Question of the day
Why are there so many animated Disney films in which the main character has no mother at the beginning of the film or she dies during the film?
Disney has over 50 animated films and out of these series of films, (as far as I can tell) more or less 30 films have characters that are either missing their mothers at the beginning of the movie or who lose them during the plot.
Let check them out:
- Snow White (none)
- Cinderella (none)
- Alice in Wonderland (none)
- Beauty and the Beast (none)
- Pinocchio (none)
- Dumbo (locked away for most of film)
- The Jungle Book (died before)
- Tarzan (none)
- Bambi (dies from gunshot)
- The Fox & The Hound (dies from gunshot)
- The Little Mermaid (none)
- All Dogs Go to Heaven (girl is orphan)
- Peter Pan (none)
- Aladdin (neither Jasmin and Aladdin have mothers)
- Finding Nemo (died before)
- Lilo & Stitch (died before)
- Pocahontas (dies before)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (none)
- Oliver & Company (none)
- Brother Bear (dies from gunshot)
- The Sword in the Stone (none)
- The Rescuers (none)
- The Rescuers Down Under (none)
- The Great Mouse Detective (none)
- The Three Caballeros (none)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Christopher Robin has no parents)
- Tangled (evil woman pretends to be mother)
- The Emperor’s New Groove (none)
- Dinosaur (none)
- The Black Cauldron (none)
What gives?
Walt Disney enjoyed success and wealth from his first animated film, Snow White, in 1938. One of the first things he did after hitting it big was buy a house that same year for his parents. Unfortunately, less than a month after the house was bought, tragedy struck when a faulty furnace caused the death of Walt's mother, Flora Disney. She allegedly died from asphyxiation due to gas poisoning because the furnace was installed incorrectly.
Several sources have said that Disney was inconsolable after the loss. Though he didn't show much emotion in public, it was apparent he blamed himself for the accident.
Though most of the films are adapted from traditional fairy tales or classic literature, Disney (not specifically Walt) chose those with no mothe, or cut out the mother role altogether.
Coincidence?
Probably not. It’s funny how one man's personal problems can affect our media and societal ideas so much.