Many people have contemplated if whether or not to let children watch or read Disney fairytales. In my perspective, I believe that children should be granted to watch Disney fairytales. Today my goal is for you to be convinced into my opinions and/or reasons to why fairytales are good for children. My thoughts are referred from “10 Reasons Why Kids Need To Read Non-Disney Fairy Tales” by Melissa Taylor, the genre being why fairy tales should be read by kids.…
In the Disney film “The Little Mermaid” we first meet Ariel as an independent, 16 year old looking for an adventure. Ariel has grand feminist goals to explore the world and has talent as well as beauty. However, she has a stubborn and aggressive attitude that always gets her into trouble; resulting in constant supervision. This is the reason why she disobeys her father and ends up falling in love with a human – which is strictly forbidden. Ariel changes herself for a partner of the opposite sex and gives away a precious talent just so she can walk on land to lust over Prince Eric. Her voice is the most important thing to her and she trades it all for a man. These aspects show that Ariel needs a man to be happy and more importantly than men…
Unfortunately, the sun set on the third day. This meant that Ariel now belonged to Ursula forever. But, King Triton stepped in. “To save his daughter, King Triton gave Ursula his great powers and became her prisoner” (Musker & Clements 13). I believe that King Triton is the heroic one in this fairytale because he was willing to give up his powers as king of the sea just to save his daughter that betrayed him in the first place. If anything, that is true love and not the blinded love Ariel felt for the prince. Of course, the story focuses more on Prince Eric saving Ariel by killing the sea-witch, Ursula. In the end, the Prince Eric and Ariel share true loves kiss and live happily ever after. But, the ending still leaves me questioning how true…
Fairy tales should illustrate more than what meets the eye. It should incorporate certain elements, which can aid in the development to healthy growth of a childhood. In “Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament,” Bruno Bettelheim discusses the importance of fairy tales and the elements they should contain in order to fully connect with a child reading a particular fairy tale. Bettelheim considers a successful fairy tale to be one, which fulfills a child’s psychological needs and promotes his/her development. The Grimm brother’s structure of their fairy tale in Little Red Cap (LRC) was different in certain points than Charles…
As a general rule, children love fairy tales. We grow up being read Grimm's or watching Disney remakes of classics. Parents love telling children fairy tales not only because they have an opportunity to spend time with their sons and daughters, but also because fairy tales, like fables, always contain a lesson or moral within them. Although both Kate Chopin's "The Storm," and D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" have some of the qualities of a child's fairy tale, only one of the stories has a moral tone, while the other has a very amoral one.…
Initially, through his modern education and willingness to open his mind to other perspectives, Nick is exposed to new scientific principles that considerably contrast his father’s ideologies; which sparked conflict that slowly parted their close bond as a father and son. Mr. Solchuk’s complete disregard of his son’s education, along with Nick’s unwillingness to comply with his father’s beliefs, are the main sources of stubbornness and ignorance that make it difficult for the characters to come to terms. In Nick’s case, he grew up in a reality sheltered from foreign worldviews that contradict his father’s passed down traditions of faith; and when he learns that there are alternative perspectives that are widely accepted around the world, he…
Bruno Bettelheim, the author of “Cinderella: A story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,” believes that Cinderella is one of the best fairytales of all time because the tale has a deeper meaning than what meets the eye and it is something that everyone can relate with at some point in their life. Being a Freudian psychologist, Bettelheim believes that a person’s conscious mind takes the fairytale for face value, while the same person’s unconscious mind can view the exact same fairytale very differently.…
Her beauty does not give her any power either. To the prince, the little mermaid is just a naïve and beautiful child. He likes the little mermaid because of her innocence and stunning beauty so wants to keep her around. In “Two Tales from Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults,” Kurahashi Yumiko states, “but the idea of actually marrying her had never entered his head; equally, he had no intention of removing her from the palace even when the time came to take a wife” (171). In fairytales, males’ love is usually more rational than females’. A man’s ideal mate needs to have some functionality. In “The Little Mermaid,” the prince speaks of“The youngest, who found me on the beach and saved my life, she was the only one I could ever love in this world” (Anderson 229). In this case, the prince identifies his marital mate is the girl who saves his life. Female characters, by contrast, tend to devote themselves wholeheartedly to love by sense and feelings. About this point, the little mermaid’s grandmother has already warned her upfront about how impossible it is to get an immortal soul from humans. But the little mermaid is so obsessed with her goal that she ignores her grandma’s advice. The little mermaid lacks a sense of human’s society and has a typical Anderson feminine identity: she is a naive and dedicated little girl, powerless but determined. Her lack of knowledge of…
