Happily Ever After~ Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip

It's time to see if Princess Aurora (AKA Sleeping Beauty) and Prince Phillip would make a good couple. Using my less than scientific scale of points from the following categories:

Decision Making Skills

Respect of Others

Sense of Responsibility

Compassion Towards Others

and the assigned point values (0-5) let's see if this couple can get within five points of each other, my litmus test for the perfect couple. If you recall from my post on Snow White and the Prince, the close the points, the better the relationship balance, and in my opinion, the better chance for happy ever after.

Edward Frederick Brewtnall

Princess Aurora: 15/20
While Princess Aurora is on screen more than the Prince (from Snow White), you don't see enough of her interactions with others to make a good judge of her character. In fact, while watching the movie, I found that it seemed to be more about the fairies than Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip...but maybe that was just me :-)

Decision Making Skills 3/5
Aurora, like Snow White, makes some poor choices that cause her to risk her life (and those of her people) to the evil fairy's plan.

Respect of Others 4/5 
We don't get to see much interaction between Aurora and others in the movie, but what we do see shows that she has great respect for those in her life (human, fairy, and animal).

Sense of Responsibility 3/5
While we see that Aurora has no problem with the chores assigned to her, we get a glimpse that she would forsake all of her responsibilities as a princess for the man she met in the woods. 

Compassion Towards Others 4/5
Aurora seems to have compassion toward the fairies that guard her and her animal friends from the forest. She also accepts her true identity with little question or fuss, accepting that her years of living in the forest were for her safety. (hmmm...I feel a story brewing here :-) )

Prince Phillip: 18/20
For me, Prince Phillip is the man that all princes should be compared to. He is the prince of all princes, the one to compare all future Disney (and other company) princes to. After looking at his scores, I'm sure you can see why I think this.

Decision Making Skills 4/5
Prince Phillip shows excellent decision making skills. Even though he longs to go and find the girl from the woods, and break off the engagement his parents made when he was a boy, he chooses to risk his life to save Aurora's kingdom.

Respect of Others 5/5
Phillip shows great respect for others. From the respect he shows Briar Rose (AKA Princess Aurora) while dancing, to his treatment of Sampson (his horse) and the way he respectfully disagrees with his father, he treats all with great respect.

Sense of Responsibility 4/5
Prince Phillip knows what is expected of him as a prince, and he's willing to risk all to save Aurora. Yet, he would give it all up for the peasant girl he met in the woods. Fortunately for him, Briar Rose and Princess Aurora are one and the same. But one can't help but wonder what he would have chosen were they two different people.


Compassion Towards Others 5/5
Phillip has great compassion towards others. He dances with a stranger in the woods. Fights a dragon for the woman he loves. What more could he do to show his compassion for others?

My un-scientific review shows that Aurora and Phillip have a high percentage of obtaining happy ever after. Being older, Phillip should have better decision making skills, and I believe that his strength there, as well as with his sense of responsibility, will help balance out Aurora, making them a good couple.

Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Sleeping Beauty and the Working Women of 1959

The 1950's is often cited as one of the best decades to have lived and/or grown up in. Who hasn't watched Happy Days or Grease and felt the nostalgia of life in the '50's? Disney released Sleeping Beauty in 1959, near the end of this iconic decade. So, how well does Princess Aurora represent the women of 1959?

Vogel, H. (Hermann) (1856-1918)

While many women entered the workforce during World War II, the most common job held by a woman in 1959 was that of housewife and mother. Women did work outside the home, including as nurses and teachers, but they didn't have the same job choices as the women of today have. Few were doctors, professors, or business executives--positions many women hold in today's society.

By Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M (Flickr: Data Processing Machine) 

Keeping these norms in mind, I think Aurora is a good representation of the women of this decade. Her parents' goal is to marry her off so she can raise a family of her own. Now, being royal, Aurora lives a privileged life and doesn't have to work. But, while hiding away with the fairies in the woods, we see her performing the more traditional housekeeping role that has become associated with women from this time period.

If Disney's was making this film today, I don't see where there would be many differences to the tale. They didn't change much of Aurora's role from the story told by Perrault, so unless you recast the roles so that the princess saves the prince, Aurora would remain pretty much as she is.

