Why Do Disney Parents Always Die?

In almost every Disney animated film (referring to the traditional musicals), the parents of the main male and female leads are either dead or only one of the parents is alive. A good question is why Disney does this. When I think about it, the reasoning behind it is well intentioned.

Parents are the main source of guidance for their child. They are supposed to lead their child down the right path by teaching them valuable lessons. However, the main character in the beginning of the movie does not get these lessons. In The Pricess and the Frog, Tiana’s dad tells her that love and happiness is more important than working 24/7. However, Tiana does not get this until the end of the movie. Simba in The Lion King does not have his dad around to teach him how to become a strong leader and free him from his guilt. In Frozen, the death of the parents scars Elsa and is what makes her constantly afraid of her powers because she has no one to help her control them. She also does not want to risk killing her sister Anna, the only family member she has left. By having the main characters struggle with the absence of their parents it tells the children in the audience that they should listen to what their parents say, but more importantly love them because their parents will not be around forever.

In cases of single parents like King Neptune from The Little Mermaid, it teaches that there should be a compromise between parents and children. Children should listen to their parents, but the parents should also listen to their children. They should not shelter their child from the real world and prevent them from trying new things. Children can teach their parents lessons of acceptance to change.

The Disney story element of the lack of parents or a parent is an effective tool to teach life lessons to the audience.

Top 13 Disney Princesses

Currently the Disney princess line up consists of eleven princesses plus Anna and Elsa who will be added next year. I decided to rank them based on their personalities and their actions in their movies. I will list them from bottom to top.

13. Aurora

She is asleep for half of her movie and is the definition of the princess stereotype.

12. Snow White

She is dead for half of her movie. The reason I ranked her above Aurora is because of her kindness towards the dwarves. She is a nice motherly figure.

11. Pocahontas

I give her credit that she does do things in her movie, but I just do not find her interesting.

10. Cinderella

It is true that in her movie all the good things come to her. However, I do find myself satisfied that she is rewarded for her suffering. I like the way she does pull through the torment brought onto her by her evil stepmother.

9. Ariel

Ariel is adventurous and does what ever it takes to get what she wants, but her decisions are pretty stupid. To risk your life for a guy, who does not even know you exist is not worth it. Also she does not really learn anything. Eric is the one that solves her problems by killing Ursula.

8, Merida

I give Pixar credit for making an independent princess, but she could have been a lot better. My main problem with her is that she comes off as whiny and unnecessarily mean to her mother. She also does not use her bow and arrow skills that much. However, she does become a better person at the end of her movie by learning to appreciate her mother.

7. Jasmine

She is probably the most down to Earth princess out of all the princesses. She has a great chemistry with the male lead. I like how in the beginning she is rebellious and does not fall for Prince Ali at first sight. However, she does have to be saved at the end like any stereotypical princess.

6. Rapunzel

She is Ariel done right. She is adventurous, funny, and likable. She also has good chemistry with the male lead.

5. Tiana

It is nice to see a princess who works 24/7. She teaches girls that they have to work hard in order to make their dreams come true. She also is one of the very few princesses who actually defeat the villain at the end.

4. Elsa

Actually she is a queen, but Disney put her in the princess line up anyway. She is the most complex and has the darkest past. She does play an antihero role for a bit, which is unique to her. In the beginning of the movie she is repressed by society and then is finally free, so she does not want to come back. Her song, “Let It Go” is one of the best Disney songs. I also like the relationship between her and her sister, Anna because she loves her sister.

3. Anna

While she is not as complex as her sister, Elsa she has more likable character traits. The relationship between her and Elsa is done really well. Especially when she sacrifices herself to save Elsa at the end of the film as an act of true love. In the beginning of the movie she is more like a parody of a Disney princess, which makes her funny. As the movie goes on her character becomes more defined. I like how in the end she is the one that solves the problems, not the male lead.

2. Belle

She is perfect; the girl that every guy wishes to have. While she does not have any faults, she does have several character traits that prevent her from being boring. She is an example of how strong female characters do not have to be physically strong. They just have to be well written.

1. Mulan

Mulan has all the qualities of a good character and she kicks ass. She controls her destiny through out the entire movie. She does not have to rely on a man at any point. As the movie progresses she becomes a stronger character. She teaches us that society cannot tell people where their place is. You can do anything if you work hard enough.

Top 10 Male Disney Songs

Disney has so many great songs. The most famous ones are from the females or duets, but I decided to focus on the songs sung by the males. Here is my list of the top ten Disney songs sung by males.

10. In Summer from Frozen

This song is funny. It is sung by a snowman named Olaf, who wants to experience summer. I cannot help, but giggle every time I hear the lyrics; I’ll finally see a summer breeze, blow away a winter storm. And find out what happens to solid water when it gets warm! The melody is also very nice and Josh Gad‘s delivery is perfect.

9. Out There from The Hunchback of Notredame

I like the dynamics of this song. The song starts off with Frollo’s cruel, soothing voice. He tells Quasimodo to stay inside because the outside world will never accept him. However, the second half of the song that is sung by Quasimodo is completely opposite in tone and style. Quasimodo’s booming voice of hope creates a cheery and upbeat mood. I actually like how the appealing aspect of the song is not Quasimodo’s singing ability, but the emotion behind it.

8. Gaston from Beauty and the Beast

I wish the people in my town sung about me like this. What better way to cheer up a man than to tell him he is the best thing ever?

