8 of the Most Shockingly Dark Stories Behind Beloved Disney Movies

Disney is known for their wholesome, family-friendly entertainment. But the stories they took inspiration from are far darker, and even sometimes sound more like they should be part of the horror genre than fairy tales. And the issues people take with Disney movies are nothing compared to the original stories.

From a historical perspective, it is fascinating to see how these dark tales have transformed over time to be the stories we know today. Disney is one of the reasons that we have the concept of “true love conquers all,” because the original fairy tales were not as romantic. Here are some of the darkest stories behind Disney’s movies.

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Cinderella
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Tangled
6. Pinocchio
7. Mulan
8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Disney version of Snow White has a fair amount of the same elements that the original tale had, but left out some of the gorier details from the Brothers Grimm version, written in 1812.

In the fairy tale, the Evil Queen orders the huntsman to bring her Snow White’s lungs and liver to prove that he has killed her. The huntsman brings the organs of a boar instead, but the Evil Queen still eats them while believing they are her stepdaughter’s organs.

In the end, as retribution for her attempts at murder, the prince and Snow White make the Evil Queen wear red-hot iron shoes at their wedding and dance until she dies. It’s really the type of entertainment I’d want at my wedding, but to each their own.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty has multiple variants of the story, and Disney thankfully chose not to adapt the more problematic ones.

In the stories Perceforest and Sun, Moon, and Talia, the sleeping princess is impregnated by the prince/king. She doesn’t wake to true love’s kiss, but instead, after giving birth to twins, one baby sucks on her finger and removes the splinter that cursed her. In Sun, Moon, and Talia, the king’s wife (yes, he’s married) tries to kill Talia and her babies for “seducing” the king. Yikes.

Cinderella

Disney’s Cinderella, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, removed the severe punishments that the villains receive.

In the Brothers Grimm version, the ugly stepsisters who torment Cinderella are forced by their mother to cut off parts of their feet to make the slipper fit. Once their deceit comes to light and Cinderella is found to be the right bride, they still try to attend the wedding as the bride’s family. But Cinderella’s bird friends peck out the eyes of the stepsisters while at the wedding, blinding them for the rest of their lives.

The Little Mermaid

While some parents might feel uneasy about a story in which a young mermaid essentially sells her soul, Disney’s The Little Mermaid offers a much happier message than its source material.

Hans Christian Andersen wrote his mermaid to suffer pain and anguish. The potion that gives the mermaid legs comes with the side effect of feeling like being stabbed with every step. The prince that she fell in love with marries someone else, and though she could return to being a mermaid by killing the prince and his new bride, she cannot bring herself to do so. In the end, and with a broken heart, she turns to sea foam and ceases to exist because mermaids have no souls.

Tangled

Disney did a lot to make Tangled more than just another princess movie. Making Flynn the narrator and adding his backstory gave the film more action and comedy. The Brothers Grimm story that Tangled is based on, Rapunzel, however, is not comedic whatsoever.

Rapunzel remains trapped in her tower, even after the prince visits her. She only becomes free when the witch learns of the love affair between Rapunzel and the prince. The witch banishes Rapunzel after cutting her long hair. The prince is blinded by the witch, in some versions with the scissors used to cut Rapunzel’s hair and with thorns in others. He searches for Rapunzel and finally finds her and their twins in a cave. So, a somewhat happy ending?

Pinocchio

If you were ever frustrated with Pinocchio for not listening to Jiminy Cricket in the Disney film, you should stay away from the book.

The Adventures of Pinocchio: Stories of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi sees Pinocchio get mad at the cricket trying to give him advice, and so he kills it. Yep, he decides not to let his conscience be his guide. And when he turns into a donkey, Pinocchio is almost drowned by a man who wants to skin him and use his hide. Both Geppetto and Pinocchio barely survive several unbelievable encounters, all of which could have been avoided if Pinocchio had just stopped making bad choices.

Mulan

Disney’s Mulan is based on an ancient Chinese poem about a woman who disguises herself as a man to fight in a war. The poem, “The Ballad of Mulan,” follows Hua Mulan for years as she becomes a successful warrior in place of her aged father. The ending, however, sees Mulan meet a terrible fate. Once her true identity is revealed, she is told that she must become a concubine to the emperor. Instead of going along with the marriage, Mulan dies by suicide.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Probably one of the most questionable Disney adaptations, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has plenty of content that goes over kids’ heads but is shocking for adults.

The original text, by Victor Hugo, is even more shocking. In the story, Claude Frollo actually attempts to “lie with” Esmerelda several times. Phoebus is also only interested in sleeping with Esmerelda and refuses to marry her. She is hanged for the attempted murder of Phoebus, even though it is Frollo who committed the crime. Quasimodo kills Frollo and then goes off to die in the mass grave with Esmerelda’s body.

So, next time you sit down to watch a classic Disney movie, remember that any of the problematic aspects you find are likely much tamer than they were in the source material.

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