Probably the most famous collection of premodern fairy tales was Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which was published by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812 (originally under the German title of Kinder und Hausmärchen, or ‘Children’s and Household Tales’). Grimm’s tales offer fascinating resources for various historical subjects, but especially topics revolving around childhood and family. It may come as no surprise, therefore, that these themes are writ large in the other most famous series of fairy tales ever produced: namely, the various films by Walt Disney and his company that are based upon fairy tales. For this response, then, I want you to have a little fun with these tales, which ARE simultaneously meant for entertainment while also engaged with educating readers/viewers about certain moral ideas. I thought it would be interesting to see what might happen if you precisely and directly bring the tales of the Brothers Grimm and the films of “Uncle Walt” into conversation. Thus, I want you to somehow compare a single, specific story (or character) from Grimm’s Fairy Tales with a particular movie (or character) from the Disney universe. What are these stories and versions about, and in what ways are they notably similar and different? What did you find shocking or surprising in these stories, and why? Do these “texts” ultimately suggest different ideas and definitions of “fairy tales”? How/why so? Finally, what is the “moral” of the story for your chosen “texts”, and more importantly, what social or political ideas relative to the early nineteenth century (vs. more recent times) do your selected stories seem to subtly highlight and comment upon?
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The two I chose to compare was Grimm’s Little Snow White and Disney’s Snow White. The Disney version is much more involved with love, while the Grimm version is more about the evil step mother trying to kill snow white. The major difference between the Disney version and the Grimm version is the amount of times (and ways) Snow White is (almost) killed by the step mother. In Disney’s version, he made her go into the woods, then the step mother gave her the poison apple. In the Grimm version, she is suffocated, poisoned by a comb, then the apple. Another huge difference is how she wakes up. In the Disney version it is “true loves kiss.” How boring is that? True love solves all of Disney’s problems. In the Brothers Grimm version, they are traveling with her casket and go through brush which dislodges the apple from her throat. I think the biggest upset for me was how the step mother died. In Disney she was crushed by a huge rock. In the Grimm’s story she had to dance to her death at Snow White’s wedding to the prince. I think that the dancing was a much better ending, I would have liked to see that on film.
The similarities are the seven dwarfs. Although in the Grimm story they aren’t named after personality traits there are still seven dwarfs. Another similarity is the mirror and how it always speaks the truth. The final similarity I will talk about id Snow Whites portrayal and beauty. Both versions of Snow White describe her as beautiful with white skin, black hair, and red cheeks.
I think both stories have the hold the same thoughts on fairy tales, and execute them similarity I think Disney’s version has a little more romance, in it, but in them both the evil dies and good prevails. I think that the Grimm story makes Snow White a little more trusting/naive/ innocent then the Disney version. In the Grimm version she deliberately doesn’t listen to the dwarfs and opens the door three different times for the evil stepmother. In the Disney version, her kindness only injures her once. The Grimm fairy tale’s moral is Kindness will always prevail over evil. It could also be do not be envious, since envy caused the downfall of the evil step mother. While I feel like the Disney version is more like “the kiss of your true love will always save you.”
I think as far as what the times show, That the Grimm story talks about how Snow White gives herself to god, and they refer to the queen as the “godless queen.” I think that proves a lot about how important religion was then. It could also show that people who give themselves to God, go further and achieve more. Snow didn’t die three different times and that could infer it was because she gave herself to God. The Disney version focuses a lot on the roles of woman and men. It shoes where woman stood and how men should treat them. Snow White was saved by her man, who then took care of her. Before that she was a woman doing all the household chores for seven men. That could definitely be a sign of the times, since back them woman were stay at homes moms and men worked and supported the house.
When thinking of the classic fairy tales, it is very hard to look past the Disney versions that have become so famous in the past century. Their stories may be slightly altered, but they are meant to teach values in the same manner as the originals with a focus more closely on the American values. One story in particular that I felt was damaged by the “Ways of the Mouse” was that of Cinderella. The story remains the same in terms of its ending but sees most of its plot points changed for the sake of censorship.
