is from the GBA to Sydney Harbour? Over 2 days nonstop driving in a car. That’s how devoted Marlin was to getting his son back.
• Oliver (Oliver & Company) – People sell kittens, thats a fact of life that isn’t going to go away. It’s a rewrite of Oliver the Musical. If you want to say something bad about it, mention the stray animal problem that noones doing anything about and the fact that Oliver’s original owners left him in a box to freeze to death.
• Peter Pan (Peter Pan) – Peter pan was NOT an orphan!!! If you ever actually read the book you’d know that he flew away as a newborn because he heard his parents discussing what he’d be as a man. He didn’t want to grow up. Peter Pan is the spirit of youth, you can’t expect him to have parents. Youth is defined as freedom and fun and pure, innocent joy. A guardian would ruin the whole concept. The Lost Boys are similar cases – they fall out of their prams when their guardians have their backs turned. If they aren’t claimed in a week they are sent to Neverland to be under the care of Peter.
• Penny (The Rescuers) – I don’t recall her being kidnapped, but I do remember she was rescued by mice, whom she asked for help from. Then she finally got away from her evil aunt and was adopted by a wonderful couple.
• Pinocchio (Pinocchio) – Gepetto wanted a child more than anything. He made Pinocchio and made a wish on a star and the puppet came to life. Nice, let’s deny the old man his only child that he wants so dearly. Also a fairytale. Rewritten for Disney, in a softer manner.
• Pochahontas (Pocahontas) – Why don’t you take issue with the fact that in real life Pocahontas was 13 when she married the 50 year old John Smith.
• Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) – His mother was killed in the genocide of the gypsies. He would have been killed too had the priest not stopped Frollo. Frollo was forced by the church to take care of Quasimodo to make up for killing his mother. In the original story int he end Esmeralda and Quasimodo were burned at the stake. Very family friendly.
• Simba (The Lion King) – Are you daft? This is a rewrite of Hamlet!! Timon and Pumbaa were the comic relief you fool!
• Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty) – parents transferred custody to 3 fairies to PROTECT her!! Aurora would have been killed if she had stayed in the kingdom. Also a rewrite.
• Snow White (Snow White & the 7 dwarves) – dead parents, jealous stepmother. Rewrite again. Snow White was 13 when the prince hooked up with her in her sleep. I wonder why don’t you mention these far more controversial points?
• Tarzan (Tarzan)– Damn, this is one of my favourite Disney movies! His parents were shipwrecked and killed in the jungle by a leopard – a very likely thing to happen. The gorilla’s child was killed by the same leopard (Sabor) not long before. Kala (mother gorilla) heard the cries of Tarzan, saved him from Sabor and adopted him as her child. Tarzan gains his gorilla father’s (Kerchak) approval when Tarzan kills Sabor and at the end when he saves the gorilla clan – although on his deathbed. Tarzan gets another family when Jane and her father elect to stay with him.
I think you are too concerned with the immediate family situations of these characters and not the morals of these stories. It teaches us that family can be found anywhere, as long as we know where to look. That someone always cares. You are so devoted to hating Disney that you don’t realise that most stories are watered down immensely to make them suitable and entertaining to children. What fun would a story be for a 5 year old with a parent breathing down the heroes neck and preventing any danger happening to them? This was also the moral of Finding Nemo – let go of your worries, your child won’t be killed. Let them have adventures and be children, instead of worrying about anything and everything that could happen to them. Let your kids scrape their knees, have imaginary games, get into fights, be outlandish, climb, run, jump, swim, watch “immoral” Disney movies. It’s part of growing up. We learn so much from our childhoods. No 7 year old will think that Disney doesn’t want them to have parents. They will think “I don’t want to watch Lion King again, I don’t want to see Mufasa die again” and “Yay, Marlin’s cool now,but not as much as Bruce or Crush or Dory!!”. I remember I used to play Lions with my sister when I was little. Sometimes we had parents, sometimes we didn’t. Don’t be concerned if your kids say “Ok, let’s pretend my name’s Nala and yours is Kovu, we’re brother and sister, and our parents are dead”. It’s just easier to play that way, so theres no worrying about being extra characters who have to watch the children and be parenty and still have a major part in the game. It’s just confusing.
Another trend in Disney? Don’t hurt animals, they have families and feeling too. Hunting is bad, respect your fellow creature, treat them as you would a fellow human. Oh, how wicked of them, promoting decency and love and good treatment of all beings. The scoundrels!
If you want to shelter your kids from something, try MTV instead of Peter Pan.
Nikita: in your fervor to defend the Walt Disney Company (which really doesn’t care about the likes of either of us), you confused a few things:
1. Disney (i.e. Walt or staff of employed writers, whatever you meant) DID write or rewrite (as you allow) most of these. Therefore, in these new interpretations, Disney IS responsible for the messages they are sending. It is our fault as parents, true, if the Disney versions are the only ones kids know. I personally prefer the bloodier Grimms’ version of Cinderella (with the stepsisters cutting off parts of their feet to fit the shoe, and getting their eyes plucked by the birds (that live over her mother’s grave in the back yard) that provide for Cinderella (no fairy godmother in sight)). Then again, most folk tales were NOT meant for children originally. Disney deliberately targets children, and therefore has to be held to a different standard for this vulnerable, impressionable audience.
2. There are always multiple tellings of tales, especially if they are folk tales or myths (Herakles is one of these – in the version I learned, it was Hera who sent madness upon him to kill his family, not a desire for godhead).
3. Pocohontas: OK, this is real history here. Pocohontas NEVER married John Smith. He may or may not have invented the whole “she saved my life” thing. If it happened, she was 10, and it was likely part of a mock-execution ritual that allowed for the Powhatan tribe to forgive the English and make an alliance. Later she was taken as a POW and eventually married John ROLFE, at the highly marriageable age (for both Powhatan and English) of 18. She died 4 years later with one known surviving child.
4. Finally, Jae Ran wrote initially, “Though not meant to be a rail against Disney per se; the Disney power of influence continues to affect millions of children around the world, and I thought it would be cheeky to take a closer look. ” Cheeky, not demonizing. And she makes NO refefnce to the original plots of the stories, if based on prior works, making your main argument (it’s better/cleaner/more child-appropriate than the original) a non sequitur.
I have to do a paper on the differences the Disney movie “Hercules” and myths of Hercules. HELP!
hey now, Mulan wasn’t a cross dresser, she only disguised herself as a man to fight in the army because they were forcing her father o fight and he was to old.
I have seen Mulan 5 times.
don’t forget the racism in Disney as well.
Brooke, that’s about the EASIEST topic EVER! LOL
I hated… and I mean LOATHED WITH PASSION… Disney’s “Hercules.” I went with a friend obsessed with Disney. It’s pathetic when I’m sitting there and 10 minutes in I’m longing for the TV series (yes, the one with Kevin Sorbo) because it was MORE accurate. Funnier too.
This is really a good site.
also. i think ” Jae Ran Kim” who wrote this was more just trying to get people to think and jsut interesting to get to the meat of the stories.
This is old territory. Walt Disney suffered all his life from a myriad of mental and spiritual ills rooted in his having been an orphan. His films play out a number of his anxieties, his fears about what might have happened to his birth mother (cf. Bambi), and even what his racial background might be at a time when Hollywood was explicitly racist. He never found peace, according to biographers.
This is simply an artifact of good storytelling, and has no deeper meaning. Similarly, heroes in stories are almost never married.
Why? Because there must be an initial state of insecurity or difficulty in order to drive the plot.
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