Do you think Aurora was a good representation of women in 1959? What changes do you see being made if the movie release today? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Sleeping Beauty: Disney vs Perrault

This month I'm focusing on Sleeping Beauty. So let's dive in and look at the differences in the tales by Charles Perrault and the Grimm brothers and the 1959 Disney animated movie.

Both the Perrault and Grimm story versions contain more fairies (8 and 13 respectively), whereas Disney chose to focus on four: three good and one evil. And while both Perrault and the Grimms chose to mention how the King and Queen struggled to conceive a child, this is left out of the animated version.

The story of how the fairies were invited vary in the print versions, but the "evil" fairy always bestows her curse before the final fairy has given her blessing. Disney leaves out the invitation part, but the gift bestowing seems to match well with Perrault and Grimm.

Disney lets us see Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora's first meeting (he as a young boy and she a baby), using the traditional promising of marriage to form an alliance, something neither text makes mention of.

The pricking of the finger on the spindle is the same in all stories, but Disney sets up a unique villainess in Maleficent. Neither of these tales mention a dragon or have the prince slay any creatures to rescue the princess. Instead,  the tales penned by Perrault and the Grimm brothers, have one hundred years pass before a prince from a foreign land finds the princess and wakes her. There are some other versions where the prince/king who finds the Sleeping Beauty behave very dishonorably, but that is not the case in these two tales.

Henry Meynell Rheam

Disney's version of things after the finger pricking creates a completely new version of the tale. Prince Phillip, Aurora's betrothed and her mystery man from the woods, slays the dragon and saves the girl he loves.

For me, while quite different than the original tales, the addition of defeating the dragon and the nod to the "true love conquers all" theme make for a wonderful change (one I played off of in Quest of the Hart). 

Disney gives a nice nod to the Grimm Brother's by having Aurora use the name Briar Rose while in hiding (this is the name the Grimm's used after the spell took place.)

The biggest difference I noticed was in the ending. Disney's ending followed the Grimm brother's ending more than Perrault's. In the Perrault tale, the prince and princess spend time getting to know each other before marrying and reaching their happy-ever-after.

What differences did you notice in the stories and film adaptation? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to stop back next week to see what I learned about women in the workplace in 1959.

Once Upon a Time ~ Sleeping Beauty

Up next in my study of fairy tales turned animated films is Sleeping Beauty. The 1959 Disney film is based on La Belle au Boir Dormant by Charles Perrault that can be found here.

It also has some elements from the Grimm Brother's Briar Rose, which can be found here.

There are many other variants to the story, including ones that are very dark. You can find more on them here.

Come back next week to compare the written tales and the animated film.

Happily Ever After? ~ Snow White and The Prince

And they lived happily ever after. Or so the story says, but did they? 

What makes a good couple? For me, I think a good couple is evenly balanced. And by that I mean that they share the power of the relationship. When I write couples into my stories, I try to make sure that my strong characters are matched with a strong counterpart. If my female MC is a warrior princess, she would tromp all over a weak-willed servant, and the relationship wouldn't work. It would be out of balance. I'm not saying she has to be paired with a prince, but she needs to be paired with someone who equals her strengths or balances her.

In order to see if the characters would be well matched as a couple, I needed some sort of criteria to judge their individual strengths. I thought about what traits believed a strong character would demonstrate and came up with the following criteria to judge:

Decision Making Skills

Respect of Others

Sense of Responsibility

Compassion Towards Others

I assigned points (0-5) for how I thought each character rated in the four areas and then totaled up the values for each character. If the point values ended up close (within 5 points) I'd say that we have a well matched couple. The closer the points, the better the relationship balance.

So, how did Snow White and The Prince fair in my non-scientific and totally subjective test?

By Aida McKenzie 

Snow White: 16/20

Decision Making Skills: 3/5 Snow White made a good decision to run from the Huntsman and to stay with the Seven Dwarfs, but then she started making some pretty bad decisions. Not listening to the dwarfs about dealing with strangers harmed her at least three times in the Grimm brother’s tale, and once in the Disney animation.

