Why do Disney Movie's seem to have Single Parents?

[noname70]

Did Walt ever offically address the issue of why it seems all of the parents in Disney features are single, widowers, step parents, etc?

Do they (including Pixar) continue to do this out of tradition?
:veryconfu

 

[trr313]

Good point. Now that you mention it there are a good number of Disney movies with single parents, etc. It's nice to me because I am a single parent for the moment anyways, lol.

 

[Chape19714]

well...it's noticable to say the least, but sometimes single parenting can cause the main charactor to strive for the best, or it could affect the charactor's outlook on life (as in the lion king), so it makes for good story telling. However, there are a great deal of Disney Movies with 2 parents.

Hercules (well...technically 4 parents)
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmations
Emperor's New Groove (pacha's kids)
I'm sure there's more, but the point still stands that many disney features only have 1 parent for the main charactor. However many of them have another charactor that is a mother or father figure.

 

[kal1484]

It's actually due to Mythology. The reason story is created is to reasure or teach things to people or culture. I wrote a paper on it last year for my mythology class, I'll have to try and find it. Basically, children see broken families, or a loss of a parent and realize it will be okay if something happens to mommy or daddy.

 

[ZambeziZelda]

I always figured it was because the movies have certain time limits, and certain budgets- if the storyline can develop fully with only one parent, why waste time/money for 2?

And don't forget Peter Pan, there are two parents in that one..
Also Lady and the Tramp, if you count Darling and Jim Dear.

 

[The Mom]

This has been mentioned before. Many of the Disney classic movies were based on fairy tales or classic children's stories, which often had the heroine/hero being raised by one parent. This is a way to add drama to the plot, as the loss of a parent is one of the greatest childhood fears.

Snow White....dead mother
Cinderella.......dead mother
Beauty and the Beast...dead mother
Pocahontas.....dead mother
Mulan....dead mother
Little Mermaid...dead mother
Finding Nemo...dead mother
Bambi...dead mother by the end
Sword in the Stone...dead parents
Peter Pan...no parents (for Peter)
Pinocchio...no biological parents...no mother

The list goes on...I'm glad I'm not a Disney character!

 

[Chape19714]

This has been mentioned before. Many of the Disney classic movies were based on fairy tales or classic children's stories, which often had the heroine/hero being raised by one parent. This is a way to add drama to the plot, as the loss of a parent is one of the greatest childhood fears.

Snow White....dead mother
Cinderella.......dead mother
Beauty and the Beast...dead mother
Pocahontas.....dead mother
Mulan....dead mother
Little Mermaid...dead mother
Finding Nemo...dead mother
Bambi...dead mother by the end
Sword in the Stone...dead parents
Peter Pan...no parents (for Peter)
Pinocchio...no biological parents...no mother

The list goes on...I'm glad I'm not a Disney character!

Mulan has 2 parents, but a dead grandfather, last I checked.

For most of these, the charactors had someone who served as a parental figure by the end.

Snow White...wait...had a father?...you got me there
Beauty and the Beast-Once in the Castle Mrs. Potts and the Haberdasher served as mother figures.
Pocahontas-Grandmother Willow
Little Mermaid-Sebastain serves as another parent, Ariel thinks Ursula is a good figure, but we know the truth.
Nemo-By the end, Dori and the Tank gang serve as parental figures
Bambi-His friends thumper and flower.
Sword in the Stone-Merlin
Peter Pan-you got me, but possibly the senseable Wendy

 

[Mr D]

Chicken Little was a solo parent film too.

I heard the rumor it was an industrial accident at KFC for Chicken Littles mom :drevil:

 

[3dwarfs]

Being a young widow with 2 small children, I like it because it's a nice way for my children to see they are not alone in their situation.

 

[Iakona]

Because Disney gets some twisted satisfaction from making grown men cry in front of their families.

Fox and the Hound-mother of Tod (fox) killed early in movie.