7. Be Prepared from The Lion King

A great villain song. A song sung by a jealous and enraged villain named Scar. The song has a tango like beat to it, which makes it upbeat. I like how the song builds up and intensifies into a great war chant.

6. Prince Ali from Aladdin

Robin Williams is awesome. This is an upbeat party song. Williams can flawlessly weave in several impressions so fluently. He also has a nice, booming voice.

5. Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid

It was a tough choice between this one and the last song. However, I chose this song over Prince Ali because it is more upbeat overall and catchy. I always get this song stuck in my head all day even if I just listen to part of it.

4. Friend Like Me from Aladdin

All I can say is this song is Robin Williams at his best.

3. Friends on the Other Side from The Princess and the Frog

Keith David has one of the most bad ass voices ever. This villain song is dark, groovy, and catchy. The ending gives me goose bumps.

2. Why Should I Worry from Oliver and Company

Many people probably do not know this song. It is from one of Disney’s least known films. However, it is very memorable. The song is sung by Billy Joel. When ever I play this song when I walk through town I feel like a boss. My favorite part of the song is when Joel sings, The rhythm of the city. Boy, once you get it down. Then you can own this town. You can wear the crown.

1. I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan

No one should be surprised this is the number one song. What else could it be? This is the manliest song on Earth. Nothing beats the chorus. (Be a man) We must be swift as the coursing river.
(Be a man) With all the force of a great typhoon. (Be a man)
With all the strength of a raging fire. Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!

Disney Does Not Market To Guys

I enjoy Disney films. I think Beauty and the Beast is one of the best animated films, if not one of the best films ever. However, most guys, especially in this generation would not admit or actually say that. I cannot blame them. Disney has built its empire on the Disney Princess franchise. They just added the two new princesses from Frozen, so it is no secret they plan on expanding the Disney princess line up. The more I thought about, the more I realize how Disney does not market to guys to the same extent.

Disney’s last three recent films that stuck with the traditional Disney musical were The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Frozen. All three of these films have a female lead. All three of these heroines are active and progress their own story. No more princesses like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. These princess sat around and had things happen to them. Their princes came in and solved the conflicts of the movies from them. Sleeping Beauty did not kill Maleficent. Snow White did not wake up herself. Now that society has allowed women to have more active roles, Disney is creating a network of princesses around the strong, independent woman picture.

Ariel was the first “modern” Disney princess. While it is true that Eric kills Ursala and saves the day in the end, Ariel took action upon herself to make her dream come true. Yes, selling her voice to an obvious villain was stupid, but at least she brought herself there. She is adventurous to a fault. The movie does teach girls that in order to achieve their goals they cannot sit around and do nothing. They have to go out there themselves. Since The Little Mermaid we have had similar females such as Mulan, Belle, Pocahontas,  Tiana, Rapunzel, Anna, and Elsa, play similar roles in their films. Some females like Jasmine and Megara are given a personality to not make them bland, but they do not do anything in their movies to make them active. They are a damsels in distress.

The reason why I brought that background up is because we are going to look at the relationship between Disney and guys. We have already established that Disney’s main market is the princess line. Now there are Disney movies with male protagonists such as Peter Pan, Hercules, Aladdin, The Lion King, Tarzan, and The Hunchback of Notredame. However, looking at the elements of some of these films, it has the same style as a Disney princess movie.

Girls might dream of becoming princesses, but I have never heard a man say he wants to be a prince. When you look at how the Disney males are drawn, they are drawn in an attractive way. They appeal to girls. Look at Hercules for example. If a regular guy were to draw what he thought Hercules would look like, he would draw Hercules with huge muscles, rigid lines, a scar, hair; something like the Hulk. However, Disney draws Hercules as an attractive young teen. Point being that even in their guy movies, Disney still markets more towards the females.

Love is not what guys want to see in a movie. Yes, there are popular guy films like Iron Man, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings, that have a love plot line in the movie, but guys do not care about that. No guy cared about Aragorn’s love to Eowin or Han Solo’s love to Princess Lea. Guys like action. Disney’s Aladdin, is centered around love. Aladdin is trying to have Jasmine fall for him. Yes, there are elements such as the fight at the end to appeal to guys, but the romance is the main theme of the movie. For instance the most famous song in the movie, A Whole New World, is a love song. Aladdin is who girls want guys to be like, not who guys want to be like.

There are always exceptions though. Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notredame also have love as a major theme, but those movies have protagonists who are not the feminine prince. The leads are rough, and tough. Tarzan is more of the brawny figure guys look up to and The Hunchback of Notredame has a serious adult tone to it, which separates it from other Disney films.

The reason The Lion King was the highest grossing animated film at the time was because it had the right balance. The main theme of the movie was not love, but personal growth. Simba’s relationship with Nala is a side thing while the movie focuses on Simba’s return to become a king. It had comedy, tragedy, family morals, and an intense villain. It was not targeted towards a specific gender.

Disney has primarily marketed itself towards a female audience. This has led to the reputation of guys find it too girly. This has led guys to move away from Disney and as a result, Disney makes more movies with female protagonists. While in recent movies such as Tangled and Frozen contain a male and female protagonist, for example Rapunzel and Flynn, both figures are made to attract females. The girl is a beautiful princess and the guy is a handsome prince figure. The main theme of love in those movies does not appeal to guys. Keep in mind that I am mostly looking at the films that are the traditional Disney musical, so I excluded films like Bolt and Wreck-it Ralph.