barbie mermaid games

Disney Princesses Or Grimm's Princesses - Which Are Better?

Little girls love watching Disney princess movies. They are stories of beautiful princesses overcoming difficult odds to at last marry a prince, move into a palace and live happily ever after. However, the origins of these tales are not so enchanting. If you were to read the primary tales compiled by the brothers Grimm, you'd see that the life of a princess wasn't always so wonderful. So which version is better, Disney's or Grimm's?

Grimm's fairy tales are a range of primary German fairy tales. They are piquant stories, and a primary archive of historical literature. But that doesn't necessarily make them kid-approved. In the tale of Snow White, the evil Queen of course has the heart of an animal, which she believes is Snow White's heart, cooked so that she can eat it. And for her punishment for poisoning Snow White, she is forced to wear heated iron shoes and dance until she dies.

The story of Cinderella has the prince ordering the steps of the palace to be coated in pitch to capture her. When the step sisters get the chance to try on the golden, not glass, slipper they chop off parts of their feet to try to make it fit.

In the case of Sleeping charm the primary author did not have the integrate living happily ever after at the end. Instead he wrote a second part where the prince and princess are wed, have two children and while the prince is away waging war, his evil mum tries to have the princess and her children cooked and served to her. Her evil plot is foiled at the end and she ends up dying in a tub of vipers and other noxious creatures.

Disney princess movies are very distinct from the primary fairy tales they depict, but has Disney managed to generate a excellent version? As far as creating stories that are thorough for kids, it seems the write back would be yes. Most parents don't sit down to watch Cinderella or Snow White with their child thinking it would be great to show the evil characters suffer from horrible fates in order to demonstrate just punishment for their wrong doing. We watch these stories with our children to be entertained, and the Disney versions are very entertaining.

Some would argue that Disney has done a disservice to audiences by changing primary fairy tales into more sugar-coated versions. Fairy tales however, have always taken on complicated versions. They originated not as written stories, but as ones passed in the middle of families and friends orally. So the Disney versions are just that, an additional one version told by an additional one story teller. Only in this case, they are stories that we can tell our young children without giving them nightmares.

I don't think I would go so far as to say that the Disney versions are better. In fact as an adult I find the stories compiled by the brothers Grimm fascinating, although quite morbid. They are complex and piquant in a way that the Disney version will never be. However, I'll let my children stick with the Disney version for now.