Moms Allowed

[rabyoga]

After watching "Chicken Little", I noticed a disturbing trend with Disney films: absence of moms. Chicken Little(who I love)'s mom is dead; Nemo loses his mom in the first 5 minutes of the movie; Ariel doesn't have a mom; Bambi's mom is killed;Lilo's mom(and dad) are out of the picture.
There a few with moms or stepmoms: Snow White, Cinderella..

I would like to see a film where the mom lives and is nice.. (My daughter does point out Elastic Girl-which she thinks I look like.)

I may be biased-being a mommy and all..

 

[DebIreland]

Wow! Great observations!

In the case of the older movies like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty etc. which originated in old fairy tales I read years ago that the reason the characters had step-mothers instead of biological mothers was to 'protect' the audience's sensitivities a little bit i.e. a reader could accept somewhat that a step-mother could be cruel but it was too shocking to think a biological mother would be cruel. Not saying I agree with that of course, just what I read!!! Perhaps a trend was set way back then that a main character wouldn't have bad things happen if he/she had a (biological) mother so the mother had to be out of the picture? Therefore it was somewhat normal to continue with movies/fairy tales where the biological mother was dead? Just a thought. It's interesting.

 

[laluna]

Good point! Just the other day my daughter (41/2) asked why Belle doesn't have a mummy!

 

[GEM]

That's actually a topic that gets talked about a lot in relation to Disney films. Personally, I think it's just because if any of those characters had mothers, they wouldn't have been able to get themselves into the messes required to make the movies interesting. Their mothers would have jumped right in and straightened things out, so the moms had to go.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

When DS was into watching nothing but Toy Story, DH & I noticed there is no Dad in Toy Story.

Maybe Disney tries to mirror the variety of families that exist in real life. I was, however, happy to see that The Incredibles had both a Dad & a Mom.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My girls and I discuss this ad nauseum....

It is not just Disney, it is most shows. Parent loss is how you achieve "instant" connection to the main character. It also will define purpose to the story quickly. Also everyone fears loss so all people identify.

My girls will use this technique in their writing at school to draw in the reader. It does work.

 

[barkley]

my dd and i argue about this all the time. she counters with "101 dalmations" and "lady and the tramp". i tell her dog mom's don't count!

seriously-bambi, cinderella, snow white, belle, ariel, chicken little, nemo-all the moms are dead. sleeping beauty's mom is in a witch induced coma, mulan's is referred to only briefly, peter pan's lost boys were all collected based on their mother's negligence...it's like the first thing a classic disney movie has to have is either a dead or absent mother (and if there's a step mom in the picture you can bet she's no peach!).

i've always wondered-how do these 'princess' types manage to come out so ULTRA feminine and secure in their womanhood without any positive female role models in their lives? maybe in their kingdom's there are video's with stories where all the mom's are still alive

 

[JRawkSteady]

I actually wrote a paper on male dominance in Disney films when I was in college.

Basically in MOST Disney movies, the female role models are either evil, dead or unimportant.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I actually wrote a paper on male dominance in Disney films when I was in college.

Basically in MOST Disney movies, the female role models are either evil, dead or unimportant.

Well except for those darn Princesses right?

Like others have said, it creates an immediate connection to the people viewing the film as it's one of our greatest fears (and some of us have had to really live out those fears).

 

[transparant]

Even poor little Dumbo was separated from his mother.

 

[MrsKreamer]

It goes back to story telling. Most main characters in any story are orphaned or have parents that are irresponsible. This way when it is time for the main character or hero to go into the final battle, they are alone. My DH has a book about this. Can't remember the name of it now, but will edit when I have it.

 

[DebIreland]

my dd and i argue about this all the time. she counters with "101 dalmations" and "lady and the tramp". i tell her dog mom's don't count!

seriously-bambi, cinderella, snow white, belle, ariel, chicken little, nemo-all the moms are dead. sleeping beauty's mom is in a witch induced coma, mulan's is referred to only briefly, peter pan's lost boys were all collected based on their mother's negligence...it's like the first thing a classic disney movie has to have is either a dead or absent mother (and if there's a step mom in the picture you can bet she's no peach!).

i've always wondered-how do these 'princess' types manage to come out so ULTRA feminine and secure in their womanhood without any positive female role models in their lives? maybe in their kingdom's there are video's with stories where all the mom's are still alive

GREAT post!!! I love it!

 

[Pigeon]

Why do people think this is something Disney-related? It has been a popular literary device in all kinds of children's literature. Little Orphan Annie, Nancy Drew, Lemony Snicket, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, James and the Giant Peach, Oliver Twist, Batman, etc.

 

[barkley]

Why do people think this is something Disney-related? It has been a popular literary device in all kinds of children's literature. Little Orphan Annie, Nancy Drew, Lemony Snicket, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, James and the Giant Peach, Oliver Twist, Batman, etc.

but in the bulk of these (annie, harry, anne, james, oliver and batman) the kids were deprived of both parents-in the bulk of the disney flixs only mom is absent from the picture (to the youngster's credit they usualy overcome their "single parent advrsities" to do some major deed-belle gets dad out of the asylum, mulan's takes the designated role as family rep. in the battles, ariel saves eric...). i do find it interesting that the male characters sans moms in the disney flix generaly always have a surrogate female role model (unlike the females)-pinnochio had the blue fairy, the lost boys had wendy, bambi had thumper's mom...i guess the boys need that female role model in order to succeed

hmmmm-maybe this thread should be about how females in disney films overcome adversity to great success despite their circumstances (or how they hold the bulk of "power"-cruella was a major bsns. owner, ursula/malificent/snow white's evil queen were definate power players...all with idiotic male's who did whatever they were told to).

 

[Microcell]

I think it is expected that if a mom is there that she will fix things, like in real life!!!

I wanted to put the grinning smilie so as not to draw fire from the dis dads out there, but it isn't working!

 

[korzmom]

sleeping beauty has a mom, but what good was she?
freaky friday-mom ...but then again!
parent trap-mom and dad who separate twins
any disney movies with normal moms???

 

[diz_prncez]

Princess Jasmine was also mom-less, right? Don't think anyone mentioned her yet. Was Aladdin missing both parents? I can't remember. Anyways, good point. I never thought about that.