Disney characters only have one parent!

[flbelle82]

Ok, I was thinking about this the other night and just had to share, has anyone else noticed that only a few Disney characters have two parents. I understand embracing different family forms, but it just seems weird to me.
Case in point:
Ariel-Dad
Belle-Dad
Cinderella-Step-mom (Dad was in beginning until he dies)
Prince Charming-Dad
Snow White- Dad
Nemo-Dad
Toy Story kids-Mom
Lion King-Mom (Dad killed early)
Aladdin-None!
Jasmine-Dad
Will Turner (Potc)-none
Elizabeth-Dad
Christopher Robin-Mom
Princess Mia-Mom (step-dad in sequel)
Lilo-Sister
Tarzan-Orphan (unless you count primates)
Jane-Dad
Pocahontas-Dad
Alice-Mom
Peter Pan-orphan

In fact, the only Princess to have two parents was Aurora and she spent 16 years away living with three bickering old ladies!!!

It's funny that no matter year, format, animated or live, the majority of the characters do not come from a typical family. (and they are mostly fathers...) Guess Walt was ahead of his time in more ways than one! Just an interesting thought I wanted to put out there!

 

[metsfan11]

holy cow
thats a gigantic number of one parented disney charecters
walt was ahead of his time lol

 

[julia & nicks mom]

a lot of theories surround this -

some say that Walt hated his mother and that is generally speaking why there are only men portrayed in his movies

 

[SamRoc]

My dd and I have been discussing this for a long time, we aren't surprised when one of the parents dies in the beginning of a film,(she saw lion king when she was about 6) alot of the films are based on classic stories, and there is always some violence and sadness in them. The last one was "Finding Nemo" and we were both almost yelling at the mom saying "don't go in there" and when she went, we both just looked at eachother and said "well there goes another one!"

 

[luv2nascar]

maybe he just liked the father/daughter relationship because he was a father and had two daughters???

 

[kimbac3]

had a mom and a dad. Believe it or not this one parent thing sometimes irrates my kids. I guess they would like to see more characters like them. Thankfully in Mulan they don't make the parents idiots - I hate when they do that. Kim Possible has both parents too....your right there aren't too many though.
Kimba aw:

 

[Paisleyjane]

Hey, Bambi, too!

 

[SplashLover93]

Hey, Bambi, too!

i thought his dad was that elk dude or something? maybe im confused

 

[candeeapril]

My husband and I have joked about this for years. Dumbo...Bambi..Snow White...there are so many. What's the deal? Oh well keeps us wondering I guess.

 

[luv2playallday]

WOW! I never noticed that. That's pretty interesting though!

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Wow, never thought about this. Interesting. The only "normal" family that comes to mind are the Darlings from Peter Pan.

 

[ufgator]

Interesting post. I never thought about it.

 

[imagineerhopefull]

What about all those dalmation puppies? They had both parents.

 

[jann1033]

i just assumed it was cause what child isn't afraid of losing a parent and helped them identify with/ feel compassion for the character so drawing them in to the story..don't know it really had much to do with "political correctness" since it applies to stories from long before single parent families were so common as today nor were they originally written by or for disney( ie tarzan, cinderella)

 

[disneymama73]

Roo only has his mom, too - Kanga!

 

[All Aboard]

Dumbo - Mom
Roo - Mom
Pinocchio - Dad
Olivia Flaversham - Dad
Quasimodo - Orphan
Atta & Dot - Mom
Wart - none aparent
Taran - none aparent

 

[tinkerbela]

i never noticed that. thanks for pointing that out. i wonder why a lot of the characters only have one parent. that's weird.

 

[Amberboo]

The Aristocats kittens - Mom

 

[DrTomorrow]

A child that has lost a parent is a very common literary theme that predates Disney by centuries. There are two main reasons:

1. Good stories have a sense of drama about them and losing a parent (that is, feeling helpless) is something that all children can understand.

2. Good stories are seldom about happy families in happy times. A secure, safe and supportive family in a children's story is about as exciting as a happy and faithful marriage in a soap opera.

Sorry, no PC here, just ages-old dramatic techniques....

 

[DisneyDotty]

Did y'all already cover Jungle Book--Mowgli was also an orphan, and there are no females who help him in the jungle, only "dad" figures. Only girl is the one at the end who "seduces" him back into civilization. I know, I know--Kipling's story, but it IS Disney's version.