Grimm vs Disney Essay

Through the many years the Grimm brothers were alive, an array of children's literature was produced. Actually, the correct term would be reproduced. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were masters at reproducing and even changing early children's stories so that they had more meaning for the children of the time. More times than not, they censored out sexual meanings and added violence to children's stories that had already been told for centuries. By doing so, the brothers got an effect out of the story that would change it from a story with a subtle theme or moral, to a vivid story of lessons to be learned and consequences to be dealt with. There was one thing about their' writing that was always

The Disney version of the story, Cinderella, illustrates a different moral than that of the original story. This story believes an ideal child should do what they are told and follow directions and in the end they will reap the rewards. In this story, Cinderella’s mother dies and her father remarries to a woman who has two daughters. While the daughters are pampered, Cinderella must work to keep the house from falling into disrepair. She befriends the animals and they help her to get ready to go to the ball by finishing her chores and making her a dress. When the evil stepsisters discover the dress they become furious because the mice used trimming from their clothing when making the dress. In revenge, the stepsisters rip the dress, leaving Cinderella out of options and out of hope. Just as Cinderella is about to give up, her fairy godmother appears and with a wave of magic creates a dress and turns a pumpkin and the mice into a horse and carriage. The only problem is that everything will turn back to what it was beforehand at midnight. Cinderella and the Prince fall in love at the ball but she must quickly leave because the

Cinderella goes to her mother’s grave and cries about how poorly and inhumanely she is getting treated, she tries satisfying her wicked step-mother, but she is never successful. The Grimm brothers had a different audience to satisfy so their story tone is darker and deeper. Their main concern was for the audience to sympathize with Cinderella and emotionally connect with her.

The last difference between the two stories is quite disturbing. In Disney’s Cinderella, when it came time to try on the slipper the two stepsisters tried their hardest to squish their feet into it. However, Grimms version is drastically different. Instead of trying to just squish their feet in, one step sister cut the heel of her foot off and the other cut her big toe off. A reason to why Brothers Grimm might have included that part is because they wrote this story in 1812. Disney did not want to have that in their version of the story because of the audience that watches, such as little children and their families. It would not be as enjoyable nor as humorous if they included that gruesome part of Grimm’s story.

The Grimm version and the Disney version of Cinderella both include punishment to the stepsisters for how they treated Cinderella and they both exemplify the theme. For example, in both versions, the stepsisters do not get to what they want,which is to marry the prince and for Cinderella not to be happy. The Disney version kept it this way because that is basically the story. If the

The Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella is a written down oral story that people passed down from generation to generation, meant to teach a lesson about piety and good behavior. Before the Grimm Brothers ever wrote it down, the story had been told several times by memory. It is thus not surprising that the descriptions of certain events in the story, such as the way Cinderella went to the Ball, are lacking in details. It is obvious that these parts of the story are unimportant to the overall message of the story. Instead, it focuses on the piety of Cinderella and the wickedness of the step-sisters. Through the events of the story, it becomes obvious that the goodness of Cinderella is justly rewarded, and that

Walt Disney’s Cinderella is adapted from the original fairy tale written in 1697 by Charles Perrault. There are some key differences between Walt Disney’s Cinderella and Charles Perrault’s Cinderella. In Charles Perrault’s tale, Cinderella’s father is not dead, but the father is controlled by the stepmother. Cinderella’s younger stepsister is much more polite than the older stepsister, who calls Cinderella Cinderwench. The king in Perrault’s tale hosts a two day Ball, which Cinderella attends with the help of the fairy godmother. During Cinderella’s preparation for the first night of the Ball, Cinderella helps the fairy godmother find a coachman when the fairy godmother could not find one. Cinderella’s glass slipper comes off on the second

This translated to today’s literature, by establishing that no one wants to read about an unflawed character or one with excess. This leads to discussion about another characteristic, the happily ever after. “Then he took her to his kingdom, where he was received with great joy, and there they lived long and happily.” (Grimm 94) In these fairytales, the down on their luck, the poor are rewarded with unknown riches or marriage into nobility, or escaping their curse. In Rapunzel, the cursed maiden is discovered by her long lost prince and married into royalty. The basic concept is that we want to read about flawed persons who rise to the occasion and best those who don’t believe in them, ending up happy. This echoes in today’s literature still, because we see ourselves in these flawed characters, seeing as if they can persevere, then so can we. What makes all of these happy endings possible (and why we connect to the characters) is the way these characters come upon riches and joy. Another characteristic of the Grimm’s stories are the main characters perseverance, selflessness, patience or beauty to achieve betterment. Rapunzel waited several year, while raising her children before she found her happy ending, but it states that “Rapunzel was the most beautiful child in the world” and that “as he drew near he heard a voice singing so sweetly that he stood still and listened. It was Rapunzel in her loneliness trying to pass away the time with sweet

