Spoiler Warning! While this is not part of my story, it may or may not contain spoilers. Then again, so might some Disney films. If you want to be surprised, stop reading. Frankly I doubt many people would be surprised anyways. So, your choice.
Disney lied to you. Cannibalism, incest, rape, murder, slavery, and suicide are all common themes in the earliest versions of most popular fairy tales and many myths, including:
Cinnderella was a witch who beguiled the Prince with her magic and sent birds to peak out the eyes of her step sisters, there was no Fairy Godmother.
Red Riding Hood was convinced to perform a strip teases by the wolf, and only noticed his big eyes, ears, and teeth after climbing naked into Grandmother’s bed. There was no woodsman/huntsman. The wolf ate Red, end of story.
Sleeping Beauty was not wakened by True Love’s Kiss, but by giving birth to twins nine months later. True Love’s Kiss is a euphemism for sex, in almost anywhere it comes up in Grimm’s Tales. Makes one think about the Frog Prince. In any case, after finally locating her babies daddy and marrying him, she had to deal with her cannibal mother-in-law who wanted to eat the children. There was no Evil Fairy, rather Sleeping Beauty had 13 Fairy Godmother’s (princess gotta princess don’t ya know) but due to a clerical error, the invitation for one was mislaid. She was pissed and after 11 god mothers had given their gifts, she cursed the baby to die, the last (13th was a lucky number here) changed the curse into sleep. In none of the earliest versions was the insulted fairy considered any better or worse than any others, in fact one of the morals was to not insult higher nobility. From that point of view, the irked Fairy was completely in the right in punishing the kingdom for their failure.
The aforementioned Frog Prince didn’t return to human form until after he was murdered by the princess. Apparently the cursed acted like a D&D polymorph spell.
Quasimoto was a deaf/mute loyal to the Cardinal. He was a monster, even if it wasn’t truly his fault since he was raised that way. The Cardinal’s sins were Pride and Lust, not racism, the dirty Gypsies deserved what happened to them. Esmaralda was not actually a Gypsy, but a good Catholic baby stolen and raised by the despicable Gypsies. Couldn’t have the racist, murdering, rapist hero marry an actual Gypsy. Speaking of Dumas, Porthos is black. But then so was Dumas, so not all the Dead White Men were white, or men, but that is another rant entirely.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The Little Mermaid committed suicide when her prince choose political expediance over true love.
Elsa was a cannibal who like young boys.
Snow White didn’t have an evil stepmother, the Queen was her bio-mother who was jealous of the attention the king paid their daughter. She requested the heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs not as proof, but so she could eat them. The Dwarves loved Snow White so much that they tied a rope around her leg binding her to the cabin, so she wouldn’t get lost in the woods. Also, since they only had seven beds, Snow spent one night a week in each. The first time Prince Charming saw Snow, she had been dead for years, preserved by the magic of the glass coffin. His Kiss, eww, didn’t wake her up. No, after the Kiss he fell so much in love with the dead girl, he used Eminent Domain to seize the coffin and transport it back to his home. One of his clumsy servants dropped his corner, in a performance worthy of Flinn and Provenza, loosening the bite of apple in her throat. That is when she awoke, and having been despoiled, married her rescuer. Just to up the ick factor, she was between 10-13 at the time.
You realy don't want to hear about Rapunzel.
Heracles murdered his wife and children, but she only married him because he raped her first so, there is that. Hera was most certainly not his mother, and he was rather friendly with Hades. He never met a women he didn't find worth raping, and never met a man he wouldn't beat to death with his bare hands for the smallest insult.
(Counting marvel as disney.)
Thor’s mother isn’t Frigga. Which is why he is not in line for the throne of Asgard even though he is Odin’s firstborn. Baldr is the heir. Thor’s mother was a giant Odin had an affair with before his marriage to Frigga, named Joro, who may actually be another name for Bestla, Odin’s own mother. Both were shapeshifters. It gets strange. Loki is Odin’s foster brother, not Thor’s. Laufey was his mother, not his father. Sif and Heimdall were Twins, not just in Myth but the comics as well. Both Odin and Thor had lots of children, very few with their lawful spouses, not all of them consensual.
I could go on.
This isn’t a part of my story. I do draw on story and myth, and I do not want to surprise my readers with triggers. This is my good faith warning. Sometimes characters borrowed from myth and legend come with certain baggage. You have been warned. Disney lies.