The plot is generally the same. Step mother puts down step daughter for fathers fortune and she lives as a house servant until the prince finds her slipper and she is rightfully his forever to live happily ever after, bring on the nice ending and happy music. But it is the steps taken by Cinderella to get to the ball where the plot truly deviates. The animals help her in both versions of the story. Yet it is the “Ways of the Mouse” that makes it to here they sing and dance and make it one outfit, one dance, one happy life. The animals bring her outfit to her over several days of celebration from the tree that she planted near her mother’s grave. It is not one night and BOOM new life sealed. The slipper changes slightly in its fitting where Disney changed it from foot disfigurement to breaking one slipper to reveal the other.
Speaking of the tree, the lack of her mother is not new in Disney’s story. However, the fairy godmother is different. I believe that the fairy godmother is meant to represent the lack of her mother in the Disney version as she obtains the clothing and help from her ’motherly’ figures. She receives her help from the tree near her mother’s grave basically in the same manner as the fairy god mother does in the story minus the singing and happiness. Her anguish is sobered by these motherly figures.
The most important change to me is the character’s actions. The step mother is the same, still as mean in both versions though I’d probably tend to see the Grimm Brother’s version as the darker. The prince also remains as single minded as ever in Disney’s version; I need a wife and she dances good and looks amazing in that magical dress, sold. I find the sister’s to be the most drastically changed. More specifically, there actions to get the clipper to fit and to win over the prince. One cuts off her heel and the other cuts off a toe in order to fool the idiot prince. They are caught only by the animals that were friends with Cinderella stated that the shoe contains blood on the sisters but not on Cinderella.
The “Ways of the Mouse” certainly don’t give the original stories justice. But that is the way the world is working these days, change something to please those involved. And I agree with their changes. Children don’t really need to know the gore and dark tones of the Grimm tales. Being able to read these tales now gives more meaning to their messages and shows the modernization is just one, unfortunate, way of changing tales that have been passed down over and over. Cinderella changed in values, but not in charm.
Disney has, for all of my knowledge, never not had some kind of light-hearted happy ending garbage. For those of us who appreciate the worst possible scenario as the ending its more insult than entertainment. But since that is the case with all fairy tales, it was expected but still very much annoying. Fairy tales, like Bearskin for example, have sort of happy endings unless you remember the devil getting two souls for the price of one. Usually when the devil comes out on top its not considered a “happy ending” but as the souls he got were of two spiteful wastes of humanity the argument becomes less concrete. I suppose the only Disney film which could be used as any kind of comparison would be Sleepy Hollow as its not really a happy ending as Ichabod is killed by the Headless Horseman, which might be the first story Disney makes his own without completely leaving behind the source material. But really this is comparing a newly introduced school teacher turned possible specter hunter to a soldier who made a deal with the devil for money at the cost of his soul should he fail to survive for seven years without hygiene of any kind.
Of the Grimm fairy tales to Disney versions, I think that two good stories to compare would be Frau Holle and Cinderella. Both stories start out with an identical setting. The protagonists are Beautiful women who are forced to work and abused by their evil stepmother and ugly lazy step sisters. Cinderella is given help from her fairy god mother to go to the royal dance, while Goldmarie falls through a well and works for Frau Holle. When Goldmarie is homesick and is ready to leave Frau Holle she is rewarded with gold and is accepted back home. Cinderella who was supposed to go home in the end of the dance, winds up marrying a prince because her foot fit into the slipper she left. In both stories the step sisters get punished. In Cinderella, the step sisters amputate parts of their feet to try to put the slipper on. In Frau Holle the step sister throws the spindle in the well and cuts herself on purpose. In the end Cinderella’s step sisters do not fool the prince and get their eyes pecked out by pigeons, while Goldmarie’s step sister is covered in tar because Frau Holle finds out she’s lazy. Both stories seem to favor the characters who are hardworking and virtuous, while they punish the lazy dishonest ones.
