Roles of mothers in Disney media
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The heroes and heroines of most Disney movies come from unstable family backgrounds;[1] most are either orphaned or have no mothers.[2] Few, if any, have only single mothers. In other instances, mothers are presented as "bad surrogates" eventually "punished for their misdeeds."[3] There is much debate about the reasoning behind this phenomenon.[4] In her thesis, Ashli Ann Sharp attempts to relate the phenomenon to traditional tales from the Grimms and Hans Christian Andersen.[5] Some feminists believe it is to create dramatic interest in the main characters; if mothers were present to guide them, they argue, there would not be much of a plot.[6] Some[who?] believe that it is to show that a happy family doesn't have to consist of a mother, father and a child and that a family can be one parent and one child, or one parent and many siblings.[7] Below is a list of some notable examples of this aspect of Disney movies and television series.[8]
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[edit] Categories of mothers
[edit] No (or 'absent') mothers
- Pinocchio: Pinocchio - no mother.[9]
- Peter Pan: The Lost Boys - no mother.
- The Great Mouse Detective: Olivia Flaversham - no mother.
- Aladdin: Jasmine - no mother;[9] a mother character was originally written for Aladdin's character, but was ultimately cut.
- Pocahontas: Pocahontas - no mother[9] (mentioned only; revealed to have been dead for years)
- Beauty and the Beast: Belle - no mother.
- Oliver & Company: Jenny Foxworth - her mother is mentioned to arrive in time for her birthday, but is not shown.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Elizabeth, Will - no mother.
- Tron: Legacy: Sam Flynn - no mother. No father for the majority of his life too.
- The Emperor's New Groove: Emperor Kuzco - no mother.
[edit] Stepmother
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Queen Grimhilde.
- Cinderella: Lady Tremaine.
- Enchanted: Queen Narissa
- Tangled: Mother Gothel
[edit] Mother killed and/or captured
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Quasimodo - Mother killed by Frollo.[9]
- The Little Mermaid: Ariel, Attina, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Adella and Alana - Mother killed by pirates.[10]
- Bambi: Bambi - Mother killed by a gunshot.
- The Fox and the Hound: Tod - Mother killed by gunshot.
- Dumbo: Mrs. Jumbo is locked up for the majority of the movie, but is not killed.
- The Jungle Book: Mowgli - Raksha Killed by Shere Khan.
- Lilo & Stitch: Lilo and Nani - Both parents killed in a car accident.
- Brother Bear: Koda - Mother Killed by Kenai.
- Tarzan: Tarzan - Mother killed (as well as father) by Sabor.
- Finding Nemo: Nemo - Mother killed by barracuda.
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Princess Kida - Mother killed while trying to save Atlantis from its first fate.
[edit] Biological mothers
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Perdita - Only to the litter 15 puppies.
- Bambi: Faline.
- Bolt: Penny's mother.
- The Lion King: Sarabi - Mother of Simba, Sarafina - Mother of Nala.
- The Lion King II: Simba's Pride: Nala - Mother of Kiara, Zira - Mother of Nuka, Vitani and Kovu
- The Lion King 1½: Ma - Mother of Timon.
- The Aristocats: Duchess.
- Beauty and the Beast: Mrs. Potts, single mother.
- Mulan: Fa Li.
- The Princess and the Frog: Eudora.
- Tangled: Queen.
- Lady and the Tramp: Lady - Mother of Scamp, Annette, Collette and Danielle. Jane Brown - Mother of James Brown Junior.
- Toy Story: Only mother present, no father.
- Treasure Planet: Sarah Hawkins, single mother.
- The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Princess Ariel - Melody's mother.
- Peter Pan: Mary Darling - Wendy, John, and Michael's mother.
- Return to Never Land: Wendy - Jane and Danny's mother.
- Sleeping Beauty: Leah, Queen.
- Hercules: Hera.
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame II: Esmerelda - Zephyr's mother.
- The Emperor's New Groove: Chicha - mother of Chaca, Tipo and Yupi, Azma - mother of Yzma.
- The Incredibles: Helen Parr/Elastigirl - Mother of Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack Parr.
- Meet the Robinsons: Unnamed Mother of Lewis. Franny Robinson - Mother of Wilbur Robinson, Petunia Robinson - Mother of Laszlo and Tallulah Robinson.
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Diane Szalinski, mother of Nick, Amy and Adam Szalinski.
[edit] Adoptive mothers
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Perdita - Only to the other 84 puppies.
- The Jungle Book 2: Messua - Mowgli's adoptive mother.
- Tarzan: Kala.
- Meet the Robinsons: Lucille - Lewis' adoptive mother.
[edit] See also
- List of Walt Disney TV series
- List of Disney Channel series
- List of Disney theatrical feature films
- List of Disney made for TV movies
- List of Disney Channel Original Movies
[edit] References
- ^ Henry A. Giroux, Fugitive Cultures: Race, Violence, and Youth (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 1996).
- ^ Lynn H. Collins, Joan C. Chrisler, and Michelle R. Dunlap, Charting a New Course for Feminist Psychology (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002), 94.
- ^ Stephen M. Fjellman, Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World and America (Westview Press, 1992), 263.
- ^ Aisha Sultan, "What does Disney have against mothers?," ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (03/15/2008).
- ^ Ashli Ann Sharp, "Once Upon a Time in a Single-parent Family: Father and Daughter Relationships in Disney's The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast" (Brigham Young University, 2006).
- ^ Ask Amy
- ^ Geoff Shearer, "Disney keeps killing movie mothers: DISNEY is continuing its tradition of being G-rated entertainment's biggest mother flickers," Courier Mail (March 07, 2008).
- ^ Paul Loukides and Linda K. Fuller, Beyond the Stars: Themes and Ideologies in American Popular Film (Popular Press, 1993), 8.
- ^ a b c d Sara Munson Deats and Lagretta Tallent Lenker, Aging and Identity: A Humanities Perspective (Greenwood Publishing Group), 210.
- ^ Ashli Ann Sharp, Once Upon a Time in a Single-parent Family: Father and Daughter Relationships in Disney's The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Brigham Young University, 2006).
