The REAL Stories Behind These Disney

Movies Will Ruin Your Childhood

When I was a kid, I loved fairy tales. I loved the idea of talking animals and brave girls and boys
who overcame cruel care takers. I also really loved Disney movies. They all had happy endings;
whats not to love about that? I could watch Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin every single
day.

When I got a little older, I graduated from watching Disney movies to reading the Brothers
Grimm. In the fourth grade, I checked out the Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
from my school library and never returned it (a belated sorry! to my grade school library!)

I was horrified to find that the origins of many of my favorite Disney movies had much more
gruesome details that Disney completely left out.

Below is a collection of horrifying details that Disney chose to leave out of all of these
book/fairy tale/play adaptations. Read on only if you want to completely ruin your
childhood.

Cinderella: In the Brothers Grimm version, one of Cinderellas evil stepsisters cuts off
her toes, and the other her heel so they can both fit into the tiny glass slipper. The prince is
notified by little doves that there is blood on the shoe, and finally discovers that the true owner is
Cinderella. Once the stepsisters realize that they should try to win favor with Cinderella (after
all, she will be queen), they attend her wedding, only to have their eyes pecked out by birds.
Did they deserve it? Ill let you decide, reader. SOME OTHER SIDENOTES ON THIS STORY:
Cinderella doesnt have a fairy godmother. Rather, she plants a tree by her mothers grave and
prays under it every day. She finds her dresses to wear to each ball under the tree (there are three
in the story, not one like in the movie). She is still helped by animals, though specifically birds,
not mice. Also, she doesnt just lose her shoe because she is in a rush. The clever prince covers
the steps in pitch to make her stick to them, but she only loses a shoe in the process.
The Little Mermaid: Hans Christian Andersens classic tale is a 180 from the Disney film.
Some parts align. She does see the prince from afar in his ship, and she does rescue him from
drowning and fall in love with him. He doesnt see her. She does visit the sea witch who takes
her tongue in exchange for legs (and she does do it because the little mermaid has an amazing
voice).

The deal is the same: The mermaid can only remain a human if she finds true loves kiss and the
prince falls in love with and marries her. However, the penalty in the movie is only that Ariel will
turn back into a mermaid if she fails. In the story, she will DIE if she fails. Also, while the
prince remains a main motivator, the mermaid in the story is also motivated because humans
have eternal souls, and mermaids dont. The Disney movie leaves out that the penalty the
mermaid pays for having legs: every single step she takes will feel like she is walking on
sharp shards of glass. At first, it seems like the plan is working, but then the prince ends up
marrying another, a woman he THINKS is the person who saved him (the mermaid cant exactly
tell him the truth, since she cant talk). She is told that if she KILLS the prince, then she can
simply turn back into a mermaid and doesnt have to die. She just cant do it, though. She
throws herself into the sea, and turns into sea foam (though it should be mentioned that she
then becomes a daughter of the air, entering a kind of purgatory where she has to do good
deeds until she MAYBE earns a soul, which will take about 300 years to happen). Hows
that for a happy ending?

The Fox and the Hound: The Fox and the Hound is based on a 1967 novel written by
Daniel P. Mannix. In the book, the fox is raised by the dog owners/hunters family, but
eventually returns to the wild. He occasionally returns to taunt the dogs, and flash his cunning
fox skills. One of the dogs breaks his chain, and chases him. That dog ends up getting hit by a
train. The hunter is devastated, and vows revenge on the fox. He becomes obsessed, but can
never catch him (although he does kill the foxs first mate, second mate, and children).
Eventually, Tod the fox DOES die, but of exhaustion from being chased so much. Copper (the
dog from The Fox and the Hound) is so old that he needs to be shot, and that is the end of
the book. Pretty different from the movie, where a puppy and a baby fox become BFFL.

Beauty and the Beast: Beauty and the Beast is actually pretty accurate, except for some
uninteresting details (like how Belles father used to be rich, but got himself into major debt).
There is ONE unfortunate detail that the story DOES leave out. In the first believed version of
the tale (by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve), Belle has two wicked sisters (lots of
wicked family members in fairy tales, unfortunately). The Beast allows Belle to travel home, as
long as she is only gone for a week. Her sisters are extremely jealous to hear about her
luxurious life, and try to persuade Belle to stay with them longer than a week, in the hopes
that the Beast will be infuriated with Belle and eat her alive upon her return. Yikes.

