DVDizzy Forum

This question just came to my mind.

We all know that Disney hates women, I mean in basically all the stories the mothers of the princesses are dead or don't exist. Then why in the case of Hercules they didn't come with this idea (that would have worked pefectly) instead of changing the whole myth?

... I mean, they had the perfect way to work the myth of Hercules without completly destroying it and instead they decided to just create something. I'm fan of the Greek mythology and I can let pass everything else but that single thing I just can't truly digest.


Anyone else feeling the same way?

That is a really good question. Maybe the MPAA or what ever steped in and made them keep the mother or something.

Evil Genie Jafar wrote: We all know that Disney hates women, I mean in basically all the stories the mothers of the princesses are dead or don't exist. Then why in the case of Hercules they didn't come with this idea (that would have worked pefectly) instead of changing the whole myth?

Because Hades is one of the coolest villians!

Timon/Pumba fan wrote:

Evil Genie Jafar wrote: We all know that Disney hates women, I mean in basically all the stories the mothers of the princesses are dead or don't exist. Then why in the case of Hercules they didn't come with this idea (that would have worked pefectly) instead of changing the whole myth?

Because Hades is one of the coolest villians!

And because Wendy, Aurora, Simba, and (later) Mulan all had their mothers survive until the end of the film. Disney didn't wanna leave poor Simba as the only male with a mommy.

Timon/Pumba fan wrote:

Evil Genie Jafar wrote: We all know that Disney hates women, I mean in basically all the stories the mothers of the princesses are dead or don't exist. Then why in the case of Hercules they didn't come with this idea (that would have worked pefectly) instead of changing the whole myth?

Because Hades is one of the coolest villians!

I meant that in the real myth Hercules is the son of Zeus and a woman he had an affair with.

Evil Genie Jafar wrote:

Timon/Pumba fan wrote: Because Hades is one of the coolest villians!

I meant that in the real myth Hercules is the son of Zeus and a woman he had an affair with.

For some reason children's entertainment and stories about having affairs don't go together very well!

I mean if a bunch of soccer-moms can attack Disney for misunderstandings like these: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.htm then you'd think Disney would be a bit more careful with their films in the future!

Besides the story is fine the way it is.

I know, and of course Disney woudn't have done that.

But they very well could have kept with the story, without mention that Hera was Zeus' wife.

..or they could have done what I said: don't mention Hercules mother and find a way to work out that Zeus watched over him.

Ron 'n John just did what worked in Aladdin and Little Mermaid: the hero, the girl, the 'deal' that gives their strength away (Ariel's voice, Aladdin's wishes, herc's strength) It's all one and the same formula.... also, Ariel gives her father a flower, wich pops up a few scenes later. Aladdin gives Jasmine a flower during the carpet ride. And finally Herc pics Meg a flower wich is later burned by Hades... all 3 films are terribly similair in structure. But hey, the formula works for me, they're 3 of my favourite Disney flicks.

I wonder what those two directors are doing at the moment? I've read somewhere they were let go, but I'm not sure. Apparently, Disney had this "you're only as good as your last movie'-attitude towards Treasure Planet. I don't care that they changed Hercules... they did the same to Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Like I said, if the formula works...

Evil Genie Jafar Wrote:

This question just came to my mind.

We all know that Disney hates women, I mean in basically all the stories the mothers of the princesses are dead or don't exist. Then why in the case of Hercules they didn't come with this idea (that would have worked pefectly) instead of changing the whole myth?

... I mean, they had the perfect way to work the myth of Hercules without completly destroying it and instead they decided to just create something. I'm fan of the Greek mythology and I can let pass everything else but that single thing I just can't truly digest.


Anyone else feeling the same way?

Well maybe Disney didn't want to waste money on drawing female characters or using them to do voices.

A motherless character gets immediate sympathy. Since any film's story falls on its face if the audience doesn't care about the characters, a lot of Disney animated films are based on orphans. It's just an easy way to make the audience care.

The other thing with no mothers is...An incompetant mother is not realistic. Whenever any of the characters do have mothers, usually they die or are somehow kept from helping their children (ala Mrs. Jumbo being locked up or Simba running away). But people can see the incompetant father as more realistic. The Sultan, Triton, etc. Mothers solve problems. Fathers struggle with it. In Disney terms anyways. And most fairytales. People jump down Disney's throats about the mothers, but look at the fairytales they are based on? Snow White, mother is dead. Cinerella, mother is dead. It's nothing new. Fairytales were written to teach children about morals and life. It was common for mothers to die in childbirth, so many fairytale characters are thus motherless, to "train" the children for something that may happen to their family. The fathers were too busy working trying to support their families and didn't understand the family dianamics the mother did, thus, the incompetant father.
Imagine if instead of the Sultan, Jasmine had a mother and not a father. Do you think it would be so easy for audiences to accept her mother falling for Jafar's schemes and spells? Jasmine certainly wasn't. She questioned much of what Jafar did and why Sultan listened to him. She didn't just accept it. Her mother would have likely been the same, thus Jafar would have been fired long again, so end the story of Aladdin before it ever started

Wow. I was going to say something about that comment "That Disney hates women," but most of it's been covered. Realistically, MOST women died from childbirth alone back before medicines and doctors helped keep them alive. It's also a common device that's used in all stories for parents to be cut out. In stories, parents can hinder a character's desires/ambitions. For the sake of story, you can't have that. The few cases that parents are there, there is usually some emotional struggle going on. Dumbo and Bambi having to grow up without their mothers to protect them (by Dumbo, I mean when she's taken to jail for a while), Ariel having to try and live outside her father's constant control, Simba having to live up to his father's honor, etc. etc. Even in the original Aladdin, where there WAS a mother, it made the story more about Aladdin making his mother proud of him. The other cases are to get the audiences' immediate sympathy, like with Quasi's, Nemo's and Koda's mothers.

Why have a parent if they're to have no purpose? Besides, I hardly think Disney hates women. A person looking for sexism will find it. But just like I can find sexism in some movies against women, I can find it towards men, too.

Disney's Divinity wrote:The other cases are to get the audiences' immediate sympathy, like with Koda's mothers

I disagree with the last one. That was crutial to the developement of the plot. Other than that, you're spot on!