The Grimm’s fairy tales have significant differences when comparing them with Disney. First off, like discussed in class, they were originally meant for adults. In the readings of “Cinderella,” it is the basic premise of Disney’s movie, but comes across more violent and life-like. For instance, a toe is cut off of the sister’s foot to try to fit the shoe. At the end of the story, both sister’s falsehood ends up blinding them for life. These were clearly taken out in Disney’s “Cinderella.” These acts of violence were not meant for children, therefore any of those acts would be removed to make a Disney movie. From the social-learning view, Cinderella is a good idea of what many foster children or mentally-abused children may feel like. She was brought up in household that basically hates her, and in the end finally gets some luck. Overall, Walt Disney seems to be biggest on removing the violence and changing the endings of some of these stories, so these works can be shown to all families.
Disney like we discussed in class has sanitized some of the more popular stories of The Grimm Brothers for children to make them more appropriate to that age demographic. The Disney movie, Tangled, is similar to the plot line of The Grimm Brothers’ story of Rapunzel. While The Grimm Brothers’ version of the story is more dark and violent the story lines are similar with how there is a daughter taken away from a king and queen by a witch/ sorceress. Then after so many years a man comes to the tower were daughter is trapped and saves her. One difference between the two is that in The Grimm Brothers’ beginning the daughter was promised to the witch/ sorceress where in Disney she was kidnapped. In Disney’s version as well they don’t make the notion of “love at first sight” with the main characters Rapunzel and Flynn Rider throughout their journey fall in love and realize it at the end. Also, in the Disney version there is no sign of them having a relationship before the journey to bring Rapunzel to see the lanterns, so there is no pregnancy or her being thrown out to the woods. The Grimm Brothers’ version doesn’t really specify any significance of Rapunzel’s hair besides a way for the witch/ sorceress to climb up the tower. Disney’s version however gives it magical powers of youth and healing. Besides the plots of the two being similar there are a variety of differences yet shows how over time what is socially acceptable has changed. The exposure of what this generation is exposed to still has violence but not from a children’s story that is meant to teach a lesson. Also I feel that because Disney makes so much money off of merchandise from these sanitized versions of these stories that the Grimm Brother’s version wouldn’t be as marketable due to the level of graphic violence and sexual nature.
The two versions that I wish to juxtapose are that of Cinderella. In the Grimm’s Fairy Tale original the story of Cinderella is brutally realistic (as expected) compared to the Disney counterpart. For this reason there are notable differences that can be inferred, yet amazingly enough, the two stories teach the same “lesson” at the end of it all.
One such difference is that in the Disney version it is evident that the father truly cares for his daughter, which is the reason why he remarries—he wanted Cinderella to have a mothers care. In the older tale, the father’s relationship with Cinderella is left unmentioned and his motives for remarrying are left so as well. It is also important to mention that in the Disney version her father dies, and therefore falls complete victim to her step-family’s malevolence.
In both tales Cinderella’s mother dies, but in the Grimm’s tale it is a key component in her getting the dress. It is because of Cinderella’s piety and respect to her mother why she is inevitably able to go to the ball. She goes to the grave and weeps multiple times a day and eventually plants a branch that her father fetched for her on the grave. Her tears nourish the tree and allow it to grow into a magnificent one. She then wishes for the dress and as a reward for her piety she gets the fantastic dress. Her means for getting this dress are a little more realistic and even melancholy then in Disney. She isn’t just granted it, it clearly took some work. Also, in the Disney version the gown is crafted by animals, destroyed, then of course bibbity bobbity and she has a sick dress, with glass slippers, not gold.
My last significant difference that came from this juxtaposition is that the Grimm’s ball takes place over three nights, with every increasing night the new dress is more magnificent and the prince is more enamored with the girl. In Disney it is a one night kind of a deal. These were just some differences selected from the obvious many (goriness, pigeons etc.).
