Last Tuesday we looked at 3 Disney movies exactly like their original tales, and discussed briefly the trend of Disney transforming and retelling fairy tales. In the years following the success of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Disney picked up and tried out several fairy tales, garnering lots of success from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Unlike the three movies we looked at that were almost exactly like the original stories, these three had a perfect blend of new and nostalgic, with plots that were recognizable as the basic buildings blocks of their respective fairy tales while also weaving in exciting villains and transforming their heros into interesting, three-dimensional characters.
This era is known as Disney’s Renaissance, and many of the iconic movies in this decade are still major favorites in the hearts of several generations. Many say that these movies were the best Disney ever made. As a girl who grew up while these movies were coming out fresh and new, I can admit that I’m particularly influenced by them and adore them.
Obviously they’re still popular, because now everyone is demanding live-action remakes of them.
After the success of the 90s, Disney took a break from fairy tale retellings, and though they produced several good movies, the viewership and adoration just wasn’t there. It seemed that the populace was still in love with the fairy tales of the last decade. So Disney started looking for more fairy tales to retell. But they didn’t want to just retell them. They wanted to completely transform them. Make them new, exciting, and interesting.
The result? The three most recent retold fairy tales in Disney’s movie arsenal are almost unrecognizable from their original stories.
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Okay, let me just start by saying I absolutely adore this movie. The Princess and the Frog is everything that speaks to my soul on a real, personal level. Southern culture, jazz, good food, quite possibly the most handsome animated Disney prince (before CG animated princes), a hardworking girl who knows what she wants and works to get it? Tiana’s song “Almost There” is pretty much my life anthem, and ya girl grew up listening to Gospel choirs, so storks singing a praise-Jesus-hallelujah-yes-sister-amen chorus behind a slightly crazy blind lady is just, you know, your average Sunday I guess.
But all that aside, it’s honestly nothing like the original story of the Frog Prince. For one, Tiana is so much more likable than the snobby princess who has to put up with a slimy frog eating with her and sleeping in her bed. Though neither of them like frogs.
In the movie, which starts with Tiana’s mother reading the fairy tale of the Frog Prince, we get a glimpse of what could be the original story. A princess kissing a frog and breaking the spell on him. But as we know…that’s not how the original went at all.
None of the original stories involving frogs turning back into princes use a kiss as a spell-breaker. The princess either throws him at a wall, or he sleeps on her pillow and wakes up a prince. Somewhere along the way, the kiss got woven in to replace any violence or awkward bed-sharing. No one knows when it got stuck there, but it’s become the most popular version, as evidenced by its presence in the movie.
In fact, Tiana almost smacks Prince Naveen with a copy of the story, which inspires him to suggest a kiss to save him. Obviously it doesn’t go as planned. Tiana ends up a frog too.
Though there are fairy tales where frog princesses exist, Disney wasn’t looking at them for this story. Instead they were looking at E.D. Baker’s charming retelling The Frog Princess, which is an imagining of what might happen if kissing the frog didn’t go as planned. In some ways it follows that plot. The two frogs have to find a witch to change them back, and befriend some fun animal companions, but otherwise the book and Disney’s movie are wildly different.
Not that I’m complaining. It’s still one of my favorites, and easily one of the most underrated Disney movies ever.
Tangled (2010)
Tangled began Disney’s latest stint, or obsession, in the CG animation world, and really ushered in a revitalization of fairy tale retellings to a new generation. Until live-action remakes stole all the thunder.
What can we say? Retellings of retellings are just as popular as regular retellings. That’s fairy tale nature.
In addition to Tangled casually bringing Disney back into the fairy tale realm after its little break, it also started its current trend of remaking somewhat outdated, historical princesses into spunky, funny, adventurous heroines perfect for the modern generation.
Tangled follows the original Rapunzel storyline (whether it be Grimms’ versions, or Basile’s, or de la Force’s) in only one aspect — she has ridiculously long hair that her kidnapping “mother” makes her use to haul her up and down a tower.
That’s it.
The rest of the movie is original, though it does sneak in that iconic line, “Rapunzel, let down your hair!” and that moment when the “prince” returns to the tower only to face a trap set by the kidnapper woman. Other than that, the adventures that take up most of the movie are completely original.
