It’s a well-known fact that Disney movies had some pretty dark moments. If you haven’t wept at a Disney movie, are you even mortal? But beyond that, villain deaths and dark climaxes, there are many unclear things about Disney movies that we don’t talk about.
For example, are we ready to talk about the bestiality that goes on in Beauty and the Beast?
1. Also, the entire basis of the movie is Belle falling in love with her captor. We all gloss over this small fact when we talk about how romantic this film is. One of the dark Disney things the Beast does is letting Gaston and his cronies attack the castle just because he’s sad, putting the lives of his entire staff at risk.
2. There was a StarKid video about this years and years ago. He doesn’t even tell the staff whether to hide or leave; “Sure, let’s let these guys come in and kill us all.” And there’s broken furniture and cookware in the next fight scene. Does this indicate the servants who became those furniture pieces were dead?
3. It is super coarse that a ton of the stories revolve around kissing unconscious girls. At least in Sleeping Beauty, a kiss was part of destroying the curse.
4. In Snow White, he kisses a girl who’s been dead for years. This is sending the wrong message. Snow White’s body would’ve rotted if left in a glass coffin for years. He’d be straight up kissing a skeleton.
5. And what happened to Mufasa’s body in The Lion King. Did one of the animals eat it? And the body of every Disney villain who falls to their death.
A villain falling into some void may seem a lot less disturbing, but they’ve got to hit the ground, and someone has to clean up these bodies.
6. Although, you could say villains like Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame were dragged to hell, based on the imagery.
7. Then comes Mulan with Shang Li, but it’s not good that he leaves Mulan to die.
He “spares” her life and then leaves her in the middle of the snowy mountains, naked and alone. Would it have killed him to accompany her to the next safe, non-subzero place?
8. Death feels like a central theme in most Disney movies. The main plot of The Aristocats revolves around Adelaide dying.
She writes her will, which is a normal thing for someone in their middle or old age to do, but why didn’t she report it earlier? Also, Edgar appears in a rush to get relieved of the kittens. He doesn’t have enough time until the will is initiated.
9. In Moana, Maui takes Te Fiti’s heart, which gradually poisons all the surrounding islands for 1,000 years. So I’m assuming they just wiped out tons of people/islands. Meaning Maui was liable for the death of thousands. Just some implied mass death in a Disney film.
10. We all know Ursula’s lost people are pretty creepy in The Little Mermaid, but by the end of the movie, we’ve neglected them. But like they’re still down there.
11. That’s still a super-dark end for a movie. What if Ariel got married? Hundreds of mermaids are suffering for eternity.
12. Honestly, The Little Mermaid is super dark overall, considering many of the main characters are fish. “Les Poissons” is quite frightening when you realize that Sebastian was watching him cut the fish. It is the equivalent of watching a giant chop and cook a bunch of humans.
He also chases Sebastian around. If this picture were with humans, kids would be weeping in the theater.
10. Food in The Lion King soon gets pretty dark too. All the animals talk and have robust personalities, yet most eat each other for food. The only thing defending others like Timon is the plot.
11. That’s the cycle of life. Still, I can’t help but imagine poor gazelles screaming and asking for their lives and telling the lion feeding on them that they have a family.
12. We don’t see any other male lions beside Scar, assuming Mufasa was also Nala’s father. So they were half-siblings, then. Is inbreeding not a problem with lions?
13. This was genuine, but I feel like we all miss the moment when Rapunzel stands out for Gothel as she drops to her death.
Rapunzel had total Stockholm Syndrome and had to see the single person she believed loved her, die. Even though Gothel had revealed her true colors, Rapunzel still didn’t desire to lose her.
14. The whole climax of Tangled is one of the dark Disney movie climaxes. Gothel is just working to keep Rapunzel chained up forever. Also, no one ever talks about the trauma of Rapunzel being held hostage for her entire life.
15. While watching some of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure we did not explore this trauma.
There’s so much child abuse and neglect. What about the Beast? It looked like he was 11 when they cast the curse. Where were his parents?
Was he all alone at a castle with a group of servants? And how come they never visited him? It seems like Chip is barely one whose Mrs. Potts’s kids. Also, they’re teacups, but did they have to sleep in a cupboard?
There also seems to be a revolving theme of fathers who hate their sons. Like Kerchak in Tarzan. Bambi’s father wasn’t even in Bambi’s life until his mom died.
The fairies set the whole kingdom to sleep only because Aurora is asleep in Sleeping Beauty? They don’t know about Philip or Aurora has a genuine love-connection who’s not currently in the kingdom and who can save her. It seems like Aurora will have to sleep forever, which means the rest of the kingdom will, too. What if someone passed through and stayed stuck in time while their family worried about them in another kingdom?
Prince Charming, not even remembered what color hair Cinderella had, is super suspicious. This isn’t that dark, but it casts a bit of a shadow on their romantic meeting.
And finally, did Tarzan have crushes on gorillas as a teenager/adult? Did he have relationships with them?