I found that Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm worked on “Cinderella” to be vastly different from the Disney version. The Grimm brother’s version had no fairy godmother and was very gruesome. An example of this is the telling of what the step sisters did to fit into the slipper that was used to find the prince’s bride to be. “The eldest [step sister] tried it on first in another room, and her mother stood by. She could have worn it if her great toe had not been so large, so her mother offered her a knife, and told her to cut it off ‘When you are queen,’ she said, ‘you will not want to use your feet much’” (Grimm and Grimm 93-94). She did indeed cut off her great toe just so she can possibly get the chance to marry the prince despite all the pain she had to endure in order to do so. That was the same choice her sister made as well “She also went into another room with her mother, and found that she could not get the slipper over her heel. ‘Cut a piece off,’ said her mother, offering her a knife; ‘when you are queen you will not have to use you feet much’” (Grimm and Grimm 94). The situations that the step sisters experienced illustrates how the necessity for beauty

The stepsisters were cruel to Cinderella therefore not receiving any happiness in the end. The step sisters attended Cinderella’s wedding “[They]...wanted to get into favour with Cinderella and share her good fortune” Since the stepsisters were obedient to someone who is not obeying natural order they get punished. “...the pigeons peck out one eye of each of them...afterwards they came back..the pigeons pecked out the other eye of each...thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.” The stepmother was punished as well, it may not have been a physical punishment as the sisters received but she never really achieved power outside her home and that could possibly be worse to her than any physical punishment. Cinderella on the other hand got all of her “rewards” due to the fact she was obedient, but disobedient when it seemed

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. They treated Cinderella very badly. One day, they were invited to a grand ball at the king’s palace. But Cinderella’s stepmother refused to let her go. Cinderella was only made to sew new party gowns for her stepmother and stepsisters, curl their hair, and she not complaining. When they left for the ball, leaving Cinderella alone at home, she felt very sad and began to cry. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared from nowhere and said to her: “Don’t cry, Cinderella! I will send you to the ball!” (Donahue 2015). The godmother did her magic, changed Cinderella’s

The fairy tales that we grew up with are not the originals. Disney and the brothers Grimm had two very different versions. While many of us grew up watching cute birds and mice following the woe begotten princess, the original stories were forgotten by most. These stories were far darker, ending in cruel justice for a stepsister or worse. The difference between aspects of the two tales discussed, in some instances, is the difference between night and day. Grimm fairy tales contain more violence, harsher villains, and swifter justice.

Cinderella held on to what her mother had told her and put up with everything her step- family was making her do. Cinderella always did what she was supposed to do, not once did she stop short of finishing or try to fight back. Cinderella kept her faith and believed that what her mother had told her was the truth and that life would get better. Eventually life did get better. By keeping her faith Cinderella was able to get all her chores done and get dressed for the ball, with the help from some creatures. If Cinderella wouldn’t have kept her faith she wouldn’t have dance with the prince and the prince wouldn’t have fallen in love with her. Cinderella wasn’t self-centered and believed if she was a good person she would be rewarded and in the end, she was able to live happily ever after with her prince. The exact opposite can be said about the step-sisters. The two sisters were awful people telling Cinderella to do their dirty work. When the prince came looking for the owner of the shoe the two girls would have done anything to fit the shoe. Anything is exactly what they did, one sister cut off her toe and another cut off her heel. The girls “hearts were foul and black” (Grimm 117), because of this they couldn’t have a truly happy life. In the end the two sisters had their eyes pecked out by birds. Cinderella found the deeper meaning to her life by being a self-less person and the sisters did not because of

Did you know that your favorite fairytales were once violent? Originally, Grimm’s Fairy Tales were intended for children to read. However, because they contained remarkably dark elements, parents soon believed these stories were too violent for their children. Eventually, only adults read the tales. In the 1950s, Walt Disney created a non-violent version of the classic Grimm fairytale, Cinderella. Walt Disney’s cinematic version is more accessible to a wider audience than the Grimm tale because Disney removed most of the violence and simplified the tale while maintaining the original story.

When the stepmother gave her the absurd task of picking out the lentilles that she purposely put into the ashes, Cinderella willingly did it without hesitation or complaint. Although, she did “enlist forbidden helpers,” the stepmother never said she had to do it alone, her only instruction was to have it done within a certain time frame which Cinderella also did. Cinderella also was never told that she was not allowed to attend the ball. In the Grimms’ version of the story, Cinderella was told she was unable to attend the ball with her stepmother and stepsisters, which she did not since Cinderella attended the ball alone. She just so happened to catch the prince’s attention, although it was due to him being enchanted by the magical dresses her mother provided for her. Yes, it was wrong, but Cinderella is not at fault for how things happened it is the magic of her mother that caused things to happen as they did.