by Karen Zortman-Loos

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 02, 2009

Disney movies that teach terrible lessons.

Bambi.......Teaches lessons about a loss of a loved one, due to the hand of a human that kills a parent. Bambi must learn to go on, and live without his parent. Bambi sees that humans aren't nice, but cruel to his part of the ecosystem. Deer are killed in order to feed humans, and for game purposes. Bambi has to learn how to conquer life by persevering from the bad.

Snow White.......Teaches us that getting lost in the woods can lead to making new friends, but answering the door isn't always the right thing to do. The stepmother finds her, and makes her eat the apple. The apple is poisoned, and makes her fall asleep, it isn't until her prince comes to save her, that she is able to reclaim life, and her kingdom. She is more beautiful deep down, and from the outside. This is what makes her stepmother very jealous. The green eyed monster tries to claim all that Snow White has but loses everything!

Many stories are people being held hostage, or removed from society. The horrible lessons such as: 101 Dalmatians takes the dogs away from their owners, and the thieves are the "dogs" of the story, and so is Cruela De Vil. Symbolic of the mean "dogs" in the story, again the negative cast members think they will win, but it is the dogs, the owners, and the audience who are granted a happy ending.

Many of the horrible lessons we see in Disney productions aren't realistic, but are entertaining and full of lessons we can use in our lives.

We can learn to not lie and to tell the truth from Pinocchio. Treating each other equal from Cinderella instead of gaining from the death of her dad. Her stepmother and stepsisters try to take the life that should have been Cinderella's by coming together instead of tearing each other apart. Mistreating Cinderella making her wash, scrub, and labor for them. They had gained a ticket to the ball by just coming to the door and their mother sad they could go, but Cinderella could go if she cleaned, and did the workload of an army. Luckily, the sadness had been noticed by her Fairy Godmother (who some think is her dead mother in disguise) that granted her a wish, and a trip to the ball. The righteousness of the story is that Cinderella's beauty claimed the prince, and he knew it by her inner beauty. The shoe fits you must acquit, oh I guess that is another story!

Yes, these are terrible lessons that Disney shows us on screen, but there is something we can learn from them. Perhaps, Disney had some awful things happen in his life, and wanted us to see that the Magic of Disney could prevail.

Learn more about this author, Karen Zortman-Loos.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.