A Disney is known for giving happy endings to its stories, which often result in significant differences from the source materials, which the studio’s films were inspired by.
Several of the production company’s features are adaptations of popular fairy tales and folk stories by authors such as the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.
While the studio strives to remain faithful to the original sources, sometimes changes need to be made to ensure that classic Disney-worthy happy ending is achieved in its works.
Walt Disney Studios recognizes that most of them are aimed at young audiences and children. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that they are fun and not terribly scary for children. children.
With this concern in mind, Disney had to omit and modify several aspects of many famous stories to create such critically acclaimed films.
Check out 5 Disney films that had to have their endings changed below.
Alternative endings that could have completely changed the stories we love – Photo: Reproduction
1. ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (1937)
The release of the film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ in 1937 marked the beginning of Walt Disney’s success. It was the first time that the company adapted a fairy tale into an animated film, and even so, the production was soon considered one of the best ever produced.
Based on the German Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, Disney took care to make the story kid-friendly by avoiding it being too scary.
The biggest change made compared to the tale of fairies original was the elimination of the Evil Queen. In the Brothers Grimm tale, she is punished much more severely for her crimes.
After Snow White’s wedding, the Queen is condemned to wear red-hot iron shoes and dance until she drops dead.
The Queen’s death in the film, in which she falls off a cliff, is considerably ‘softer’ compared to her demise in Grimm’s version.
2. ‘Cinderella’ (1950)
‘Cinderella’ was released in 1950 and is still considered Walt Disney’s favorite fairy tale. The film received three Oscar nominations and helped turn around the studio’s financial situation, which was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time of its release.
Although the animation was adapted from Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, the Brothers Grimm gave Cinderella’s stepsisters in their version a severe punishment for their cruelty.
In the Brothers Grimm story, Cinderella’s stepsisters did everything to be chosen by the prince. By order of their mother, the protagonist’s stepmother, they cut off their own toes and heels to try to make the glass slipper fit, of course the plan was unsuccessful. success.
Later, the stepsisters are severely punished for their wickedness, as they are attacked by birds that gouge out their eyes and leave them blind. Disney was more lenient with Cinderella’s stepsisters, and their stories continued in later film sequels.
3. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959)
‘Sleeping Beauty’ features Princess Aurora who is cursed when she pricks her finger and sleeps for 100 years until she is awakened by Prince Phillip’s kiss.
With almost a decade to go, the work has been considered one of Disney’s best animated classics.
A villain main character, Maleficent, became one of the most iconic characters and one of the greatest villains ever created by Disney.
Although several writers have produced their own versions of the story, one stands out for tragic and disgusting reasons.
An adaptation titled ‘Sun, Moon and Talia’, written by Giambattista Basile, features the protagonist, Talia, who falls into a deep sleep after a sliver of flax is stuck in her finger.
Abandoned in a house, she is found by a king who finds her asleep. In a disturbing twist, the monarch rapes her while she sleeps and immediately forgets her.
Talia later wakes up to find that she has given birth to two children as a result of the act. Disney chose to omit this plot in their film, in which Sleeping Beauty is simply awakened by a kiss from Prince Charming.
4. ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1996)
Disney’s adaptation of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ received widespread criticism upon its initial release, due to its darker themes and its fidelity to the source material.
The film portrays the deformed Quasimodo, who lives confined in Notre Dame cathedral and longs to explore the outside world.
His opportunity comes when he meets and falls in love with Esmeralda, a gypsy, but his desire is threatened by her adoptive father, the heartless judge Claude Frollo.
The film is based on the novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831, which has a much more tragic outcome than the animation. In the book, Frollo executes Esmeralda for witchcraft after she rejects him.
Enraged, Quasimodo kills Frollo when he finds Esmeralda’s body in the cemetery and dies of hunger while holding her in his arms.
This tragic outcome would not be suitable for Disney’s adaptation, which has a more happywith Quasimodo leaving the cathedral and being accepted by society.
5. ‘Mulan’ (1998)
Mulan is considered one of Disney’s greatest and bravest princesses. In the 1998 animated film, she replaces her sick father in the army by disguising herself as a man.
She quickly becomes a skilled warrior and brings honor to her family by saving the Emperor. Based on the legend of Hua Mulan, the warrior has had a more tragic fate in other adaptations.
In the story ‘Romance of Sui and Tang’ by Chu Renhuo, Mulan spends many years serving in the army before returning to her homeland.
Upon arrival, she discovers that her beloved father has passed away, her mother has remarried and she is forced to serve the Khan as a concubine.
Mulan chooses to commit suicide rather than accept this fate. Considering the dark ending of the history of Renhuo, it is acceptable that Disney chose to give the fierce warrior a happier outcome alongside Shang.
