Disney Has ALWAYS Changed Source Material

Disney has been embroiled in controversy and faced backlash recently for its casting decision with The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan and Wendy. The entertainment giant has been accused of pandering to “woke” audiences because of its casting choices and, particularly after some comments from The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey, many have taken the Walt Disney Company to task for changing source material.

But let’s break that down for a moment because the reality is that Disney has always changed source material for many a Disney princess, considering the original themes and narratives of many of these fairytales.

Let’s take the current talk of the town, The Little Mermaid, into consideration. Per the original fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, it’s arguably one of the most gruesome stories out there. The 1837 version of the tale pictures mermaids quite differently from the ones in Disney’s 1989 animated classic. They take more after sirens: “the Little Mermaid’s sisters play a game where they lure sailors into the water and to their deaths, then write and sing songs about their laughable terror.”

The conditions for Andersen’s Little Mermaid (who is nameless in the original fairytale) to become human are far more painful and evoke a more ghastly sight. (We won’t go into the details, but needless to say, there is a lot of pain involved.) If all that weren’t enough, in the end (spoiler alert!), the Little Mermaid dies, sacrificing herself for a prince who is a far cry from the Disney princes and especially Prince Eric in his treatment of his supposed love.

The Little Mermaid is not the only fairytale to have been “Disneyfied.” In Cinderella, the step-sisters’ consequences for their actions and desperation to fit their feet in the glass slipper have them facing enormous bodily harm. There is also no fairy godmother. The fairytale that inspired Sleeping Beauty is equally horrific, with the King who finds the sleeping princess being nothing like Prince Phillip (and that’s putting it nicely). In Snow White, the evil queen has to “wear a pair of glowing-hot iron shoes and dance ’til she’s dead.”

The original fairy tales are a lot to deal with and process.

That Disney changed this source material to suit family-friendly audiences is a no-brainer. Disney has a specific brand, and the original story of many of these tales can render many adults nauseous, let alone the impact they can have on children.

But it is worth noting that this is the case. Disney has made changes in the past to make older fairytales more appropriate for their audiences, and now they appear to be doing the same, at least per what their actors’ and actresses’ statements would have us believe. As a fan, one may still not agree with Disney’s decisions; still, it’s worth noting that the Walt Disney Company isn’t really doing anything new.