About
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.
About Me
Try as I might, I will never be as cool or as interesting as this okapi, so I’ll keep it brief.
I’m a woman now on the other side of her twenties with a lot of time on her hands (time being inversely proportionate to the amount of money I have) and a big fan of nostalgia, specifically animated films. I live in Oxford with my lovely husband and distinguished cat, and I have an MA in French and Italian translation.
what about other films like swan princess, the prince of egypt, quest for camelot, anastasia,? i know they are not disney but are changed from the original stories what about them? please tell how the non disney films changed from the original stories they based on
Hi Ariela,
Thanks for your comment. This blog is for Disney films only, but I may think about other animated adaptations in the future; there are some other ones that are of interest to me too like Spirit:Stallion of the Cimarron. Perhaps I will set up another blog for this later on. Thanks for your suggestion!
I’m a stay-at-home mom who long ago was an English major, and reading through your blog was one of the most engaging and enjoyable intellectual experiences I have had in a long time. I’m now thinking of re-reading Bambi: A Life in the Woods. Thank you for the great writing and wonderful fodder for thought!
Hi Leigh, thanks so much for your wonderful comment, I appreciate it. Part of the fun of writing this blog is going back to stories I watched/read a long time ago, so I’m glad it’s had the same effect for you. It must be lovely if you can share these books and films with your children too. Take care!
What you are doing is…in a word…AMAZING! Thank you so much.
Wow, thanks Debbie, what a lovely comment to wake up to! Glad you enjoy the blog.
Absolutely loved your Disney vs. Sun, Moon and Talia post! I’m writing my dissertation on Basile’s text now, comparing it to Perrault and Grimm and of course including Disney. I’m also looking at all the original illustrations.
Your writing is fantastic! Very dry and witty! Superb!
Thanks so much for your comment, glad you liked it and it was helpful. I was surprised how close Perrault’s was to the final film; are there huge differences between the Disney version and Grimm’s version? Good luck with your dissertation
Yeah I re-watched the Disney version just the other day (all in the name of research) it actually says in the opening credits that it is based on Perrault’s version. The Grimm version is very much the same as Perrault, apart from it doesn’t have the end section where the evil ogress tries to kill the Princess and her children (lots of cannibalism – YAY). Also, the chaste kiss in the Disney version comes from Grimm not Perrault. In Perrault it is just his mere presence that awakens her.
Thank you! I think I’m going to need it. Looking forward to reading some more!
Ha ha yes “research”, the very reason I started this blog
That’s interesting, I was going to check out the Grimm version myself but by that point I was fed up as I had ordered a couple of versions of what I thought was the original story, only to find out there were successively older versions and was going around in circles! I’m surprised it’s not much darker, as you hear about Grimms Fairy Tales being rather nasty. Thanks for commenting again and for reading, posts are a bit erratic at the moment but glad you enjoy them!
What a great blog idea, and very well-written. I really like your approach to the comparisons (in that it’s not completely “Disney ruined everything!!!!!111!!”, but more “Disney retells it differently a la x,y,z”).
Thanks for your comment, it’s really kind of you. I imagine it would be hard to get annoyed with films I enjoy anyway!
Definitely glad I found you- it was actually through TVTropes. I’m looking forward to your future disseminations. I love refreshing my memories of the stories I knew before the films.
I wonder- do you plan to treat “Oliver & Co”, “Pinocchio,” “Sword in the Stone”, or “Robin Hood?” There are many others I’d love to see, but those are about the most departed from “source text” that I can think of.
Oh, wait- Dickens DID mean to have Billy Joel voice the Artful Dodger… right?
TVTropes? Really? That’s odd, I didn’t know there were any links from there, good news though!
Well Pinocchio and Sword in the Stone are definitely on my list; I’m not sure about Oliver and Company, because that’s a “re-imagining” of the story and is kind of deliberately different, if that makes sense. The same goes for Treasure Planet, and as much as I love The Lion King, it’s not officially based on Hamlet, so I won’t be doing that one either sadly. Robin Hood I’m not sure about, as the source text issue is a bit iffy. It’s the versions that are purportedly based on another story that will feature in this blog, but I’m open to other suggestions too!
Thanks again for commenting,I appreciate your time
lol found your blog when looking for different breeds of cat, dont know how that happened!
Lol how random! I have a cat, but that’s pretty much the only connection. I hope you found what you were looking for in the end!