Sleeping Beauties : Are Historical Aesthetics Worth

Fairy tales are magical stories about fantasized beings and happy endings. They are told orally and are also found in a literal form. Disney was one of the milestones in the American history of fairy tale stories. With out Walt Disney there would not be more than 70 years of “classy cartoons”. Not only Americans are influenced by these fairy tales, we can conclude that over 50% of the world has an idea of this “American dream” of life that is portrayed.

Many children grew up hearing stories about fairies and dragons. The stories involved a Knight in Shining Armor and a princess in need of being saved. The knight would then risk his life to save the princess in danger. These stories affected these kids and gave them imagination. Without some of these stories, kids would have grown up not having an imagination or dreams. Dreams gave kids joy and made them want to become a princess or a prince who slays dragons. In Shrek Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio make fun of fairytales through parody, irony, reversal and exaggeration.

Fairy Tales are not just stories that parents tell to their children, but stories with hidden valuable messages which are mostly left on a side. In the article “An Introduction to Fairy Tales,” Maria Tatar clearly explains how people need fairy tales in their lives. Tatar also states how fairy tales have the ability to take the listener, especially children’s, into a journey in which they can play with their imagination so that they can discover their deepest fears and wishes. Personally I agree with the author, because of the fact that in an individual’s lives as they get older, they will try to define themselves, sometimes comparing their own life with a character from their favorite story or Fairy Tale.

The effects of the portrayal of the princesses can be positive or negative. Young girls have become more imaginative by watching Disney films. According to Stephanie Hanes (n.p.), “’For 75 years, millions of little girls and their parents around the world have adored and embraced the diverse characters and rich stories featuring our Disney princesses.... [L]ittle girls experience the fantasy and imagination provided by these stories as a normal part of their childhood development’.” Also, children are encouraged to believe and hope. In most Disney movies, the characters convey the message that we can believe in true love (10 DISNEY MOMENTS THAT PROVE LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

Fairy tales today are commonly viewed as fantastical stories - often with magical characters or elements - aimed to entertain children. Moreover, they frequently contain lessons or principles to be instilled in youths, promoting the morality of future generations. The values associated with a certain fairy tale can be identified quite easily these days, especially with the more prominent and well-known stories. For instance, the modern version of Beauty and the Beast schools readers to look past the exterior of others, for true beauty is measured by one's character. However, contemporary fairy tales have often been subject to censorship and revision from their origins in order to facilitate their

There is nothing more precious and heartwarming than the innocence of a child. The majority of parents in society want to shield children from the bad in life which is appreciated. Within human nature exists desires of inappropriate behavior; envy, deceit, selfishness, revenge, violence, assault and murder. The most well-known fairy tales depict virtue and the evil in life. Even more important, the form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give a better direction to his life. (Bettelheim).

Media plays major roles in our today’s society. Almost everyone grew up watching Disney films; we remember the characters and the story lines well. Most of us watch more than once for our favorite movies. Many little girls wanted to grow up to Cinderella or Snow White and many little boys wanted to be Aladdin or Hercules. These characters were our idols and role model; they represent everything that we wanted to be when we were young. Especially, Disney is the best company out there which kids are learning from for both good and bad. Disney is one of the first experiences we have with these ideas of beauty. A lot of them have major stereotyping on men and women behavior, appearance and expectation with impossibility. Fairy tales are something

Walt Disney has presented fairytales for thousands of children to love and enjoy, but most importantly to learn from. However, several individuals claim that the fairytales are nonsense and do not present real life situations to children. Nor do the films depict an appropriate representation of women and men. Especially when the majority of the films present Disney princess with gender stereotypes that deal primarily with body image and social behavior. It is also claimed that children are co-opted by a money hungry corporation. On logistical and economic terms, this can be deemed as true. The purpose of creating these fictional characters was originally to bring joy and happiness to the entire family. Children are still growing up and getting to know the real world and one way for them to understand is by teaching through fictitious scenarios. While majority of his work comes from Walt Disney’s magical imagination, several of his fairytales are based upon folk literature. As G.K. Chesterton had said, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed”. No matter the terror that lies ahead, children learn to believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and good things can come from any bad situation. These are key elements that children should learn from a very young age. They allow children to become better prepared for real life situations that they

Many young children grow up watching Disney films. Many parents do not think that these movies could have a negative impact on their children. Henry Giroux, who wrote the book, “The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence” is a firm believer that Disney films have a negative impact on the children that watch them. For several generations Disney films have been a huge part of children’s lives, but many parents do not realize how these films can negatively impact their children. Disney films can teach young children stereotypes, how to deal with life events such as death and they can learn negative ideas and values from these films.

Some stories have been told for hundreds of years, and they are constantly reinterpreted to fit the current social norms and values. Two of the best known stories today are Disney's Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, and they are in part responsible for the widespread view that children's stories are frivolous and lack dept. Of course learning to see the beauty inside (Disney, 1991), and believing that being good and doing the right thing will ultimately be rewarded (Disney, 1950), are

As children most of our life lessons were acquired through the simplicity of fair tales. Subliminal messages taught us to always believe in true love and that good wins out over evil. Young and naïve, as children, all we desired was a good story and a nap, but the lessons we learned lasted a lifetime. Growing up my beloved fairy tale was Cinderella, not only does true love win but good wins over evil and eventually the world is set right.

Fairy tales are something that everyone has read or seen, they all seem to have important lessons at the end of each one to teach young children some of the lessons they need for life. These fairy tales when we were younger all seemed innocent and something we all hoped that would happen to us. Little did we know as we got older that the fairy tales we all knew and loved when we were younger, weren't as innocent as they seemed.

There are many fairy tales out there and they all focus in teaching many of the different life lessons. Honestly, I was never the fairy tale reading type just because I really did not read much as a child. There was a couple fairy tales I became familiar with because I have two younger siblings. They really enjoyed watching these two fairy tale’s movies, which were Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. Since these are the only fairy tales that I can say I’m familiar with these will be the ones that I will be discussing further. In these fairy tales, there are two very important lessons to be learned. In Cinderella fairy tale, the lesson to be learned is that even when faced with the worst behavior from other people and the fact that you

From the time of birth we were constantly told how to do and how think. Parent have major role in restricting a child’s unnecessary desires. Other than that, Disney movies play important in these young children’s life because when it’s comes to films that are all they watch. Cinderella is one of the most common Disney tales that’s been around from ninth century, in different languages and countries. The tale is a about a pretty young girl Cinderella who lives with her step mother and step sisters. They make Cinderella’s life miserable by making her do all the housework but Cinderella never complained. She did everything happily believing that one day her someone (a man) will come and rescue her. Indeed it whatever is dreamt of came

Classic literature will always be remembered and retold over the generations as life lessons and morals that we try to live by. These morals are often used to help children learn these guiding values and morals. These lessons are presented to us as fairy tales and movies or cartoons for children. We never realize or ponder, “where did that moral come from?” or should I say, “who originally created this fable and life lesson that I am watching unfold in a Disney movie?” A fable is short and witty written piece and is deeply riddled with certain messages or lessons using, but not limited to, tales of animals. Fables were for adults but through time have been woven into everyone’s’ childhood. Fables, ghost stories, and urban legends are modern day fairytales or fables. Just as “The Grasshopper and The Ant” and “Tortoise and the Hare” were spread by oral tradition, urban legends and morals are spread in the same manner; thus creating contemporary folklore often with a moral sting in the tail. While it’s true that urban legends are still told while sipping hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows at a campfire, others are spread through classics movies like Walt Disney animation.