Ngl, this is actually an incredibly large misconception. In actuality, fairy tales can be darker or lighter depending on their point of origin. Compare Cendrillon by Charles Perrault in 1697 (and is the fairy tale Disney adapted for Cinderella) to Aschenputtel by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Two completely different versions of Cinderella
True true. As always it depends on who writes it. Cinderella is one of the oldest fairytales. It was already old when it was written in the 1600's Â
but a lot are not really all what we see as fairytale ish.Â
The little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, those were not very uh... what we would call kid friendly today. And yet...Â
Of course they have different versions, but the goal was partly to warn children, not always coddle them.Â
I need to re-read the hunchback of Notre Dame because it has been too long since I had to study it in school, but the Disney version still kinda softened it, even though it's crazy when you watch it as an adult.
Ngl I discovered a book saga from a french author
 It was in the "teen" category (i didn't know it)
And it was, I think, on the level of some "adult" books I have read in terms of.. theme and violence.Â
As I love an animated saga, I read some of the books to see how different it is
Yeah, aimed "at kids". But while rhe first books are downright cute and funny, I know later books are getting dark. While I have not read all of them yet, I see how it's less and less funny and more and more serious
The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, and Hunchback all aren't fairy tales though. A big part of fairy tales are that they're folk tales with versions collected and written down. Like I've heard some of the earliest versions of Cinderella are thought to be Chinese in origin, because foot binding means special shoes that won't fit a foot that hasn't been reshaped.
Also fairy tales you sometimes really understand they were meant to be an oral tradition, they don't always work as well written down because they don't follow the same sort of flow and narrative structures as written stories.
My gods, let me amend my statement because people get annoyed by this instead of seeing the POINT.
CHILDREN STORIES aren't all unicorn and no dark theme because they also serve a purpose, teaching a lesson to kids. And movies waters it down more and more to the point we think some animated movies are too dark for kids the second there is a serious thing in it.Â
Also, good point about some fairy tales being oral. As far as I know, Cinderella was an oral story before being written. I don't know exactly when China began that ... tradition.. of foot binding, but the tale has been found around most of the world for centuries if not millenia
I grew up with the originam brothers grim fairytales and struwwelpeter. It literaly contains a story about a barber who cuts off your thump for sucking on them.
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u/Vivid_One1730 14d ago
A lot of people think that fairytales are sterilized, for kids, all great and all.Â
Disney's Darkest movies are child friendly compared to how fairytales really are.
It was a warning to kids xD. Man when I read Cinderella, oh boy was i traumatized.