It’s no secret that a lot of Disney’s most famous movies are based on fairy tales they didn’t originally write.
Our Disney heroes often ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after — but what exactly has been missed from the picture-perfect tale we see on screen?
So, here are several things that happened in the original fairytales, stories, and more that didn’t make it into the Disney movies:
1.
First, the story The Little Mermaid is based on, titled Den Lille Havfrue by Hans Christian Andersen, one of the biggest changes is that when the little mermaid is given her legs by the sea witch, it feels like knives are impaling her feet every time she walks. Oh, and if she doesn’t win over the prince, she’ll turn into sea foam and die.
2.
In the original story of Mulan, her parents are totally in on the plan for Mulan to replace her father in the war.
3.
The story Frozen is based on has a lot of similarities, but there’s a character called Kai who isn’t really replicated in Disney’s version
4.
Disney’s Hercules had Hera as a loving mother, but the OG myth saw Hera on a mission to kill him.
5.
The Evil Queen tried to eat Snow White in the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs story.
6.
In Disney’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Queen only tries to kill Snow once after the huntsman fails, but in the Brothers Grimm version, she attempts it three times.
7.
Also in the original Snow White, the prince didn’t awaken Snow White with true love’s kiss, he just bought her corpse and carried it with him everywhere he went.
8.
In the original Cinderella story, one of Cinderella’s step-sisters cuts off her toes to try and fit into the slipper for the prince.
9.
In the original Sleeping Beauty, the princess is dead, and the king impregnates her corpse.
10.
Also in the original Sleeping Beauty fairytale, the princess’s newborns accidentally resurrect their mother when some fairies teach them how to breastfeed wrong, and then there’s even a storyline where they try to cook and eat the children.
11.
There’s a lot more death in the original Hunchback of Notre Dame, but one of the big ones is the original book follows a character named Pierre Gringoire, not Quasimodo.
12.
In the original Rapunzel story, after Rapunzel doesn’t come to see the prince following her stepmother finding out about them, he leaps from the tower and is blinded by thorns.
13.
The original story of Aladdin has two genies, and Aladdin is motivated by greed, instead of his love for Jasmine.
14.
In the original story of The Beauty and the Beast, Belle, who is actually named Beauty, arrives at the Beast’s castle and he basically treats her like royalty.
15.
Also, in Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast, Belle’s father’s potentially tragic fate forces Belle back home, but the original sees Beauty get bored of living the high life and she asks to visit her family as she’s so homesick.
16.
Unlike Disney’s Pocahontas, Pocahontas likely never had a romance with John Smith, and the marriage she did have was not a case of star-crossed lovers bridging two cultures.
Which other Disney films have significant differences from their origin stories? Let me know in the comments!