These days most fairy tales are told through a Disney filter of happiness and song. Reading the much darker original Grimm's Fairy…
I myself was once a fool for fairy tales. I followed Hans Christian Andersen into the fathoms of the ocean and swam with mermaids; climbed down a high tower along Rapunzel's hair; danced merrily with Snow White and the dwarfs, witnessed the miraculous metamorphosis of the Swan Princess and strolled into the woods with the Little Red Riding Hood. Fairytales had me helplessly mesmerized.…
The Disney princesses seem to find love in the most magical ways, but that's not exactly how it is in the real world. They can find love by losing a shoe but if we lose a shoe, it gets stolen. This assumption makes children believe that love is easy to find and long-lasting. Everyone is bound to get a happily ever after even though in the real world it might not happen that way. Molly Driscoll is a writer for The Christian Science Monitor and she sees the love connection that happens in every Disney princess movie. She says, “Professor Thompson points particularly to "Frozen," which centers on sisters Elsa and Anna, as breaking the mold when it came to princesses. The movie includes poking fun at the idea of love at first sight ("You got engaged to someone you just met that day?" character Kristoff asks Princess Anna incredulously) and the climactic battle (spoilers ahead, but some young person in your life must have made you watch this movie by now) has the pivotal "act of true love" be one between two sisters, not a romantic couple.” It was so easy for Anna to fall in love and have a strong connection. It's not that easy in the real world sadly. Some people may get a happily ever after but it's not like that in all cases. In our world we have divorce, anger, and jealousy, which is something they lack in theirs. I have friends that even tell me that they wish true love like that really existed in the world because it's so uncommon. Disney shows children that true love exists and is easy to obtain, which affects children’s knowledge of life and…
In 1989, Disney Feature Animation released its twenty-eighth animated film, The Little Mermaid. The movie grossed over $111 million in the United States alone and was the recipient of two Oscars (Office Box). The merchandise for the film varied from bed sheets and Barbie dolls, to pajamas and Halloween costumes. In 1992, an animated series based on the movie premiered on Disney television and ran for three seasons (IMDb.com). A Broadway production began in 2008, with “50 previews and 685 performances”, ending in August of 2009 (Jones). Over the past two decades, The Little Mermaid has been reissued multiple times on VHS and DVD, finally landing the prestigious Disney Platinum Editions title and securing a coveted spot within the Disney Vault.…
The story chosen is Snow White that has become the most popular princess among young girls. Snow White and similar fairy tales are playing bad with young minds by showing male characters stronger and powerful, which is also causing gender discrimination. Whether the fairy tales have significant impact on folks’ lives has been the most discussed phenomenon of the time. Many people agree to the notion that fairy tales and their myths do have an impact in young children’ life while the other rejects this. Scientifically and psychologically, it has been proven that children tend to adopt the habits they see around and that they play a vital role in shaping a child's mind and controlling his/her thoughts. “Two close readings of this version, one psychoanalytic and the other feminist, suggest that because Snow White is part of a literally as well as folkloric tradition, it may be studied as a cultural artifact and text valid in itself” (Shuli Barzilai, 515).…
The Little Mermaid is based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid is the story about a mermaid named Ariel who longs to be part of the human world. She lives in an underwater kingdom with her father King Triton. She falls in love with a human, Prince Eric and, by making a dangerous risk with the sea witch Ursula, she trades in her fins and her voice for human legs. Ariel has but three days to make Eric fall in love with her. If he does, she will live happily ever after in his world. If he doesn't, Ursula will enslave her.…
For many generations, the fairy tales, loved by many, have been passed down from relatives and friends, being shared and retold by one individual to the next. Growing and evolving as the years go by, these stories live on through readers’ lives. The deep connection between the timeless tales and the lives of people accentuates its need to exist in society. These fairy tales mold and shape people’s own stories and are a reflection of what individuals experience and encounter. During times when one feels lost and disoriented, fairy tales are a tool of navigation; they unveil a path and guide one down it. Not only do these tales provide insight to oneself, they impart an educational source to children and individuals in society. They spark and…