Disney characters only have one parent!

This was discussed last week on the community board. Search function not working or I'd post link.
 
Add Goofy to the list. Apparently he is a single dad to Max. Oh, and what about Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Exactly who do they belong to? :)

Shan
 
SplashLover93 said:
i thought his dad was that elk dude or something? maybe im confused
Well, yes, he had a mom and dad, but again, mom killed in the movie. Left with only dad.
 
DisneyDotty said:
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. :flower:

The female wolf takes him into her den.
 

When the story is about a child who has danger and adventure in their life, two parents would just get in the way of the story. They would have to be criminally negligent to permit all that danger and adventure to happen! Better to just dispose of one or both of them early in the story, or before it even starts. You'd do the same if you were the author.

Bambi's Dad was the "Prince of the Forest". At the end of the movie Bambi grows up to look just like his dad and become the new Prince.
 
My kids are 3 and 4 and I have found it challenging for them to watch some Disney movies. They have no concept that a parent can die and I don't want them to have to deal with that just yet. I understand that some Disney movies are based on folk or fairy tales, but surely the Disney folks can find some movie that doesn't involve a parent dying during the movie. I don't see that as too kid-friendly.
 
Well, not all of them have a parent dying during the movie. With a lot of them the parent that's missing is never explained.
 
/
Nemo - Mother was killed in the beginning.

Alladin - Father appears in The Prince of Thieves.

Will Turner - Father (Bootstrap) was killed by the pirates.
 
Sword and the Stone (young boy) only had a Dad.

The Emperor in the "Emperor's New Groove."
 
All of the Pooh characters had one or no parents.

However, I believe Christoper Robin had both parents.

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell - no parents.
 
I have an exception too...doesn't Simba have a mom and dad (even though his dad dies part of the way through)?
 
I know technically this is a Pixar film, but The Incredibles have both parents. This is definitely an interesting topic to think about.
 
Oliver and Company just came to mind when I was reading this thread. I saw it a long time ago so I dont really remember too much about it. Was Oliver and orphan? Anyone have any info on this one?
 
Yes, Oliver was an orphan; see "Oliver Twist" which is the basis for the movie.

As to the Pooh characters not having parents; they are dolls, so I don't think there is anything odd in that.

A previous poster was correct. This is a dramatic technique that is used to create conflict in the story, and has nothing to do with Walt's psyche. (There is a valid argument that the portrayal of women in the Jungle Book may have had something to do with Kipling's psyche, however.)

Most of the stories these films are based on were chosen because they are folktales and were in the public domain; no copyright issues and no author royalties to pay. Single-parent and blended families are not at all new, but when these stories were originally created, families were broken by death, not divorce. In that era parents (and children, too) often died young, whether through disease or infections, or in accidents, often farm or hunting accidents, or in war. Remember that penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was not made available medically until during WW2; the first person the doctors tried it on, in 1940, was a policeman who was dying because he had been scratched by a rosebush, one of the first people saved by it in the US was a young mother who had developed a postpartum infection. In Walt Disney's lifetime, the death of a parent in the prime of life was not yet an unusual thing.
 
I noticed this too! My family and I were trying to figure out all the characters with only one parent and the overall list is unbelievable because if you think about, Disney is a "family" place and more than half the disney characters technically don't have a "family". idk just something to think about I guess.
 
flbelle82 said:
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!

Belle's mother is mentioned in the broadway show, Nemo's mom, Coral, was in the movie, but died about two minutes in, Aladdin's dad is in the sequel, will turner's father is mentioned a lot in the movie, mia's dad is mentioned, and both will's and mia's dads are explained to be dead, lilo's parents are explained to have died, tarzan's parents were also seen, but also died in the first few minutes, pocahontas's mother is mentioned, and it was alice's sister, not mother who was seen in the movie.
 
Mulan is the only movie I can think of where both parents survive the whole movie.
 
I also noticed this a couple of months ago and our family had a long discussion about it and tried to come up with as many as we could think of and the majority is, in fact, without both parents.

Add Pollyanna to the list - she was orphaned as well and just had Aunt Polly...

Also, what about Brother Bear? I haven't seen it enough to remember but did the three boys in the story have both parents. And you could add that the little bear Coda lost his mother and his father is also never mentioned I don't think.

Very recently you could add the main character in Valiant (forget his name) - he only had a mother.

Lest we forget the classic Huey, Duey and Luey who only had their Uncle Donald to take care of them (or Uncle Scrooge depending upon the story).
 





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