Pinocchio: Disneys Pinocchio came from Carlo Collodis 1883 Italian classic The
Adventures of Pinocchio. You might think Pinocchio was mischievous in the movie, but he is
far more so in the book. In the book, he runs away as soon as he learns to walk. He is found by
the police, who imprison Geppetto because they believe Pinocchio was abused. Pinocchio
returns home, where he kills a talking cricket (sorry, Jiminy) who warns him of the dangers
of hedonistic pleasures and obedience. Geppetto is released, and insists that Pinocchio goes to
school. Pinocchio sells his school books for a ticket to the Great Marionette Theatre. He
encounters a fox and a cat, who steal his money and unsuccessfully try to hang him.
Luckily, after saving Geppetto from the terrible dogfish (you might know it better as the gigantic,
angry whale from the film), Pinocchio shapes up and eventually becomes a real boy (and, you
know, all that stuff about boys getting turned into donkeys and then sold to evil circuses did end
up making it into the movie, surprisingly).

Sleeping Beauty: In Giambattista Basiles tale (which is the actual origin of the Sleeping
Beauty story), a king happens to walk by Sleeping Beautys castle and knock on the door. When
no one answers, he climbs up a ladder through a window. He finds the princess, and calls to her,
but as she is unconscious, she does not wake up. Well, dear reader, he carries her to the bed
and rapes her. Then he just leaves. She awakens after she gives birth because one of her twins
sucks the flax (from the spindle) out of her finger. The king comes back, and despite him having
raped her, they end up falling in love? However, another big problem: the king is still married
to someone else. His wife finds out and not only tries to have the twins killed, cooked, and fed to
the king, but also tries to burn the princess at the stake. Luckily, she is unsuccessful. The king
and the princess get married and live happily ever after (despite the fact that he raped her).
Perraults adaptation of Basiles updated adaptation of the story (a much tamer version) is
probably what was used for the Disney adaptation, as they are much more similar.

Tangled: I know, this is a pretty loose adaptation. But still, I think its worth mentioning. In
the Brothers Grimm version, Rapunzel gets knocked up by the prince before they escape,
and the evil sorceress figures it out. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzels hair and throws her out
into the wilderness. When the prince shows up to see her, the sorceress dangles Rapunzels cut-
off hair to lure him, and tells him he will never see Rapunzel again. He jumps out the window
in despair and is blinded from the thorns below. He wanders around aimlessly (he is blind).
Rapunzel gives birth to twins. He is eventually guided back to her when he hears her voice. Her
tears restore his sight. They return to the princes kingdom and live happily ever after. (See?
Some of these fairy tales actually DO have real happy endings, even when women have babies
out of wedlock!)
The Lion King: Oh, you didnt know that The Lion King was a loose adaptation of
Shakespeares Hamlet? Well, fancy that. A jealous brother kills the king, the son finds out
about it and wants revenge. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I mean, Timon and Pumba, distract
him. But finally, the son kills the evil jealous brother. Well, actually, in Shakespeares version
everyone dies, not just the evil, jealous brother (formerly known as Claudius).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: In the Brothers Grimm version, the evil queen
stepmother asks a hunter to take Snow White into the forest and kill her (this also happens in the
Disney movie). However, in the story, she asks him to also bring her back Snow Whites lungs
and liver. He cant kill Snow White, so brings back a boars lungs and liver instead. The queen
eats the lungs and liver, believing them to be Snow Whites. Yuck. In the book, the queen tries
twice (unsuccessfully) to kill Snow White. The third time, when the queen gives her the apple
(just like in the movie), Snow White faints and cant be revived. She is placed in a glass coffin. A
prince comes and wants to take her away (even though she is still asleep, which is pretty weird).
The dwarves hesitantly allow it, and while she is being carried, the carriers trip, causing the
poisoned apple to become dislodged from Snow Whites throat. She and the prince, of course,
get married. The evil queen is invited. As a punishment, she is forced to wear burning-hot iron
shoes and dance until she drops dead.