Having been born in the 90s, we were born and raised on Disney movies. However, as most of us know, Disney movies aren't always the most accurate. In order to make Disney movies more kid friendly, Disney often alters characters, endings, and even entire plots. Here are a few Disney movies and their less than pleasant origins.
1. The Fox and the Hound
This Disney movie depicts two animals, Todd the fox and Copper the hound, and their struggle to remain friends despite societal and peer pressure put on them from all sides. This struggle remains through their whole lives until finally a mutual agreement is reached between the hunter and the hunted.
The original novel by Daniel P. Mannix is much less friendly. After Todd accidentally kills The Hunter's new dog Chief, the Hunter goes into a rage and trains Copper to ignore every fox except for Todd. Thus begins the chase between the two.
After successfully killing two sets of Todd's mate and kits (with Todd escaping both times), The Hunter finally sets Copper on Todd in a day and a half long chase that results in Todd collapsing with exhaustion and dying.
A few months after Todd's death, the Hunter goes into a nursing home. But not before shooting Copper.
2. The Jungle Book
The 1967 Disney movie features Mowgli, a small Indian boy who is rescued by black panther Bagheera and bear Baloo. The trio race to get Mowgli home to the "man village" before he is attacked by the man-eating tiger Shere Kahn.
The original Jungle Book is actually a short story by Rudyard Kipling, and is a bit more depressing. Mowgli, while he does get back to his village, is immediately re-banished to the jungle, and anyone who showed him kindness is tortured.
So what does our hero do? He enlists the help of Hathi the Elephant, a bloodthirsty old elephant seeking revenge on humans, as well as the help of Bagheera and a pack of wolves to destroy the village. All of it. Not even leaving the bear necessities
3. Cinderella
This Disney movie is perhaps one of the most famous. Almost everyone knows the story of the girl who loses her shoe when the clock strikes midnight, only to have the Prince come find her and live happily ever after.
In Grimm's Fairy Tales, there are a couple of extra details. For starters, when Cinderella's stepsisters try and fit their feet into the recovered slipper, they go all out. One chops off her toes and the other cuts off her heel. Oh and by the way, at her and Prince Charming's wedding, Cinderella calls on her bird friends to peck out her sister's eyes. Talk about revenge!
4. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Set in Paris, France, this Disney movie is all about the acceptance of others (with a little bit of a love story thrown in of course). Captain Phoebus and Quasimodo, a deformed bell-ringer, rescue Gypsy Esmerelda from certain death at the hands of Frollo, a judge obsessed with eradicating evil.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was written by Victor Hugo (You might also know him as the author of Les Miserables)
In the novel, Quasimodo is so angry that Esmerelda doesn't love him back that he betrays her to Frollo who hangs her publicly in the town square.
After her death, Quasimodo feels pretty bad, so he throws Frollo off of the cathedral, sneaks into Esmerelda's grave, curls around her body and slowly starves to death. 18 months later when the bodies are found, Quasimodo's bones turn to dust when he is separated from Esmerelda.
5. Peter Pan
The 1953 Disney movie shows the Darling children, Wendy, George and Michael whisked away to Neverland by the infinitely young Peter Pan. There they battle the evil pirate Captain Hook, meet mermaids, a tribe of Native Americans and the Lost Boys, a groups of boys recruited by Peter Pan to live out their youth on the island.
While the Disney novel is fairly accurate to the original play by J.M. Barrie; it leaves out a few key plot points.
The Darlings do return to London, but Wendy visits Peter every summer until she's too old to visit. Then she marries a Lost Boy and has a daughter, Jane, who takes over the ritual visitations to Peter.
But what happens to the rest of the Lost Boys when they grow up? They don't. Peter murders them, because growing up is against the rules.
6. Tarzan
The Disney story of the ape-man is a charming one. Not only does Tarzan find acceptance among the gorillas, but he also finds love with Jane Porter, a woman who has come to Africa to study gorillas.
Tarzan is actually a series of books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first being Tarzan of the Apes.
In the novel, Tarzan's mother dies of natural causes on Tarzan's 1st birthday, and his father is killed by Kerchak, the king of the apes. A she-ape Kala takes Tarzan under her wing until she is killed by a local African village.
After avenging her death, Tarzan grows to be a skilled hunter, growing jealous of Kerchak until he finally kills the ape and becomes king of the apes himself.
Jane and Tarzan do fall in love, but when Jane proclaims her love for Tarzan, it is too late for she is already engaged to Tarzan's cousin Clayton.
7. The Lion King
In this Disney classic, the Lion King Mufasa is killed by his brother, Scar. After being manipulated into thinking that Mufasa's death was his fault, Mufasa's son Simba flees into exile. Years later, Simba returns to challenge is uncle and take his rightful place as king.
While not a fairy tale, this story was based on The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
Prince Hamlet (Simba) is instructed to get revenge on his Uncle Claudius (Scar), for murdering King Hamlet (Mufasa), seizing the throne and marrying his brother's widow. All of this is told to him by the ghost of his dead father, so everyone thinks he's insane (which may or may not be accurate).
Anyway, by the end of the play, everyone is dead. Hamlet's love Ophelia commits suicide after Hamlet accidentally murders her father, he watches his mother die after drinking poisoned wine, and Hamlet is stabbed with a poisoned blade and dies, but not before killing his uncle with the same blade.
