Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid

For most people, the first image that comes to mind when the subject of Walt Disney’s animated movies comes up is the studio’s popular princesses. Ever since Snow White made her debut in 1937, Disney has cornered the market on princesses. One primary topic that critics have discussed in Disney’s films is the way princesses are portrayed. The roles of the female characters are especially drawing the interest of academic critics.

Jack Zipes, author of Breaking the Disney Spell, believes that the Disney princesses have regressed. On the other hand, Libe Zarranz, author of Diswomen Strike Back? The Evolution of Disney’s Femmes in the 1990s, and Rebecca Do Rozario, author of The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function of the Disney Princess, believe that the Disney princess has progressed. Another aspect of Disney’s movies that catches the eyes of critics is the moral simplification in the films.

They believe that the morals from the original fairy tales are being manipulated and simplified in the Disney films. A. Waller Hastings, author of Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Finn Mortensen, author of The Little Mermaid: Icon and Disneyfication, both agree that Disney’s simplification of morals is giving viewers the wrong depiction of life. Disney’s portrayal of women and simplification of morals are giving viewers the wrong impression of life and women. Many critics call the process of simplification in Disney movies, “Disneyfication. Disneyfication is especially shown in The Little Mermaid. In Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid, Disney retains elements of Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale. A. Waller Hastings notes, “In the Disney adaptation, the elements of the fairy tale remain recognizable, but superimposed are typical elements of Disneyfication and a happy ending that contravenes the moral intention of the original tale” (85). The resistance towards Disneyfication is an agreement between academic writers.

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Zarranz also notes, “The dramatic transformation of literary fairy tales, nonetheless, has been problematic, since Disney’s animated fairy-tale adaptations have systematically undergone a process involving sanitization and Americanizaion, two distinctive features to compound the so-called ‘Disneyfication’ of folklore and popular culture” (55). Many critics believe that Disneyfication takes out the sting and variety of the real world. In the Disney world, everything is the same, everything is happy, and everything is full of everlasting hope.

Zipes states that, “The great ‘magic’ of the Disney spell is that he animated the fairy tale only to transfix audiences and divert their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images he cast upon the screen” (23). The process known as Disneyfication seems to be giving viewers the wrong depiction of life. Original morals that are shown throughout the original fairy tales are left out when they become “Disneyfied. ” The conclusion that Disney’s “watering down” of morals of the original fairy tales is an overwhelming agreement among academic writers.

Most people applaud Walt Disney and his predecessors for their creations, however many critics have found a particular flaw of moral simplification in Disney films. Mortensen notes, “The message of the fairytale is conveyed in terms suitable for a modern public but is integrated into a product that cheats its intended public of small children... ” (449). Because the morals in the original fairytale’s are seemingly left out of Disney productions, critics view the Disney films as nothing more than simplistic reproductions that give viewers wrong impressions of life.

Hastings writes, “While generally praising Walt Disney’s technical contributions to animated film, critics have been troubled by the studio’s treatment of classic children’s literature and fairy tales” (83). The producers at Disney are giving children an unreal sense of false hope. Disney films are simplified to an extreme that give viewers the wrong depiction of life. The simplistic portrayal of female characters is a specific by-product of Disneyfication. The roles of female characters in Disney movies have regressed compared to Walt Disney’s first films that featured female characters.

In Disney’s earliest movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White takes on a maternal image. She instructs the dwarves in small, everyday routines such as manners and hygiene, and serves as a mother to the dwarves. The role of Snow White is very simple compared to the princesses of late, and much more realistic. In more recent Disney movies, female characters are shown as princesses. While the female characters, such as Snow White, used to be a bit submissive and worldly, over time some critics believe the female character has progressed. Zarranz notes,”... ven though it is still a long time before we can speak about successful feminist representations in a commercial icon like Disney, recent films incorporate complex females that are worth taking into consideration” (63). Some female characters are even seen as courageous women admired for their brave deeds in their films. Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Belle from Beauty and The Beast are the start of the more modern Disney princess. Do Rozario writes, “The Disney kingdom still may seem a man’s world, but it is a man’s world dependent on a princess” (57).

While Rozario and Zarranz believe the Disney princess has progressed, Zipes strongly suggests that the princess of late has regressed. Zipes writes, “The young women are helpless ornaments in need of protection, and when it comes to the action of the film, they are omitted” (37). Rozario and Zarranz believe that the female character has progressed because of the role that has been given to the characters. However, they seem to overlook the fact that the princess role is very unrealistic.

They also seem to overlook the fact that in almost every princess movie, the female character is relying on a male character. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel gives up her entire life to be with a man. Belle, too, lets go of her former life to be with the Beast. So as Rozario and Zarranz may believe that the more recent female characters are much more strong and courageous than those of earlier Disney films, they seem to have overlooked the flaws in the Disney princess. While Walt Disney and his studios are usually praised, multiple researchers have found flaws in in their creations.

The inability to portray women in a more realistic way, and the simplification of morals that Disney produces in their films, are giving viewers the wrong impression of life and women in the real world. While Disney probably won’t take the critic’s suggestions into consideration, the critics do propose some very interesting arguments concerning the image of female characters and the simplification of morals.

Works Cited

1. Do Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C. "The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function Of The Disney Princess.
2. " Women's Studies in Communication 27. 1 (2004): 34-59. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 012.
3. Hastings, A. Waller. “Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. ” The Lion and the Unicorn 17. 1 (1993): 83-92.
4. Print. Mortensen, Finn Hauberg. "The Little Mermaid: Icon And Disneyfication. " Scandinavian Studies 80. 4 (2008): 437-454. MLA International

Bibliography

1. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. Zarranz, Libe Garcia. “Diswomen Strike Back? The Evolution of Disney’s Femmes in the 1990s. ” 27. 2 (2007): 55-65. Print.
2. Zipes, Jack. "Breaking the Disney Spell. " From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Ed. Elizabeth Bell, Linda Haas and Laura Sells. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP 1995. 21-43.

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