Despite the significant plot changes the same virtues are taught in both stories. One is to remain true to yourself. In both stories it is because of Cinderella’s imperishable work ethic why she is able to go to the ball and live happily-ever-after. The other is that wickedness and falsehood lead you nowhere but down in life. The stepsisters in Disney were evil to Cinderella and consequently never got the prince or any other good ending, and in the end of the other story their wickedness left them with no eyes and some pretty grotesque looking feet, ew. Yeah, a reminder not to be wicked children.
A story that immediately comes to my mind when thinking of both the Grimm’s tales and the variation by Disney is Cinderella. Disney’s Cinderella was one of the first fairytales I can remember ever being introduced to and, as I basically grew up with Disney movies as a part of my childhood, it really shocked me to read how this story originally would have played out according to the Brothers Grimm fairytale.
The Grimm’s fairytale features much darker and more disturbing elements to it to than the Disney version. Cinderella basically lives to serve her wicked step-mother and step-sisters and, though this was featured in the Disney movie version as well, their mistreatment of Cinderella stemmed much further in the Grimm’s version of the tale than Disney’s. In the German tale, the evil step-mother and sisters force Cinderella to sleep in the ashes of the fireplace, which is how she acquired her name of Cinderella. Similar to the Disney version, there is a ball, which in this story lasts 3 nights, that the evil step-mother forbids Cinderella from attending unless she can find something nice to wear. Cinderella greatly mourned the loss of her mother and cries and prayers under the hazel tree she planted for the grave. As Cinderella mourns over the hazel tree, it miraculously sprouts an elaborate dress and some fancy shoes to go with it. In the Disney version, this element is removed from the story and Cinderella’s fairy godmother was used as the replacement. It is interesting to note how the religious element of prayer was replaced with the magical element of the fairy godmother. In both stories, as Cinderella is leaving the ball, she loses her slipper and the prince goes on a search the find this woman he has become so enamored with.
It is the ending of these stories that have the biggest effect on me as they are so strikingly different. In the Disney version, the wicked step-mother and step-sisters make many attempts to keep Cinderella from making her presence known and trying on the slipper. They lock her away in a room but she escapes with the help of her animal friends. The step-sisters attempt to try on the shoe but their feet just flop right out of it because their feet are not the right size. When Cinderella finally gets to the prince and tries on the shoe, he realizes she is the woman he is in love with and takes her away to his kingdom so they can be married and live happily together.
In the Brothers Grimm tale, however, the step-sisters go to extreme lengths to try to fit into the slipper. One step-sister cuts off her toe and another one saws off the back of her heel just to try to make the slipper fit. As they do not succeed and Cinderella finally gets to try on the slipper, the prince realizes that she is the woman he desires and he whisks her away to his kingdom to be married. In the end however, pigeons appear before the evil step-sisters and peck out their eyes. Their blindness is meant to serve as a punishment for their wickedness.
I originally found the Grimm’s ending to be so shocking but having done research on the tales, I saw that this story would have been considered normal and appropriate for the time period where as in today’s society, it is considered too gruesome and violent for children. I think that the different variations of Cinderella definitely reflect different definitions and expectations as to what we would culturally define as fairytales. The Grimm version leads people to believe that fairytales were actually written to shock and surprise audiences with their twists and turns and unexpected elements where as many day Disney fairytales are more about the “happily ever after” aspect of things. I feel as though this shift in the definition of fairytales is just a result of the times and the generations.
The Grimm version and the Disney version of Cinderella have different morals. The Brothers Grimm version had a more vengeful kind of moral to it. The moral of the story was basically wicked things will happen to wicked people and good things will happen to good people; what goes around comes back around. As Cinderella was good and patient and did as she was told, goodness, wealth, and a marriage came upon her. Because the step sisters were cruel and evil to Cinderella, they got their punishment of being blinded and mutilated. The Disney version of Cinderella was basically “be a good girl and one day a rich man will sweep you off your feet and take you far away to live in his palace with him”. The odds of this actually occurring for most of the female population are pretty unlikely and Disney is guilty of playing up the “damsel in distress” role of female characters and leads young girls to believe that they need a man to rescue them in the end. Both morals take things to the extreme and distort the reality of life as a result.
