In The Lion King, Simba mourns the death of his father Mufasa.
In The Lion King, Simba mourns the death of his father Mufasa.
THREE KEY FACTS
In total, there have been more than 80 characters in Disney films who have lost their parent(s).
Walt Disney’s mother died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1938. It’s speculated Disney dealt with the guilt of her untimely death by creating film characters with missing or dead parents.
Characters in children’s movies are twice as likely to die than those depicted in adult movies.
OPINION
Disney traumatised my childhood and now history is repeating itself with my son, writes Anna Sarjeant.
In July 1996, aged 10, I lived in the UK. It was the last day of primary school before the summer holidays. As a treat, it was a mufti day. We played Twister all morning and watched a Disney film in the afternoon.
I’d seen it before so I knew the storyline, and under no circumstances was I watching it. I’d rather eat school dinners for life than cry in front of all my classmates.
Thankfully, by 1996, I had chronically bad eyesight and took my glasses off for the duration of the movie.
If you can’t see Mufasa’s horrific death, you have no reason to blub.
But in what world is it okay for a 10-year-old to stare at a light socket for two hours to avoid feeling upset? Or humiliated? Because adult cartoon-makers love to butcher the protagonist’s parent(s).
...It’s not like it’s a child’s worst nightmare or anything.
I thought it was a simple case of “it was okay in the 90s”, like e-numbers in lollies that made 90s kids go loopy – one look at the orange Smarties and my brother was swinging from lampshades.
To my horror, I was wrong. Disney is still slaughtering parents.
I know this because I’m now a mother with a young, dinosaur-loving son and a Disney+ subscription.
Recently, he asked to watch dinosaurs.
My husband suggested Jurassic Park, so I guess things could’ve been worse.
My only stipulation was that we weren’t watching A Land Before Time. Granted, not Disney, but another unbelievably distressing film that ruined my childhood. If you haven’t seen it, the young dinosaur’s mother dies while saving her son.
There’s always death and there’s always guilt transferred on to the surviving offspring.
I searched for a dinosaur-themed cartoon on the Disney channel and found The Good Dinosaur. Rated PG, which is fine because I was watching too and could keep an eye on things.
The dinosaurs are big and green and goofy. It looked placid. All the hallmarks of a charming Disney delight like Toy Story.
But no.
Arlo, voiced by Raymond Ochoa, in a scene from The Good Dinosaur.
We don’t get very far when, lo and behold, little Arlo’s dad gets swept away by a torrential river. To his death. Leaving the infant dinosaur alone and scared.
Try telling a shell-shocked 2-year-old all comes good in the end.
Surely no one is asking for these storylines? I’d argue no one benefits from them. I certainly didn’t – I purposely blinded myself to avoid The Lion King 28 years ago. So why are they still throwing dino dad into a flash flood?
The internet states Walt Disney’s parents lived to a ripe old age, but his mother’s tragic death from a gas leak caused the creator no end of pain and guilt.
Surely that would be reason enough to avoid such narratives in your range of child-orientated cartoons?
Even if the animator insisted on such themes, Disney died in 1966. It could’ve stopped then.
Film producer Walt Disney in 1951. Photo / Getty Images
I’m not sure I buy the reasoning that it helps normalise traumatic subjects, either. Kids have an entire life ahead of them to face myriad challenging situations. For some children, that’s too much trauma and far too early. Let’s not add extra, unnecessary hurt under the guise of “entertainment”.
Just in case you’d forgotten (or subconsciously buried) Disney’s most disturbing deaths, here’s a quick list detailing the worst – I don’t have the word count to list them all.