Respect of Others: 4/5 Snow White is very respectful of others, in fact, this is part of what gets her in trouble with the disguised evil queen. Snow White doesn’t want to be rude to her elder, and the evil queen plays upon this to achieve her goal of eliminating Snow White from the picture.

Sense of Responsibility: 4/5 Snow White shows a good sense of responsibility. She takes it upon herself to clean the dwarfs home in the movie, and agrees to clean the home in the book. However, she doesn’t seem to have a sense of responsibility toward the people of her kingdom, as she fled for her life and has made no plans on how to return to her kingdom. Granted, she was a princess who would most likely be married off to form an alliance with another kingdom, but there is nothing in the story or movie to show she has any thoughts of returning from hiding.

Compassion Toward Others: 5/5 Snow White takes care of the dwarfs, she is kind to the old woman (evil queen), and is shown in the animated tale as someone the animals love and trust. She even seems worried about the Huntsman who tried to kill her. If that doesn’t show compassion, then I don’t know what does!

The Prince: 8*/20

Decision Making Skills: We do not see enough of The Prince to know how his decision making skills are.

Respect of Others: 4/5 While the Prince is only onscreen for a few minutes, the way he treats the Seven Dwarves and Snow White shows at least some semblance of an upbringing that taught respect for others. He is polite and doesn’t just barge in demanding things, so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here and granting him almost perfect at respect.

Sense of Responsibility: We do not see enough of The Prince to know how his decision making skills are.

Compassion Toward Others: 4/5 Given that he stopped in a clearing to see the presumably dead Snow White and offer his respects, I find that shows a sense of compassion.

Overall Assessment: It is difficult to say whether or not Snow White and The Prince are suited for each other. We never learn enough about The Prince to know if there would be a power imbalance. The happily-ever-after ending in both the animated movie and the original tale relies too much on magic and insta-love to give an accurate assessment of the couple. However, if the prince has good decision making skills and at least a moderate sense of responsibility it appears the two would be better suited than what we see now.

What do you think? Are Snow White and The Prince the perfect couple? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

I’ve recently begun to wonder how accurate my view of the role of women in the 1930’s (and other decades) truly is. I’ve always assumed that women were housewives and didn’t work outside the house, yet at the same time I knew that couldn’t be completely true. Women were nurses, and teachers, and librarians, and secretaries. Heck, during WWI and WWII, they worked in the factories while the men went overseas to fight in the war.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints 

I can hear you asking, “But Mary, what does this have to do with Snow White?” Well, let me explain.

When I first came up with the idea for these posts, I thought it would be interesting to see how the role of women in society was reflected (or not) in these classic stories and movies. Did the female MC role development from damsel in distress to savior of the prince/kingdom follow the changing role of women in society? Well, if you go by the dates the stories were written, the answer would be no.  But I’ll talk more about that when we get to Mulan. For now, let’s take a look at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

"Offterdinger Schneewitchen (2)" by Offterdinger 

In the Disney animation film of 1937, Snow White is portrayed as a domestic worker. She cooks and cleans for the dwarfs in exchange for her room and board. How does that relate to women in the 1930’s? According to the US Census, out of the eleven million working women (24.3% of women 14 and older) almost ⅓ worked in domestic or personal service. Therefore, I find that Snow White is a good reflection of society’s perception of the working woman.

But, then Prince Charming comes into the picture, and things change. It isn’t a leap to assume that Snow White marries Charming and leaves her working days behind her. And, in the 1930’s, it appears to have been similar for the working woman.

It was frowned upon for married women to hold jobs. Single, working women were seen as “helping out their families”, yet a married, working woman was perceived as “taking a job from a man”. During the Depression, laws were even created to prevent more than one family member from working for the government.

"Franz Jüttner Schneewittchen 2" by Franz Jüttner

In conclusion, it appears that Snow White is a good representation of women in the 1930’s. I also believe that if Snow White was adapted to the screen today, there would be some stark differences in the way the famous Disney Princess would be portrayed. Our movies have moved away from the helpless damsel-in-distress to women who can and do fight for what they want/need. Not that they don't ask for or receive help, but they aren't waiting on the sidelines for the guy to save the day. I think a modern interpretation of Snow White would have a smarter heroine, one who didn't fall so easily for the evil queen's tricks. What do you think?

