The Real Disney Princesses
Meghan Salinas, Visual Arts Editor
The industry of Disney thrives on magic and was certain in the fact that all stories end with, “a happy ever after” usually resulting in a kiss or good defeating evil. But did the traditional bed-time stories that we were told as children actually result in happy endings? Think again. Many would say that Disney movies are wholesome and positive, but those happy endings weren’t the reality of those films.
Torture, hanging, blindness, and burning feet – these are just a few of the things Disney cuts out when rewriting century-old fairytales for the screen.
With deep apologies of ruining everything good about your favorite Disney princesses, here are a few dark origin stories. You have been warned.
photo courtesy: pixabay
1. Pinocchio
Say it isn’t so? The sweet puppet who had dreams of becoming a real boy. The Disney version of this film introduces Pinocchio’s comrade, Jiminy Cricket to makes Pinocchio’s dream a reality. The origin story was told by Carlo Collidi and he hoped for a different image of Pinocchio’s real character. The gruesome story ends with Pinocchio killing Jiminy Cricket with a mallet because the poor cricket was trying to give Pinocchio some good advice about his dream.
2. Cinderella
This Brothers Grimm story was definitely in need of a fairy godmother. In an attempt to fit the glass slipper, Cinderella’s stepsisters go to the complete extreme by cutting off different parts of their feet. Some doves swooped into the scene to show the blood on the shoes in order to save the prince from being fooled, which resulted in the doves pecking out the eyes of Cinderella’s stepsisters causing them to go blind.
Let me just say, the Disney version of this film got it all wrong. Ariel and Prince Eric do not have a happy ending—whatsoever. The harsh reality is that Prince Eric didn’t actually see Ariel’s face when she saved him, resulting in him marrying someone else. If Ariel could not make the prince fall in love with her it would result in her death. The evil sea witch told Ariel that she could remain a mermaid if she kills Prince Eric, but sadly, Ariel couldn’t go through with killing her forever love. Ariel throws herself into the ocean and dissolves into sea foam according to Hans Christian Andersen’s version of the tale.
4. Snow White
In this Brother Grimm’s origin tale everything seems to be alright with Snow White and her charming prince. After the evil queen had two failed attempts to poison and kill Snow White, she finally took the bite. Sadly, for the Evil Queen, The Prince swooped in with his true love’s kiss to save her. At the end of this story Snow White and The Prince are standing at the altar on their wedding day and to their surprise, an uninvited guest appears, The Evil Queen. As a result of the turn of events and the Queen’s revenge, Snow White has to dance around in iron-hot shoes burning her feet until she dies.
