Parental Influence in Disney Animated Movies
Parental Substitution in Movies
Many of Disney's classic animated films feature either orphans or children in single parent households. These children are missing a main parent role and fill that position with either an animal, other human figure in the story, sibling, nature, step parent or parental substitution where the character becomes like the deceased parent.
Animals or Other Species as Parents
Four Disney animated films capture the essence of family in an untraditional way. Parental figures exist as different species care for dogs or an orphaned child. As with the movies with a set of living parents, the main character or child role must protect his or her family in the face of disaster. The familial relationship is portrayed as happy and stable, and the narrative begins with tragic loss. In movies such as The Jungle Book or Tarzan, the protagonist finds shelter and happiness in a nurturing replacement family. But the replacement family in Lady and the Tramp takes on more of the evil-stepmother role.
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Issue: Jim Dear and Darling leave behind Lady, their pampered cocker spaniel, when leaving for a trip. Lady clashes with her sitter’s two cats and runs away when fitted with a muzzle. She meets streetwise mutt Tramp and decides to go home to her family before being picked up by the dogcatcher. Chained to the backyard as punishment, Lady still tries to protect the house while Tramp goes inside to kill a rat that threatens the baby. When Jim Dear and Darling return, they adopt Tramp and welcome him into the family.
Parental Relationship: Jim Dear and Darling, acting as the parents to Lady, represent her ideal nuclear family. Their vacation, in Disney parlance, represents a death for Lady, and the sitter assumes the role of evil stepmother. Harmony is restored when Jim Dear and Darling return.
Issue: Pongo, bored with bachelor life for both himself and his owner, finds a wife for his owner and mate for himself. Perdita later gives birth to 15 puppies that are later stolen by Cruella De Vil. Pongo and Perdita track them down and rescue them, along with dozens more. They return home on Christmas morning to distraught owners.
Parental Relationship: Pongo and Perdita look to owners Roger and Anita with respect, but Pongo is the one who leads Roger into milestones such as marriage. Although the hierarchy is established with the humans, the new dalmatian parents assume the clearer role of parents with the 99 puppies.
101 Dalmatians (1961)
Issue: A black panther discovers Mowgli, a young orphan, in a basket deep in the jungle. She takes him to a mother wolf, which raises Mowgli with her new litter. Various animals try to take Mowgli to safety in the “Man-Village” despite his wishes to stay in the jungle with his friends and family.
Parental Relationship: The substitution of animals in Mowgli’s parental roles follows the “it takes a village to raise a child” quote rather than the traditional nuclear family. A black panther, wolf, bear, orangutan and vultures all lend some form of parental guidance to Mowgli, who interestingly leaves his parents to go into the man-village. His animal parents, though, are content that Mowgli is safer with his own kind, perhaps representing a maturation or “empty-nesting” process.
The Jungle Book (1967)
Issue: Kala, a female gorilla who recently lost a child, finds an orphaned infant and raises him as her own, naming him Tarzan. Kala’s mate, Kerchak, initially disapproves of Tarzan and warns him about interacting with humans. Explorers come to the island, discover Tarzan and eventually learn of the gorillas’ nesting grounds.
Parental Relationship: Kala assumes the nurturing maternal role, while Kerchak is the stern father from which Tarzan seeks approval. In his dying breath, Kerchak finally accepts Tarzan as his own and names him leader of the gorilla troop.
Tarzan (1999)
Siblings as Parents
Often times, when a parent dies, the elder sibling steps up to guide and provide for their younger sibling. After a terrible car crash, Nani tries to be responsible and care for Lilo and, later, Stitch. One of the major issues she faces in the Lilo & Stitch movie is that a governmental organization is determining her suitability as a guardian and provider. While Lilo misses her parents, she eventually appreciates Nani as the new source of security and parenting in her life. In Frozen, Elsa’s strong maternal feelings for her sister leads to isolation in order to protect Anna from the uncontrollable ice magic that once nearly killed her. Elsa accepts her responsibility to be queen and to care for Anna’s naive innocence.
Growing in Likeness to Parent
In some films, the loss of the parent forces the character to become their own source of parental guidance. After Tiana’s father dies in The Princess & The Frog, she remains focused on her goal to one day own her own restaurant and works hard to achieve her dream. However, her responsibility causes her to lose focus on the importance of family, friends, fun, and love. Children need a healthy dose of both responsibility and childishness to achieve true happiness and
self-health.
Substituting Other Characters as Parents
For several of the Disney films where parents are absent or are not very present in the story, the characters substitute another character in the story to fill the role of parent figure. The young heros and heroines require adult guidance to help them grow and develop as characters.
In the movie Peter Pan, Peter is a young boy who doesn’t want to grow up. Although he serves as the leader in his group of friends, he lacks a motherly figure to discipline him and the Lost Boys. Wendy, an older sister to two brothers, is accustomed to being responsible and tidy. She disapproves of the way Peter and his band of mischiefs live and teaches them to take better care of themselves. Wendy plays the role of motherly figure for the children without parents.
During Ariel’s journey in The Little Mermaid, Sebastian the crab stays by her side and plays the rule enforcer and companion. Ariel is naive, and Sebastian is there to guide her on the journey. Although they don’t always get along, Sebastian keeps Ariel grounded and thinking straight. He essentially fills the role of father since King Triton is too preoccupied to be Ariel’s constant companion.
