SO, we have recently been discussing single parent families. And ironically enough, while watching Toy Story with my sister, we had an epiphany!
Almost all Disney stories just have had one parent.
Okay, okay, maybe not ALL-- but think about it.
Toy Story- The little boy may have Woody & Buzz, but who sees a dad? Not I.
The Lion King- Dad=Trampled.
The Little Mermaid- I see no Mer"Mom" here.
Beauty and the Beast- No crazy inventor Mama to match with her crazy inventor Papa.
Cinderella- Yeah, her friend mice taught her to sew not her mother.
Snow White- Shoot, did her parents even get mentioned?
The Fox and the Hound- That baby fox obviously only had a distraught feral mother.
Bambi- Mom. . . SHOT DOWN DEAD!
Aladdin- Jasmine could only rely on her pet tiger and single parent dad for advice. One is mute.
Ratatouille- "Little Chef" only had one angry father.
Pocahontas- Poor indian girl's mom, wasn't there for her.
One of the few functional and "whole" families represented by Disney were the Incredibles. And let's be honest they probably just grew up next to a nuclear power plant, that's how they got their powers. So we have a band of freaks, and a bunch of broken families. . .
Right?
WRONG!
Like we were saying in class on Tuesday, how do you "define" American culture? Just because a mother is the breadwinner instead of the father, does that make that family "Un-American"? Pssshhh, nope! Just because many of Disney's movies only show one parent doesn't mean that Disney is trying to parade around horrible examples of families. Precisely the opposite. These families are just fine. AND, they live in magical worlds where animals talk and gnomes inhabit your house. Just because the structure of a home isn't average, doesn't mean the function is chaotic. They can be healthy fictional characters in all their single parent homes. So, in the end, Disney isn't full of blaspheming fools. BUT DREAMWORKS IS!
Kidding!
1 comment:
I'm glad you brought this point up because I think it has a lot to do about what the image of the American family might be like for other countries. I know that the world of Disney has infiltrated the culture of many other countries, and you are right in pointing out the incredible bias towards single parent homes.
I once heard that there are so many single parent families in Disney movies because Walt Disney's own mother died when he was young, and he was raised by only one parent. This shows that his own family structure had a great influence over his work, and it might have inspired him to create a world that shows this type of family function in interesting ways.
I think it would be great if the Disney corporation could go even further with its use of nontraditional families by creating family movies that resonate with more diverse family structures.
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