DVDizzy Forum

As we all know, a majority of Disney's animated features have been based off some sort of literary source, ranging from picture books to stage plays. Out of curiosity, it'd be fun to see which ones we have or haven't read, with some potential room for further discussion. I've compiled a list of literary sources that inspired the films in the Disney animated feature canon, including the package films, with the aim of the game being to highlight those we have read. You must have read the text from start to finish for it to qualify. For stories that could be classed as "tradtional" (fairy tales, myths etc), a retelling will suffice (especially since so many exist in multiple versions), so long as it is a standard retelling of an established original.

Anyway, here are the lists (one for single story features, one for anthology features), with my reads highlighted in bold:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (The Brothers Grimm, 1812)
The Adventures of Pinocchio [Pinocchio] (Carlo Collodi, 1882)
Dumbo the Flying Elephant [Dumbo] (Helen Abbertson, 1939)
Bambi, A Life in the Woods [Bambi] (Felix Salten, 1923)
Cinderella (Charles Perrault, 1697)
Alice in Wonderland - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll, 1865/1872)
Peter Pan - Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Never Grew Up (J.M. Barrie, 1904), Peter and Wendy (J.M. Barrie, 1911)
Happy Dan the Whistling Dog [Lady and the Tramp] (Ward Greene, 1943)
Sleeping Beauty - Sleeping Beauty in the Woods (Charles Perrault, 1697), Briar Rose (The Brothers Grimm, 1812)
The Hundred and One Dalmatians [101 Dalmatians] (Dodie Smith, 1956)
The Sword in the Stone (T.H. White, 1938)
The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling, 1894)
Robin Hood (Traditional English)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Winnie the Pooh - Winnie-the-Pooh/The House At Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne, 1926/1928)
The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under - The Rescuers/Miss Bianca (Margery Sharp, 1959/1962)
The Fox and the Hound (Daniel P Mannix, 1967)
"The Chronicles of Prydain" [incl. The Black Cauldron] (Lloyd Alexander, 1964-8)
Basil of Baker Street [The Great Mouse Detective] (Eve Titus, 1958)
Oliver Twist [Oliver and Company] (Charles Dickens, 1838)
The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen, 1837)
Beauty and the Beast (Madame Le Prince de Beaumont, 1756)
Aladdin (Arabian Nights)
Pocahontas (Traditional American)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Victor Hugo, 1831)
Hercules (Greek mythology)
Mulan (Traditional Chinese)
Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1914)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Greek mythology)
Treasure Island [Treasure Planet] (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883)
Chicken Little (Traditional English/American)
A Day With Wilbur Robinson [Meet the Robinsons] (William Joyce, 1990)
The Princess and the Frog - The Frog Prince (The Brothers Grimm, 1812) and The Frog Princess (E.D. Baker, 2002)
Rapunzel [Tangled] (The Brothers Grimm, 1812)

And some package films...

The Sorcerer's Apprentice [from Fantasia/Fantasia 2000] (Traditional German, famously retold by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1797)
Casey at the Bat [from Make Mine Music] (Ernest Thayer, 1888)
Little Bear Bongo ["Bongo" in Fun and Fancy Free] (Sinclair Lewis, 1936)
Jack and the Beanstalk ["Mickey and the Beanstalk" in Fun and Fancy Free] (Traditional English)
Johnny Appleseed [from Melody Time] (Traditional American)
Pecos Bill [from Melody Time] (Traditional American)
The Wind in the Willows [from Ichabod and Mr Toad] (Kenneth Grahame, 1908)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow [from Ichabod and Mr Toad] (Washington Irving, 1820)
The Steadfast Tin Soldier [from Fantasia 2000] (Hans Christian Andersen, 1838)
Noah's Ark [from Fantasia 2000] (Bible episode)

As it turns out, I've read quite a few of the original texts, albeit the more well-known and accessible ones. There are also a few that I have read at least part of (such as The Wind in the Willows and Treasure Island), which I'll always say I'll finish.

Snow White
Pinocchio
The Wind in the Willows
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
The Jungle Book
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin and His Lamp
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Rapunzel

And outside from the animated canon:
James and the Giant Peach

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Adventures of Pinocchio
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Bambi, A Life in the Woods
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
Peter Pan
Sleeping Beauty Briar Rose
The Jungle Book
The Rescuers/Miss Bianca
The Fox and the Hound
Basil of Baker Street
Oliver Twist
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
The Princess and the Frog - The Frog Prince
Rapunzel

The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Noah's Ark

I might have read more of them, and I even believe I still own most of them...just laying around somewhere in the basement. Should dig them up sometime.

The Hundred and One Dalmatians is a great book!
I also read Margaret, the book that inspired the MMC Annette serial.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Adventures of Pinocchio
Cinderella
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
The Hundred and One Dalmatians
The Jungle Book
Robin Hood
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Winnie the Pooh - Winnie-the-Pooh/The House At Pooh Corner
Aladdin
Pocahontas
Chicken Little
Rapunzel
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Wind in the Willows
Noah's Ark

I've read the original source material of:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tarzan
Chicken Little
Tangled

Pinocchio
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
Peter Pan (one of my favorite books ever)
The Hundred and One Dalmatians (a surprisingly entertaining read, I felt)
The Jungle Book
Winnie the Pooh (several books)
The Little Mermaid
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

If you count it, Hamlet for The Lion King. Of course that is a play. I've attempted The Sword in the Stone and Tarzan.

Additionally, I've read the first three books in the Mary Poppins series.

I actually have a copy of Victory Through Air Power, but I haven't read it yet.

I own "Bambi, A Life in the Woods". It's a pretty dark book and I love it for that. I would love to read Miss Bianca books if I could get my hands on them.

I've only finished the Prydain Chronicles, besides scattered folk and fairy tales.

None.

None.

Snow White
The Wind in the Willows
Cinderella
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Sleeping Beauty
The Jungle Book
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
Hamlet (i guess? for tlk)
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Greek Mythology
Rapunzel
The Snow Queen.

Snow White
Cinderella
Attempted Alice
Both versions of Sleeping Beauty
Robin Hood
Both Winnie-the-Pooh books
Attempted Oliver Twist
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Hamlet
Read about Pocahontas in history textbooks during past classes
Haven't really read a specific book about Atlantis, but I've researched it.
The Frog Prince
Rapunzel
Jack and the Beanstalk
Noah's Ark in the Bible
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
I think I read Johnny Appleseed in elementary school.

The Wind In The Willows
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Oliver Twist
The Frog Prince

tsom wrote:I think I read Johnny Appleseed in elementary school.

Oh, come to think of it, I think I did read a version of "Johnny Appleseed" in a school reading book at a very early age (all I remember was a man wearing a pan on his head planting apples). Not that the American tall tales are not all that well known in Britain; I probably wouldn't know about most of them were I not a Disney fan. In any case, I've updated my own personal list. As I've said, retellings can count for the more traditional tales (even those with definite authors like the Brothers Grimm), as the majority of available copies today are ultimately retellings.