Disney's View on the Family

[GoBlueLacheta]

It has been quite bothersome to me over the years and have really never voiced my opinion in any public forum about it, but I have noticed that Disney films rarely represent an intact family household. The most glaring being younger generation characters being brought up by single parents or being orphans all together and it transends all social status classes from rich on down in films such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Robin Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, A Goofy Movie, Rescuers Down Under, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Lilo and Stitch, Meet The Robinsons, Up, Ratatouille, and the list goes on.

It seems to go through all generations but there are very few movies that display an intact family where one of the parents does not die at some point.

Single parents do a wonderful job and do so out of necessity and strong parenting for their children..but in a clean slate of fantasy does the model of a household always have to be broken for our children to see?

[BrerGnat]

A lot of the reason for this is that this is how many "Fairy Tales" were written way back when. Most stories that have a moral implication or lesson rely on one or both parents missing, which provides much more fuel for the "potential issues" fire. Death and abandonment have been used for centuries to teach lessons, going all the way back to Biblical times (and even further back than that, when you examine myths and legends of ancient civilizations).

Disney is simply following the precedent by using the missing parental figues to create an underlying issue that is dealt with in the film. If you think about it, the heroes and heroins of the Disney films always "overcomes" something. There would be little to conquer if all was happy and perfect.

Would you rather Disney focus on "current" issues that affect families, like drug and alcohol use and addiction, abuse, and neglect? Certainly not, I would hope.

By using "broken" households, Disney (and others) are able to provide a reason for the underlying issues that is, for the most part, accepted by children as a natural part of life. No need to expose kids to the violent and dangerous family situations in something that is supposed to be, for the most part, entertaining.

[Michelle15]

I really have never looked at it in that way. But I do see your point. I am curious to read everyones views on this.

[senderella]

I agree, however there are a few that differ from the norm...The Incredibles, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty.

[azcavalier]

"Meet the Robinsons" does have an orphan, but it's all about a full family.

I think that Disney films just simply cover the gamut when it comes to families and family types.

[cetacean01]

get just a little too sensitive about this. My children have two dads....no....I don't expect Disney to make a film where a child has two dads.....but I do like that in this day and age, there is a certain comfort level with showing stories where children are not out casts based on their family. I love that kids can see a hero come from thses homes and live normal lives.

[Itchy]

Disney is not he only ones that use either orphan or single parent issues. Look at the super hero issues such as Bat Man, Superman, Spiderman, and others.

I have never thought about it one way or the other. I just enjoy the story that is being told.

[Daisy'sMom]

I think it is wonderful. I lost my mother when I was twleve and my little sister was just five. We were one of those families with one parent and it was extremely hard for us. Now this was ages ago, when the Brady Bunch was strong and families always had two parents on tv. It was thrown in our faces all the time that we were different. I could tell you stories about the wonderful educated religous families in our town that would not allow their kindergarteners to play with my sister because her "mother was dead" or "she doesn't have a real family". So I applaud Disney for showing us that families come in all shapes and sizes, and it will be alright.

[gerald72]

I have heard it told, although I don't believe it is true, that walt felt guilty over his own mother's death so he, purposely or not, gave his main characters only one parent.
Personally, I believe having 2 parental roles in a movie is just unneccesary for story-telling purposes. Plus it makes for a better story when the main character must overcome that obstacle.

[GoBlueLacheta]

Yes it does make it more of an trial for the protagonist to overcome, yet i was just curious why they choose that route even when it is a non-essential part of the story. I know everyone has their own success stories about handling adversity when it comes to parents or being brought up by aunts or uncles, grandparents ect. and this is a wonderful thing, it just seems that a two-parent family seems to be treated as the abnormal example when it comes to depicting story-telling, and some more balance when dealing with children and their perceived views of reality based upon fantasy story-telling would be a nice thing to see.

It's just a weird pattern that I picked up on.

[TheVBs]

I think it may just be a perceived pattern. Not positive about that, but to be sure you'd really have to look at all the movies, animated and live-action to see how many actually had one parent or two parent families. I'd be willing to bet you'd be surprised at how many movies have two parent families. Just a guess though.

[Figment52]

Yes it does make it more of an trial for the protagonist to overcome, yet i was just curious why they choose that route even when it is a non-essential part of the story.

Or in the case of Hercules, they went out of their way to depict a 2 parent family and butchered the original myth because it was too risque. Instead, they depict him as being the son of Zeus and Hera, rather than Zeus and a mortal woman, and he ends up with 2 sets of parents.

[MushuGrl]

It makes for an awesome time killer when you're on a long drive, though, trying to find the character with a complete set of parents.

[LVT]

In a way I think that is backwards. The stories are saying "Yes, It all works out, without always having the ideal family." I could easily see the selection of stories arising from a romantic vision of the nuclear family as ideal and all others somehow inadequate. That is not a healthy view either.
By the way, I got low grades in philosophy.