Disney – the Dettol of Storytelling?
Like most people, I grew up with Disney films, and some of my favourite films have been made in their studios. However, they are notorious for sanitising many a fairy tale for more modern and family-friendly audiences. Out of curiosity, I am embarking on a literary quest to see just how different these films are from their source texts. It’s also an excuse for me to watch lots of cartoons and actually do some damn reading.
Just to clarify, I love Disney films, so I won’t be tutting through each note saying how the book is much better than the movie. Also, I know that Disney don’t always take inspiration from the bona fide original (Sleeping Beauty being a case in point), but I’m primarily interested in how much the story has changed from the original, and Disney’s own interpretation of it.
Where possible, I will read the source text in its original language (French and Italian FTW), but I may have to draw the line when it comes to Mulan (see what I did there?).
Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy my blog.
Have you thought about doing a Treasure Planet vs. Treasure Island?
Hi again Lana, hmm I’m not sure about that one as it’s a “re-imagining” of the Treasure Island story, and not intended as Disney’s own version of the original. Same with Oliver and Company, although it’s based on Oliver Twist it’s not trying to be the original story. Maybe I could introduce a section where I look at films like these two. Thanks for commenting!
Really enjoying reading through this website! I’m a Chinese Language major and am considering doing a small project about the “original” Mulan vs. the disney version, so I found this page through looking to see what I could find already out there on the topic! Found it absolutely hilarious (as did my Chinese boyfriend!). Hope you don’t mind if I come back here creepin’ if my professor approves the topic ;P In the meantime, I’m having great fun reading through all your other comparisons, your writing style is just too fun XD Any plans to make more of these? Pocahontas, Tangled and the Princess and the Frog would be very interesting to see your take on!
Hi Amy, thanks for taking the time to comment. You are more than welcome to creep around my site if it helps, glad it’s entertaining! Yes things are a bit slow at the moment but those three films are most certainly on my list. If you are looking at info for Mulan do check out the book in my sources section – it has five of the most famous Mulan versions in it, and each of them are quite different and interesting: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mulan-Versions-Classic-Chinese-Related/dp/1603841962/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
The 2009 film is also worth a look: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mulan-DVD-Wei-Zhao/dp/B003ATD7OY/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1346224822&sr=1-3 not the best editing but it’s another variation on the story. Good luck with your Chinese degree, you’re a braver woman than I!
Yes, the book in particular looks awfully useful! Just need to see if my professor would approve of me mentioning disney haha (he’s kind of a classical Chinese expert, and this would be for a Chinese literature and culture unit, so I don’t know if he’ll take the idea seriously or not) Looking forward to more posts from you, though I can imagine it takes a lot of research for each! When I think about it, most popular Disney movies are based on some source material… seems like you have plenty to choose from! Thanks for the luck, and the advice