Socially and culturally, these were traditional morals and themes that presented themselves given their current time period and the tales obviously evolved with the times and the generations. Fairytales have long been sanitized, revised, and duplicated and they will continue to be as the times continue to change and new generations come and old generations go.
For my blog post I would like to choose repunsal from the grim fairy tales and the little mermaid an iconic character from the Disney world. At one time fairy tales stood for much more they explained the cruel ness of the world to children. They start as a collection of folk tales and were a political and social change from the standpoint of traditional literature. This is due to the fact that they were stories from and of the common people. The story of repunsal was originally a darker tale. The story had thing such as eyes being poked out and pregnacy of the youth. Sure this story has a happy ending: however, the fact is, is that Disney changed the world of fairy tales even more then they had been drastically changing the years before. Disney took stories and changed desecitised them for the younger audience still trying to teach lesson. This took the darkness away from the fairy tales. Now with stories like the little mermaid things are more underlying like not giving up and working to get what you want also love and truth. These are still beautiful stories but softer then they once were and much different. These stories once were a political and social change and are now more just for entertainment. The grim brother changed literature, and supplied countless children with stories and lesson, and I thank them for that.
Maybe the simplest two to compare are simply Cinderella as told by the Brother’s Grimm and by good ol’ Walt. They’re both classics, always in people’s minds when they think of “Princess”, let alone “Disney”. However, the two tales are very distinct from one another. As we talk about in class, typically in the Grimm’s tales, bad things happen to bad people. As we can all agree karmically, bad deeds reap bad repercussions. This is reflected in the brother’s Grimm’s tales.
The evil step sisters in the Brother’s Grimm are a bit more abusive than in the Disney tale. They’re especially more violent and insidious in their taunting and really show themselves as vile. Not only that, but they show themselves as vile. When they try to wear Cinderella’s slipper, they cut their feet to fit the shoe, which is downright disgusting and awful. Not to mention, their eyes are picked out by pigeons (or some bird). That’s a gruesome fate even for someone whose evil.
I feel as though I need to say very little about Walt Disney’s version. Imagine a man or woman, in relative quiet, regaling you the tale of Cinderella and her abusers / captors, with a hopeful ending in which she is finally happy. In the Disney tale, not only does a score / soundtrack provide an uplifting vibe (or sadder / darker as necessary) but its animated. It’s harder to look at some animation styles and make them feel dark: Cinderella is inherently, in its presentation, bright. There’s no gruesome fate, and while I haven’t seen Cinderella… well ever, the stepsisters sort of just fall of the face of the Earth quietly.
And all is endswell too: in both tales, all ends well. But how we come to such an end it a totally different manner.
Two characters that come to mind when comparing and contrasting Grimm’s tales to Disney films are Rapunzel from Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled. The similarities that these two stories have are that there is a king and queen who have a daughter and she gets taken by the sorceress, Gothel. The sorceress then locks Rapunzel in a high tower in the middle of the woods. The differences are that in Grimm’s version, Rapunzel meets a prince when he hears her singing voice from the tower. When Gothel finds out about him and that Rapunzel is pregnant, she cuts off her hair and kicks her out of the tower to fend for herself in the woods. Once the prince comes back like he promised and sees the sorceress instead of his beloved Rapunzel, he jumps out of the tower and is blinded by thorns. Rapunzel and the prince meet once again in the woods and she saves him by crying into his eyes and restoring his vision. In Disney’s version, Rapunzel meets a robber who she commands to take her to see the floating lights. Rapunzel is never thrown out into the woods or becomes pregnant. Also, her parents have been awaiting for their daughter’s arrival home instead of never hearing from the parents like in the Grimm’s tales. Another thing is that her hair has the magical power to heal and bring youth to whoever sings the song.