In Pinocchio, Geppetto the toymaker wishes for a real boy after creating a wooden marionette. His wish is fulfilled, and the Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life. Geppetto is thrilled, but worried about Pinoccio’s conscience since he didn’t have both parents for guidance.On the young boy’s journey, he is accompanied by Jiminy Cricket who helps guide Pinocchio’s development, and the Blue Fairy who provides the nurturing, yet firm motherly role.
Monster’s Inc. features a young girl nicknamed “Boo” who befriends a pair of monsters. Her parents are not seen on screen, and she is alone in Monstropolis. Although the monsters eventually fear her, Boo gravitates toward Sulley and treats him like a father. He is reluctant at first, but warms up to Boo and becomes both a protector and provider for her.
In 2009, Disney and Pixar introduced Up!, a film about an elderly widower and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer. Russell, a spirited young boy, gets accidentally whisked away on a journey through the sky with grumpy widower Carl. Although Carl doesn’t initially want Russell’s company, they grow closer after they experience trials. Russell longs for a fatherly figure since his own dad is absent, and Carl fills that role. The movie concludes with Carl filling the role of father at an awards ceremony, and then the two are seen taking part in typical father-son activities.
Image from Peter Pan - Wendy as motherly role
Image from Pinocchio - Blue Fairy as mother figure
Image from Up! - Carl as father figure
Substituting Nature as Parent
Pocahontas is a strong willed Native American young woman who lives with her father, Chief Powatan, and his tribe. She lacks a motherly figure, and her father’s main interest is marrying her off to a suitable tribe leader. Pocahontas’s mother is deceased, but no back story was given. Pocahontas wears her mother’s necklace every day to give her strength. For motherly advice, Pocahontas turns to nature and visits a tree named Grandmother Willow. The tree comes alive with age-old wisdom and helps Pocahontas to stay strong and keep her spirits up despite conflict. Although Pocahontas ‘s grandmother is only in spirit form, their bond is very strong. Pocahontas replaced her mother with nature instead of another human being.
Stepmothers as Parents
Stepmothers are a common theme in folklore and fairy tales dating back centuries. In all stories, the stepmother is depicted as the evil villain. The evil role pushes the main character to grow and mature into a hero or heroine despite the step parent's influence.
Issue: Cinderella, a young orphan of a widowed aristocrat, is forced to live with the stern and proud Lady Tremaine after her father passes away at the beginning of the story. Lady Tremaine values her own worth as well as her daughters' well being above all else. Cinderella is forced into a life of servitude in her home. One day an invitation arrives from the palace inviting all eligible young women to attend a ball in honor of the prince. Cinderella longs to go, but is forced to work on chores instead. Her fairy godmother appears and transforms her into a beautiful princess-like woman and transports her to the ball. The prince falls in love with the mystery woman, but the unkind stepmother believes the prince should marry one of her girls and tries her best to circumvent his efforts to find Cinderella.
Parental Relationship: Cinderella is orphaned at the beginning of the story with only a stepmother for a parent. The stepmother treats her like a slave and doesn't care about Cinderella's well being. Cinderella instead substitutes the fairy godmother for her motherly figure because she genuinely cares about her health and happiness.
Cinderella (1950)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Issue: Snow White is a princess who lives with her evil self-centered stepmother after her father died. The evil queen is vain and desires to be the "fairest of them all." When her mirror alerts her that Snow White is indeed the fairest, she goes into a rage and demands Snow White's heart. A huntsman is sent into the woods to kill Snow White, but he is reluctant and allows her to escape. Snow White seeks refuge in the home of seven drawfs and becomes a nurturing motherly figure to the men.
Parental Relationship: The evil queen might be the most evil stepmother of them all since she orders Snow White's death. Snow White cannot trust her parent and must flee for safety. She channels her inner goodness and becomes a mature and loving character.
The Rescuers (1977)
Issue: Penny is an abandoned orphan who pleas for help. Although Penny doesn't technically have a stepmother, a woman does kidnap her and pretends to be a maternal figure. She fills the role of evil stepmother and uses Penny as a way to steal expensive gems.
Parental Relationship: Penny is a young girl who feels abandoned and worthless. She lacks any parent in her life except for the kidnapper who plays the motherly figure. Penny is miserable the whole time and has trust issues. Instead of trusting people, she befriends animals who serve as the mature nurturing roles.
Issue: Rapunzel, a princess, is the daughter of a loving and devoted king and queen. She is kidnapped as a baby because her hair contains magical properties. She grows up thinking that Mother Gothel is her real biological mother. Rapunzel doesn't question her "mother" until she breaks rules and visits the kingdom for the lantern release. She then has a realization that she is the missing princess. She turns on Mother Gothel, and the situation gets dangerous. Mother Gothel kills Rapunzel's love and then crashes to her death.
Parental Relationship: Mother Gothel serves as Rapunzel's mother throughout the movie, but has a secret agenda much like stepmothers in other Disney films. Mother Gothel is overprotective because she doesn't want Rapunzel to discover the truth, and she can't afford to lose her source of health and youthfulness. The relationship becomes strained when Flynn Rider questions their relationship, and she realizes that something feels off. At the end of the film, Rapunzel turns on her motherly figure and refuses to supply her power. Rapunzel returns to her biological parents who dreamed of finding their beloved missing daughter.
Tangled (2010)
