Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a very big, foreboding castle. With the death of her father, her evil stepmother took rule of the castle and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?
Disney has completely revamped the traditional fairy tale and while these sanitized tales are fantastic for children and adults alike (and even in some cases, make the characters more enjoyable), many people are unaware of the roots of these stories. Much darker and more literal, these tales forego the musical interludes and cut right to the chase.
For instance, in Disney’s Cinderella, once Cinderella has lost her slipper and the prince is determined to have only the girl whose small foot can fit into the slipper, the stepsisters nearly break their necks for the chance to try on the shoe, but have no luck fitting their large feet into the shoe.
In the original fairy tale, when the girls’ stepmother sees this turn of events, she demands the first sister cut off her toe so that she can fit into the shoe. Later, on the carriage ride back to the prince’s castle, the prince notices the sister’s foot bleeding and discovers her ruse. The same scenario happens with the other sister, only this time, it’s her heel that she cuts off.
Obviously, this scene was much too dark and gruesome for an animated children’s tale, but nevertheless, this was the fairy tale in its purest form.
Cinderella is not the only fairy tale to receive a happier, brighter ending. Disney’s The Little Mermaid has Ariel going on to live happily ever after with her landdwelling prince. The ending of the original tale, penned by Hans Christian Andersen, is anything but happy, however. In the original fairy tale, The Little Mermaid dies, becoming nothing more than foam in the sea as she later looks down from heaven on her prince.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is, possibly, the closest translation from the original fairy tale. However, instead of simply having Snow White’s heart cut out and brought to the queen as in the animated film, in the original fairy tale, the Wicked Queen was to have Snow White’s liver and lung brought to her by her henchmen and served to her for dinner that evening.
Also, in the original tale, Snow White was not awakened by a kiss, but by being jostled by the prince as he took her to his castle. The shake up dislodged the bite of poisonous apple from her throat and Snow White returned to life.
Like so many literary translations to film, the filmmakers have to make the decision of what best serves the progression of the film. Some things that read well simply don’t film well. With these fairy tales, not only did the filmmakers have to wrestle with these elements, but also what would be fitting for children in the modern setting of the 1950s, 60s and, later, the early 90s.
As times progress and what becomes more or less acceptable changes, we may see animated tales becoming more darker and realistic. However, there will always be a simplicity and innocence about Walt Disney’s first animated fairy tales that will be impossible for most not to love.