I do not think that these two stories suggest different ideas or definitions of fairy tails. They both offer a moral with magical details and similar characters. The moral of the Grimm’s version of the fairy tale is that love prevails evil whereas the moral of Disney’s version is to never give up on your dreams.
For this blog post I will compare The Elves from the Grimm tales to Cinderella from Disney. One major difference is that The Elves is very religion based. The poor shoemaker prays every night and when he wakes up all of the work is done. He then discovers that elves are making the shoes after he goes to bed so he gives them clothes and gifts. This causes his business to have success in the future. Cinderella does not have any influence from religion. One similarity however is that if you do the right thing good things will happen to you. Likewise, if you are mean to others like the sisters were to Cinderella, bad things will happen to you, even though in the Disney version they do not get their eyes plucked out. Overall, Disney is a lot more censored then the Grimm tales. This may be because times have changed and what parents want their kids to see is a happy ending where everything always works out for the best.
Unlike a Disney movie, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm can be dark and gory, but the two versions of certain stories share not only differences, but many similarities as well. The absentee parent or parents, the villain, the beautiful, captured girl, the prince who plans to save the beautiful, captured girl, magic, and of course the happily ever after are all tropes the Brothers Grimm and Disney share. In Rapunzel, we see all of these tropes in both the Disney movie version and in the German fairy tale, but we also learn they share the same moral, that children grow up and leave the nest regardless of their parents’ efforts to keep them locked up at home. Although the Disney film mercifully leaves out the prince losing his eyes after a tussle with a thorn bush, the evil sorceress, Mother Grothel is the same as is the reunion between Rapunzel and her suitor. Most surprisingly in the Grimm tale, was the pregnancy of Rapunzel, an unmarried woman becoming pregnant was a really frowned upon thing in the 19th century and I wonder why the brothers would include that in their story, I don’t believe it’s as a lesson because, in the end, Rapunzel gets her happy ending and marries a prince. The point is, for the most part, Disney took more than just the names of characters from the Brothers Grimm, but I believe the sanitation of our modern era left out the darker parts that the brothers weren’t afraid to shed light on.
I thought it would be most interesting to compare the brothers Grimm’s version of Cinderella with that of Disneys version. First of all, it is notable that both stories characters and story line are very similar, although there are many significant changes made. The first thing I noticed was that in the Grimm tale, Cinderella’s father is alive throughout the story, and when we watch the Disney version he has previously past away. I think they did this because in Grimms tale the father isnt nessesarily the niciest to her. He never sticks up for her, he refers to her as “deformed” to the prince and doesnt seem to care for her like the other daughters. I think Disney took him out of the story to enphasize him in a better light. In other words, they wanted to imply that her life would have been better if her parents or father was around. Another interesting realization I made from reading the tale was that it potrayed all of the daughters as beautiful and in the Disney version they were ugly. I think the tale was trying to conclude that all the girls were equal and they should of all been treated equally, whereas in disneys version I think they were trying to highlight that ugly people were evil, and beautiful people were kind.
Some of the plots were different in the versions. Grimms focused on the death of the mother and the mourn over her. There isn’t a “God mother” in the fairytale, just pigeons who perched on a tree whom I assume we’re the spirit of her latest mother. I think they make the God mother in Disney to make it more based for children viewers, so they can understand that it was a mother figure coming to help her. There was also more gruesome parts in the fairy tale that were taken out, that I think we’re meant to santisize the story. A comparison I made was that the show changed, which I didn’t really understand why…maybe to highlight that it wasn’t about the wealth of the shoe but the beauty?!
There is a clear difference between the fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and that of Disney. The Grimm Brothers offer a darker, more original version of stories they collected over time. On the other hand, Disney produced safer, more water-down versions of the stories. This is very apparent when comparing the stories of Rapunzel. Both stories center on the same person and her original conflict of being stuck in a tower held by a sorceress, but there are key differences.