Which isn’t to say there aren’t adventures in Rapunzel stories, because there definitely are if you find the right ones. But none like Disney’s animated adventures. No singing thugs who like cupcakes and ceramic unicorns, no bloodhound horse, no incredibly charming thief man who happens to be strikingly handsome, funny, and lovely. Which is honestly just a shame. Fairy tales need more Flynn Ryders.
Though it’s not at all like the original stories, it does capture that “fairy tale feel.” All the necessary elements to make a Rapunzel story are there. And it’s honestly just a really good story. Definitely one of my favorites in recent years.
Frozen (2013)
I know we’re all surprised to see Frozen here. I don’t even think I need to elaborate much on this one. But I will.
First off, when I heard Disney was doing a movie based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” I was ecstatic. I absolutely love that story. It’s so crazy and wild. But when I started to see trailers, I was a little let down. The movie looked nothing like what I was expecting. But I went to see it anyway because, well, I’m a Disney fanatic and it’s a story I liked.
There have been about a billion posts on popular websites about all the ways that Frozen is nothing like “The Snow Queen,” so I’m not going to harp on them here. But I do want to mention a couple ways they’re similar.
Let’s pause for a brief overview. “The Snow Queen” talks about a devil-made mirror that reflects only the terrible things in life. Some demons tried to take it to heaven to make fun of the angels and God, but it fell to the earth and shattered. Dust and splinters of the mirror made their way into people, with different effects for if the splinter enters an eye or a heart. A couple such splinters get stuck in the eye and the heart of a young boy named Kai, turning him aggressive and surly. He is later taken by the Snow Queen and his dearest friend Gerda goes on a very long adventure to save him.
So what’s the same?
Obviously we have a snow queen. She’s just not heartless, doesn’t kidnap children, and isn’t strangely absent for 95% of the events despite being the title of the story. We have a palace with lots of ice, which is pretty similar to the original. There’s a reindeer in both, but there’s no Kristoff. And love, in a manner of speaking, does break the spell for Kai, and given the assumed young age for Kai and Gerda you could even make a case for it being sibling love. And finally…we have a mirror.
It’s Hans.
Despite disliking the hype of the movie, utterly detesting the iconic and overplayed “Let It Go” song, and rolling my eyes at the obsessive nature of all the merchandise, promotions, and general craziness to exploit its popularity, I did actually like the movie. And I liked that part most of all.
Hans is the evil mirror, though he doesn’t reflect the bad in other people, unless you maybe count unhealthy habits like jumping into major life decisions without thinking about them first. He reflects what others want to see him as. The loving prince, the fearless leader, the desperate hero. Whatever his audience needs.
It’s a small stroke of genius, and I wish it had been expanded on a bit, but Frozen is so off from the original story I think it would have just made it weird to really try to rope that aspect in.
Even so, Hans’ betrayal was pretty brilliant. Excellent plot twist. Would be fooled again.
Am I disappointed that Frozen is nothing like “The Snow Queen?” A little. Do I think it’s still a good movie as a standalone? If we fast forward through “Let It Go” then yes, I love it. But in terms of being a fairy tale retelling, it’s just too different. I’d say it’s inspired by the original story, not retelling it.
Not Exact is Not a Bad Thing
I might have accidentally made it seem that just because these movies aren’t like the originals, that makes them bad. Not at all! The art of retelling a fairy tale is to make it new and exciting! I would hate to read or watch the exact same story over, and over, and over, and over again. That’s not what makes retellings successful.
What makes retellings successful, and interesting, is how they approach the story from a new angle, or take a common question in the story and expand on it, or tell the story from the villain’s point of view, or — you get the idea. Like with The Princess and the Frog. What if the kiss doesn’t break the spell? Or with Tangled. What if Rapunzel just broke herself out of the tower?
Disney does a good job of breathing new life into these fairy tales, and even though they’re different, they’re still connected to the fairy tale tradition and the trend of retelling those tales. Kids who watch these movies might be inspired to read these fairy tales, and that might just get them interested in more fairy tales. And then they’ll end up like me, obsessed.
So it’s not a bad thing that these movies are different. All three still have amazing storylines, and they still wrap you up in that fairy tale feeling.
Now if only Disney would stop making so many live-action remakes (which, I mean, I loved Cinderella (2015) and Beauty and the Beast (2017) so…) and retell the story of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” or “Ye Xian” or “Bearskin.” That would be great, thanks.