We’ve come to expect our favorite Disney films to end “happily ever after,” but the fairy tales that inspired these classics certainly didn’t. The stories of true love’s first kiss or battles against wicked stepmothers were originally much darker — and the Disney princess tales are no exception. The real stories just wouldn’t fit properly in a cute, animated musical.
Thankfully, Disney updated the stories, turning them into lighthearted adventures that better suit their young (and young-at-heart) viewers. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the original tales. So, here are six Disney princesses with much darker fairy tales.
Cinderella
The 1950 animated film about Cinderella and her magical night at the ball mostly stays true to the original tale. Many elements from Charles Perrault’s Cendrillon are carried over, including the glass slippers and the fairy godmother. However, Cinderella’s other equally popularized tale, Aschenputtel by the Brothers Grimm, is where things take a darker turn.
Cinderella still loses her slipper at the ball, but in this version, her wicked stepmother cuts off the toes and heels from her daughters’ feet to ensure they fit in the gold slipper. Luckily, the prince discovers Cinderella, and the evil stepsisters and stepmother are defeated. The stepsisters are even blinded by doves on Cinderella’s wedding day as payback. (Karma is totally Cinderella’s fairy godmother here, right?)
The Little Mermaid
In The Little Mermaid, Ariel trades her voice to Ursula the Sea Witch for the chance to walk on land with the love of her life. Together, she and Prince Eric eventually overcome the witch’s betrayal to save Ariel’s life. In the original tale by Hans Christian Anderson (Den lille havfrue), the Little Mermaid makes the same deal, but the trade involves a terrible catch. The Little Mermaid gives up both her tongue and voice for feet; however, each step feels as if she’s walking on knives!
To make matters worse, if she doesn’t find love with the prince, she’ll die and turn into sea foam. This, unfortunately, happens in the fairy tale when the prince mistakenly marries a princess he believes saved his life (his true rescuer, in reality, is the mermaid). Luckily, Disney changed the curse to create a happy ending. Seeing the Little Mermaid die of a broken heart would’ve been too devastating to watch. All she wanted was to be a part of his world!
Sleeping Beauty
Similar to The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty is another Disney princess tale that, thankfully, gets a lighthearted reimagining. In the film, the sleeping (and cursed) Aurora is awakened by the kiss of a handsome prince, but in Giambattista Basile’s Sun, Moon, and Talia, Talia is cured when her child sucks the poison from her finger. The problem, however, is that a neighboring king rapes Talia in her slumber, which leads to the birth of her children in the first place.
The original tale definitely isn’t suitable for younger fans, especially with the added story of the queen plotting to cook and feed the children to the cheating king. Charles Perrault’s updated tale is more aligned with the Disney animated film, but the child-eating still rears its ugly head. There’s no amount of candy-covered houses that could make a story like this work for Disney.
Rapunzel
Unlike Disney’s Tangled, the Brothers Grimm version of Rapunzel’s story expands on her time spent locked away in the tower. We get the infamous line, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” and more details about her love story with the prince. However, the tale doesn’t end there; it gets much darker. When Dame Gothel discovers Rapunzel’s romance and pregnancy, she chops off Rapunzel’s hair. Also, the prince is blinded by thorns in an accident after Gothel tries to kill him.
Disney made the right call altering the story for the animated film. In Tangled, Rapunzel comes across as more artistic and Flynn as cooler than the average price. We also get to experience the awesomeness of Mandy Moore being a Disney princess. Plus, we get the visual treat of the lanterns scene. (Need we say more?)
The Princess and the Frog
Tiana’s adventure in The Princess and the Frog is completely different than the Brothers Grimm version, The Frog Prince. In the original fairy tale, the main character is a spoiled princess who refuses to help a cursed prince. When the frog prince begs her to fulfill her promise to spend time with him, she tries to send him away. And, to make matters worse, the curse isn’t broken by a kiss, but by the princess throwing the frog against a wall.
Disney’s decision to reimagine the tale helped fix the plot. Tiana is neither spoiled nor runs away from helping Naveen. The pair transform into frogs together, and we get to watch as their witty romance develops. The original princess benefits from her rude behavior. Having Tiana do the same would’ve been a terrible ending for the movie.
Snow White
Snow White’s story in the 1937 film removes some of the darker plot elements from her adventure in the fairy tale. In the Brothers Grimm story, the huntsman still allows Snow White to escape after refusing to kill her. However, the Evil Queen doesn’t give and tries to murder Snow White a few more times before resorting to the poisoned apple. Before delivering the fruit, she suffocates Snow White with a laced bodice and even poisons her with a comb.
In addition to the murder attempts, the Evil Queen is killed at Snow White’s wedding when she is forced to dance in red-hot iron slippers. The happy-go-lucky tone of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs definitely doesn’t fit the fairy tale’s focus on murder. (Just imagine what the film would’ve been like with the queen dancing herself to death. It wouldn’t be the classic we love today.)
