Disney Adaptation Dilemma

This context will outline reasons for and against adhering to the original fairy tales by Disney adaptations. Disney films are nowadays watched by children and teenagers and it is therefore important to bring out a clear image and pass out the right information to the audience watching them. For instance, Cinderella’s sisters try to fit their legs on shoes by cutting off parts of their feet and they are later punished for their cruel actions by having their eyes plucked out by pigeons (Grim et. al. Passing out violence information to children would adversely affect them mentally and some might end up adopting evil characters such as being cruel to their siblings. Original fairy tales were written based on the lessons that people were expected to learn during such times.

In the old times, people were expected to believe that women are weak creatures and they can only be saved by men every time they fall (Chmielewski and Eller, 2010). For instance, Cinderella story was initially written in the original story to show that she was saved by the Prince who married her (Doherty, 2006). In the old times, people believed that women could not progress without having a successful man and thus, the original fairy tales were written based on such lessons. In the modern context, women have shown excellence in education and they have been able to become ministers, managers, and lawyers without any help from men. Original fairy tales such as The Jew Among Thorns contained some aspects of ethnic stereotypes.

Stereotyping was a common practice among adults during such times and thus it wasn’t a big deal reading such novels. The story features a Jew who becomes rich by cheating people out of their money (Koven, 2003). Such themes cannot be accepted by parents in the modern context since it would instill evil thoughts on their children. It would make children focus on stealing to become rich rather than working hard in school to have better lives. Therefore, Disney adaptations do not diminish the versions of the original authors of fairy tales but it rather safeguards and creates awareness of the authors despite modification of the original tales. Original fairy tales contains old objects and instruments used in the story and some of them no longer exist in the modern world due to factors such as population increase, global warming, and the adoption of new technologies.

Disney adaptations cannot incorporate everything that is found in the original tales since it will make the film too fictions, biased and barbaric (Chmiellewski and Eller, 2010). Disney, therefore, modifies the movies by replacing the old objects with new ones to bring out the similarity with the original story described in books. For instance, birds and monkeys are used in the original story of The Beauty and The Beast to give Belle companion while Disney adaptations use candelabra Lumiere and ornament clock Cogsworth to replace the monkeys and the birds (Lemon, 2016). In the story of Cinderella, she is characterized by beauty, hard work and kindness while her stepsisters are characterized by cruelty and evil. This has led to the audience relating well with beauty and evil with ugliness (Doherty, 2006).

The perception is already stuck on their brains and they tend to believe that the original fairy tale is the same as the film since the film was originally adapted from the written tales. Use of white female princesses in Disney adaptations has made the audience perceive that every black girl is ugly and thus does not deserve to be helped by the white girls. Disney adaptations should adhere to the old fairy tales in terms of giving morals rather than stereotyping for the sake of winning more audience (Grimm et. Majority of Disney adaptation films are based on magic and witches which are somehow forbidden in modern society. The film portrays how people use magic and consult witches to achieve their dreams faster than those who don’t use.

The original fairy tales used magic and witches at some points but it was not exaggerated like the scenes found in Disney’s animation. Disney’s adaptation depicts more of magic and witchcraft and portrays successful characters as being helpless without the help of witches. For instance, in “frozen” film, Elsa is portrayed as having strong magic powers that she is capable of building a castle from frozen ice using her magical skills (Darcy, 2004). Some authors have thus shifted to writing other educational books as opposed to fairy tales since Disney keeps adopting the same fairy tales for a long time. Disney adaptations should encourage people to read the original fairy tales so as to promote the authors and to encourage them to write new fairy tales.

Work Cited Chmielewski, D. , and Eller, C. "Disney Animation is Closing the Book on Fairy Tales. " Chronicle of higher education 52. 46 (2006): p57-1p. Web. Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm HG Grimm. "The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.  New York: Basic Books, 2002. Print Shortsleeve, K. "The Wonderful World of the Depression: Disney, Despotism, and the 1930s. Or, Why Disney Scares Us. " The Lion and the Unicorn, 28 (2004): 1-30. The magazine article above was written by Ed Catmull who is the president of Disney Animation Studios and co-founder of Pixar. Catmull explains the benefits of looking for good people, rather than good ideas when searching for potential employees. He argues that looking for good ideas rather than good people slows down creativity and is the major cause of failure and losses.

Catmull explains that many people have forgotten about the original fairy tales and have based their focus on Disney adaptations due to the creativity used in modifying the films from the original fairy tales. He says that creativity comes in three steps which include; giving creativity authority to leaders, develop a tradition and encourage teamwork and unity among members. This clearly explains why Disney adaptations should adhere to the original fairy tales by using fewer effects to avoid distortion of the original story and fictions. Dir. Leslie Iwerks. The Pixar Story. Feat. " Fortune 153.  Business Source Premier. Web. 17 Oct. John Lasseter, an animation genius with skill comparable to Walt Disney himself, is a master storyteller. " Maclean's 121. Print. Entertainment writer Jamie Weinman of Maclean ’s magazine believes that Disney adaptations have recently been producing movies with “art-like” quality because of using Pixar.