The real stories behind the Disney movies..

[EagleWings]

I'm looking for the real stories behind the Disney movies. I've heard Cinderella is actually a gruesome story and that the Little Mermaid is actually a sad tale. I want to buy these books but I don't know the authors, can anyone help me? I also want to read the original Beauty and the Beast!

[C-HOX]

The Grim brothers wrote alot of them.

[mattjbhs]

Don't forget Alice and Wonderland if you haven't read it yet.

[ALIASd]

I'm looking for the real stories behind the Disney movies. I've heard Cinderella is actually a gruesome story and that the Little Mermaid is actually a sad tale. I want to buy these books but I don't know the authors, can anyone help me? I also want to read the original Beauty and the Beast!

Hans Christian Andersen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid

[Tinker Bell]

And on the Sleeping Beauty 2 disc Special Edition, there's a sequel or something to the original book, and it says something about the princess throwing her kids into fire or something! That's disturbing to me.

[Tedi Bara]

Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland and JM BArrie wrote Peter Pan

[Metal God]

I have a book called Mouse Under Glass which gives the background to several of the movies. The author is David Koenig.

[EagleWings]

I've read Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.. thanks for the tips y'all.

[jepple]

The Little Mermaid is a Hans Christian Andersen story.

I don't know all the fine details, but I do know several things they cut out when making the movie.

In the story, merfolk can't have souls, and turn to seafoam when they die. I think the elements of selling her soul/voice to the sea witch are there, but some how Ariel (and I'm not sure she has a name in the book) gives up her life to save Eric (not sure about him either). When she dies, she is given a soul and is allowed to go to heaven rather than turn to seafoam.

Like most Hans Christian Andersen stories, it has a bittersweet ending.

Another HCA story, the Steadfast Tin Soldier, was used as a segment in Fantasia 2000. It played out pretty faithful until the end, where in the film the evil Jack-in-the-box is thrown into the burning kiln. In the story, the soldier and ballerina fall into the kiln, but melt together to form the shape of a heart once the kiln cools.

[C-HOX]

The Original Alice in Wonderland is nothing nasty.

[lazyboy97O]

Cinderella isn't that bad. The beautiful step sisters just get their eyes gouged out by birds. I think the stepmother's do too.

Sleeping Beauty was more of elaborated to make it long enough for a film.

Alice in Wonderland is a very good compilation of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.

[sleepyjeff]

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a story told by Americas greatest writer Washington Irving. Surprisingly, Disney did a great job in telling the story in the short movie Ichabod(and Mr. Toad)............the Motion Picture made later under the name Sleepy Hollow, however, strays wildly from the original story.

[PanTheMan]

Doesn't Herbie the Luv Bug Bite it, and gets recycled intot he brave little Toaster?

[EagleWings]

I remember The Brave Little Toaster! It was my favorite when I was little. I should go get that movie lol.

[thejoshualee]

I think it's important to realize that Hans Christian Anderson and the rest DIDN"T write them as much as they took legonds and tales that were already in existance and Christinaized them. There are at least six different versions of The Little Mermaid before old Hans got his hands on them.

that's one of the rights of the story teller. They can take old tales and change them enough to make them viable for their contemporary audience. That's What The Grimm Brothers did, That's what Hans Christian Anderson did, That's what Walt Disney did, That's what story tellers do.