In the Grimm Brothers’ version of Rapunzel, Rapunzel’s main conflict centers around being stuck in the tower and becoming pregnant by an itinerant prince. In this fairly-tale, the story is for both entertainment and for teaching a lesson. Particularly, the lesson is about stealing and premarital sex. This text surprisingly is less gory and violent than some of the other Grimm Brothers fairy-tales. Rapunzel, however, is still painted as a damsel in distress that is ultimately saved by a prince.
In the Disney version of Rapunzel, Rapunzel is a girl that has many conflicts, internally and externally. Her problems are more drawn out in terms of adventures, rather than just being stuck in a tower and using her hair for a ladder. In this rendition, Rapunzel serves the purpose of inspiring young girls to find their inner selves and fulfil their hopes and dreams. This version makes Rapunzel appear more heroic in her own right, as she accompanies Flynn on journeys. In the end, “Tangled” provides more of a hopeful ending than the original Grimm Brothers.
I did not find the alterations Disney made to Grimm’s Cinderella had a major impact on the text itself or the moral it was attempting to portray. It is evident, when comparing Grimm’s version to Disney’s version of Cinderella that many details were changed and it is clear that Disney had the intention of sanitizing the original Cinderella in a way that makes it more suitable for children’s entertainment. For instance, in Grimm’s version of Cinderella, Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off pieces of their feet in order to squeeze into Cinderella’s slipper. Disney removed this aspect of the fairy tale as it was a gory and unnecessary and the point of that part of the story could be explained in a less gruesome manner. Another major difference is Grimm’s Cinderella marries the prince and her stepsisters eyes are pecked out by birds as punishment for their wickedness. In Disney’s version, Cinderella invites her stepsisters to live in the prince’s castle with her. This is a form of sanitization because it disposes of violence but it also potentially introduces an additional moral, namely being the bigger person. Through Cinderella’s kindness and forgivingness, children can learn the value of treating everyone with kindness, even those who have wronged them. Regardless of these minor differences in the fairy tale, we see that the story of Cinderella is pretty consistent in terms of chronology, characters and morality. The overall moral of the story is unhindered by the changes Disney made to the text. Disney’s main attempt and achievement was probably unraveling the harsh realities of life that the Grimm brothers included in their stories. Disney made fairy tale world into a more beautiful, magical and arguably unrealistic place where people can escape to a land that will always end in the happily ever after type scenario, perhaps being the reason Disney and his legacy have lived on for so long.
Disney, is known for being one of the most loved and viewed movies and television show franchise of all time. With that being said you would think that “Uncle Walt’s” ideas would be as similar or directly the same as the ideas and life lessons that the Brother Grimm’s tried to instill in the minds of the young children in Germany. However, instead impart key knowledge into the minds of these children—who want nothing more than to be just like the Disney princesses’— Walt decides that the story line from Brother Grimm’s fairy tales need to be “watered down” to appeal to the younger generation. By doing this he changes the whole meaning behind majority of the fairy tale; instead of ending each Disney movie with something realistic and original they all and with “happily ever after.”
One story that I was shocked to find was complete different from the original Brother Grimm was the fairy tale of the lovely Rapunzel. The Disney version of Rapunzel was entitled Tangled and was about a younger girl seeking freedom and you guess it, a “happily ever after” love story. Brother Grimm version is complete different than G-Rated Disney, being that it is much darker and dramatic. In Grimm’s fairy tale Rapunzel meets a prince when he hears her singing voice from the tower. When Gothel finds out about him and that Rapunzel is pregnant, she cuts off her hair and kicks her out of the tower to fend for herself in the woods. Once the prince comes back like he promised and sees the sorceress instead of his beloved Rapunzel, he jumps out of the tower and is blinded by thorns. Rapunzel and the prince meet once again in the woods and she saves him by crying into his eyes and restoring his vision. When reading and watch both the story and movie adaptation of Rapunzel I do see little bits and pieces of some similarities between both tales. For example, both characters were kidnapped from the King and Queen by the evil sorceress Gothel. Another comparison is the both Rapunzel shared the magical power to heal the people that they loved the most.
