Notes

Finding literature on the "Disneyfication" of history or the effect of Googling on our perception of history in reviewed academic magazines is surprisingly difficult. There were articles on the gross misrepresentation in Disney films such as Aladdin, Pocahontas and Hercules as well as watering-down of classics like The Jungle Book and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

There is also a general debate on how Grimm fairy tales have been adapted to be happier and less gory in their Disney versions. For example, no child is going to see Cinderella's evil step-sisters have their eyes plucked out at a wedding or watch them hack off parts of their feet to fit into that famous glass slipper. And stories like The Little Mermaid feature a happy ending for all who deserve it instead the mermaid princess's dilemma. According to Hans Christian Anderson, the little mermaid can only win the prince by killing the human girl he is supposed to marry. She chooses instead to die and earn another chance to gain a soul. Some argue that taking out all the scary gory stuff is making children less able to handle the real scary gory stuff in life. The Grimm's tales had a point. The characters learned their lessons or were maimed. However the audience is entirely difference. Most of the kids exposed to the Grimm's versions grew up on farms and were familiar with life, death, and blood.

A completely different take on Disneyfication is that it minimizes diversity of peoples and places. More on this later.