Have you ever noticed that in just about every animated Disney movie, from Bambi to Lilo and Stich, and everything in between, the mothers are missing? They are either killed brutally, as in Bambi, or they are simply long gone, as in Beauty and the Beast, Ariel, Cinderella, and so on, right on up to Lilo and Stich and most recently, Finding Nemo. What is the message that children get when they watch these popular movies, and re watch them over and over on video? What would Sylvia Betelheim think of these uses of enchantment? Sylvia Betelheim was a noted child psychiatrist who wrote a wonderful book about fairy tales called “The Uses of Enchantment.” In this book, she looks at some of the most popular fairy tales — in their original form, not the Disney version — and theorizes about what gives these stories their lasting power, and what children get out of hearing these stories over and over. For example, in the burial story of Hansel and Gretel, grown ups are often shocked at the idea of a witch trying to burn and eat children. But children find this story very dis empowering and exciting, and like in so many fairytales and videos, want to hear it over and over again. But when the Disney people rewrite and recreate fairytales, I don’t think they are thinking about what kids get out of the stories, but they are thinking about how much money they can make from the soundtrack and toys that will come out after the movie is released. But what I don’t understand is why they have to keep killing the mothers in these popular movies.
The Essay on Underlying Meanings within Children Stories
Underlying Meanings within Children Stories People enjoy a good story. More importantly, children enjoy their fairytales. However, many of these stories have more morbid underlying meanings. Everyone should know, or at least be vaguely familiar with, the cute story of Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods. What people may not know, or may not have figured out, is that this ...
Couldn’t they create a popular movie where a child either has both parents, or at least has a mother? More kids live with their mothers than w ith their fathers in real life – why not in Disney movies?