Snow White: Disney vs. the Grimm brothers

By Walter Zweigle (1859-1904)

I hope you all did your homework and read and/or watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This Disney classic is based on Little Snow-White, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. And, while Disney did cover the basics of the story, there were a few differences to their animated tale.

Here are some of the differences I noticed between the movie and the story:

-In the story, we learn about Snow White’s mother, her death, and the subsequent remarriage of her father. I understand why Disney chose to leave this out. While it was nice to know when reading, it really didn’t move the story along in the animated version and could easily be left out.

-In the animated movie, the queen asks the huntsman to bring back Snow White’s heart, but in the story, she wants her lungs and liver. AND she cooks them and eats them. I’m actually grateful that Disney left that little scene out!

-When Snow White stumbles upon the Seven Dwarfs house, it’s clean with everything in its place. In the movie, however, those Dwarfs are a messy crew.

-In addition, when introduced to the dwarfs home, the story takes on the feel of Goldilocks (at least it did for me) with Snow White eating from each of the plates and trying out all of the beds. Even the dwarfs reactions to finding her are reminiscent of Mama, Papa, and Baby Bear.

-The Disney folks added in a turtle (I believe he was for comedic purposes) that isn’t mentioned in the tale. While as an adult I am tempted to fast forward through the scene of the turtle on the stairs, I’m sure as a kid I was urging him to get to the top!

By William Creswell (c. 1919)

-In the animated film, the queen comes bearing a shiny, poisoned apple. In the story, the queen attempts to get rid of her competition with poisoned lace and a poisoned comb before finally succeeding with the apple. Disney may have cut these extra attempts to keep the film shorter. In both cases, the dwarfs warned her about letting in strangers, yet Snow White didn’t listen. (More on this in the “Are they a good couple” post in a few weeks.)

-In the story, the prince seeks shelter with the dwarfs and then barters for Snow White’s coffin. When his men drop the coffin, it dislodges the apple and Snow White awakens. In the movie, he passes the bier while the dwarfs are mourning their loss and kisses her awake. In both version, they fall instantly in love. (I’ll talk more on this in the “Are they a good couple” post in a few weeks.)

-And now we are at the end of the tale, with yet another difference. In the Grimm story, the evil queen is invited to the wedding, and is afraid to attend. She really should have stayed home, as when she arrives, she is placed in hot, iron shoes and forced to dance to her death.(This reminded me of The Red Shoes, by Hans Christian Andersen.) In the Disney movie, she falls to her death while running from the dwarfs. Either way, she dies at the end of the tale, but I’d rather see the cliff scene than the hot, iron shoes!

All in all, I felt that Disney kept with the theme of the story written by the Grimm brothers, with some minor changes to make it appropriate for all age level and the fit with the time period it was released in.

For a more detailed comparison between the story and the movie, Mari Ness has a wonderful overview of both the written story and the movie, and how the movie is a reflection of the time it was written in. Hop on over to her site and check out her posts here and here! Trust me, you don't want to miss them!

Now it’s your turn. What differences did you notice? Would you have made the changes Disney did? Why (or why not)? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Once Upon a Time

As a fantasy author, I'm often inspired by fairy tales and folklore. While researching for my stories, I've spent time reading the original tales and watching the animated adaptations created by Disney and Warner Brothers.

On Mondays over the next few months (excluding the first Monday of each month), I'm going to take a look at five tales turned to animated movies and share my thoughts on how they compare to the original tale, how the role of the female main character is reflective (or not!) of the time the movie was produced, and if the two leads would actually make a good couple in real life.

The movies I'll be focusing on are:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Quest for Camelot.

So, fire up your DVD player and check out the following links so you're ready to talk about how Snow White compares to the original Grimm tale next Monday!

Grimm's Snow White

Disney's Snow White on Wikipedia

More about Snow White on Wikipedia