Even though “Uncle Walt” changed some of the darker parts with childish antidotes and funny animal side-kicked, the morally aspects from both tales were still there. They both offer a moral with magical details and similar characters. The moral of the Grimm’s version of the fairy tale is that love prevails evil whereas the moral of Disney’s version is to never give up on your dreams and growing up.
I am comparing the Grimm’s version of Cinderella with the Disney version of her character. Both tales follow the same plot line and incorporate similar themes however the Grimm’s version has a much darker tone than Disney. Disney’s version is softened up and made more suitable for young children to enjoy. They cut out the original idea of the pigeons pecking out the evil step sister’s eyes and the girls cutting off their own toes. This goes to the difference of time period and societies standards of what is appropriate. In the early 1800s, German culture probably did not shy away from corporal punishment and harsh consequences. Walt Disney’s goal was to create a fairytale like world full of princesses who all managed to achieve their happy ending. The Disney version also changed the magical tree on top of the mother’s grave to three fairy god mothers which speaks to the fantasy world Walt Disney was trying to capture with his interpretation of these tales. The morals of the story and the basic plot remained almost identical; with just a few minor changes which proves the power of this tale and the effect it has on people surpasses the test of time.
It was interesting to see the difference in story telling between Disney and the brothers Grimm, the Grimm brothers intended these stories for adults and to reinstall good moral lessons. Although some of their stories were somewhat graphic it still had a positive message in the end. Disney simply took some of the stories and removed some of the content to resell them to little children. Due to his success many people grow up believing Disney created these stories; leaving the Grimm brothers to be unknown. In the story The Seven Ravens the young daughter cuts off her fingers to redeem her lost brothers. This story is somewhat graphic but in the end of the story, the lesson we can take from it is be careful what you say or wish for, you never know what could happen. In Rapunzel, you must be careful what you agree to and should never steal no matter what the cause may be. The difference between the Grimm and Disney in this story is very noticeable, seeing as how Rapunzel doesn’t have babies or reference that she’s pregnant in Disney she does so in Grimm’s version.
I am comparing the story of Rapunzel from the Grimm’s storyline and Disney’s storyline. There are similarities between the two and there are some major differences and plot points that have changed.
In the Disney story Rapunzel is kidnapped by a woman named Mother Gothel because newborn Rapunzel’s hair had magic healing abilities that could keep Gothel young. She locked her away in a tower for many years. Around her eighteenth birthday a thief by the name of Flynn Rider was escaping the kingdoms guards because he stole a crown. He hid in the tower and was subdued by Rapunzel. She agreed to return the crown to him only if he would take her to the kingdom to see the lights she always gazed at. So they went off. Towards the end Gothel injured Flynn and to break the bond Gothel had on Rapunzel, he cut off her hair. So she withered and died. Crying Rapunzel’s tears fell into his would and healed him.
The Grimm’s story is that Rapunzel is taken away by a sorceress because of her parents greed. There she is locked away for years. A prince hears her singing and he climbs into the tower from her hair. The two fall in love and Eventually the sorceress finds out and tricks the Prince. He falls out of the tower and is blinded by thorns that poke his eyes out. He wanders the forest and eventually stumbles upon Rapunzel and their twins that have been hiding. Her tears fall into his eyes and they heal him. They return to the kingdom.
Similarities to the story are her getting locked away, but the who, why and hoe she is freed are all different. The stories follow the damsel in distress theme showing a girl to be rescued. But the sorceress is changed to a lady, why she is kidnapped is all different, the prince is changed to a thief, and the injuries are different, and she doesn’t have children in the movie.
Disney took a lot of what would be seen as more brutal and violent nature out of this story and made it kid friendly with the notion of her parents greed replaced with magic golden hair. It does make sense though because there is a 200 year gap between the stories and the way we behave towards kids is different.