- 11 hours ago
Some Disney “happily ever afters” might not be as happy as they seem. From Snow White’s unconscious kiss to Ariel’s voice sacrifice, these classic princess tales feature endings filled with questionable choices and old-fashioned ideals. Explore how these beloved stories have evolved, with live-action remakes giving princesses more agency and independence. Which Disney ending left you feeling unsure? Share your thoughts with us!
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00:00More good women have been lost to marriage into war, famine, disease, and disaster.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo!
00:07And today, we're discussing the questionable happy endings of classic princess-led Disney movies and their live-action adaptations.
00:14We won't be taking sequels into consideration.
00:17Oh, and we guess spoilers?
00:20Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong man showed up?
00:24Yes! What is up with that?
00:26She is a princess!
00:30Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
00:32Walt Disney Studios' first animated feature film premiered in 1937 with Snow White as the first Disney princess.
00:40Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was also the first Disney Happily Ever After audiences experienced.
00:45Well, what should I do?
00:47Tell us a story!
00:49Yes! Tell us a story!
00:50A true story!
00:52A love story!
00:54The plot is rather simple.
00:55An evil queen hates her beautiful stepdaughter enough to try to kill her in the forest.
01:00When that doesn't work, she transforms herself into a scary witch and offers Snow White a poisoned apple that puts
01:06her in a sleeping death.
01:15The princess's seven new pals chase the witch to a cliff where she ultimately falls to her death.
01:21They put Snow White on display in a glass coffin while she sleeps and later the charming prince that she
01:26met once before kisses her while she's unconscious.
01:29The power of true love's kiss awakens Snow White and she rides off into the sunset with her soon-to
01:34-be husband.
01:45Snow White's real happy ending is, well, not dying.
01:49But Disney added a romantic love interest to sweep her away to his castle, where they'll live happily ever after.
01:56Live action adaptations change that, trying to make Snow White a well-rounded character with more than just marriage on
02:01her mind.
02:11In a darker take on the story, 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart plays the princess as a
02:17resilient warrior.
02:19Similarly, Jennifer Goodwin Snow White on ABC's Once Upon a Time is a skilled fighter, leader, protector, mother and teacher.
02:38In the original film, Snow doesn't have much of a character arc.
02:43And although she's kind and appreciative to the animals and her temporary roommates, she really only cares about finding her
02:50prince.
02:50Anyone could see that the prince was charming. The only one for me.
02:56Was he strong and handsome? Was he big and tall?
03:01There's nobody like him anywhere at all.
03:05Cinderella
03:06Snow White may have been the first, but when people think of the quintessential Disney princess, more often than not,
03:12it's Cinderella.
03:13Like her predecessor, she's living under the same roof as a stepmother who is jealous of her looks and loathes
03:19her existence.
03:20There's the large carpet in the main hall.
03:24Clean it.
03:26And the windows upstairs and down.
03:29Wash them.
03:31Oh yes, and the tapestries and the draperies.
03:35But I just finished-
03:36Do them again!
03:37Cinderella is a classic rags-to-riches tale that essentially revolves around a royal ball held by the king to
03:43find a bride for his son.
03:44Even though all of the kingdom's female population receives invites, Lady Tremaine and her obnoxious daughters Anastasia and Drizella make
03:52sure their housekeeper cannot attend.
03:55Luckily, a fairy godmother appears and magically fashions a beautiful ball gown and pumpkin carriage, allowing her to go to
04:02the bride-finding party.
04:03You'll have only till midnight, and then night.
04:06Oh, thank you.
04:07Oh, no, no, no, no, no, just a minute.
04:09You must understand, my dear.
04:11On the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before.
04:16Cinderella dances with the prince, but must flee the kingdom to make her arbitrary midnight curfew, leaving her glass shoe
04:23behind.
04:23After searching far and wide, they find that the slipper fits her perfectly, which leads to her royal marriage.
04:38From faithful retellings to movies and shows loosely based on the story, other portrayals of Cinderella are still kind and
04:45compassionate, but they tend to have more agency.
04:48Well, it is dull to swim in the same waters day after day, even if they are warm and pleasant.
04:57Will you not wade out deeper with me?
04:59In the 2015 live-action adaptation Cinderella, Lily James plays Ella as passive and obedient, like her animated counterpart.
05:07Arguably even more so since she doesn't try to escape when locked up in the climax.
05:12Though Ella was sad, her spirit was not broken.
05:15She knew that the ball and her time with the prince would become beautiful, distant memories, like those of her
05:22father and mother.
05:241998's Ever After sees Drew Barrymore as a much more assertive version of the princess-turned-queen.
05:29She even punches her mean stepsister.
05:32And she manages to get herself and even the prince out of danger more than once.
05:41Oh wait, please, come back, I'll give you a horse!
05:46Throughout the animated film are old-fashioned ideals of domesticity and femininity, which isn't surprising considering it came out in
05:531950.
05:54So making her happy ending being marriage is expected.
05:57While it's fortunate that Cinderella finally escapes her abusive household, the male savior swooping in and rescuing the helpless woman
06:05from her awful life doesn't send the best message about autonomy.
06:18The Little Mermaid
06:20Premiering in 1989, The Little Mermaid was the box office hit that ushered in the Disney renaissance.
06:25I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now, watch and you'll see.
06:39Ariel, the studio's fourth princess, is rebellious and curious, mostly about the human world.
06:45But her happy ending leaves her with less agency than she had before.
06:50If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again.
06:55That's right. But you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices in me.
07:06As the daughter of the super overbearing King Triton, Ariel feels stuck in her home under the sea.
07:11It's love at first sight when she sees Prince Eric, which only increases her desperation to walk on land.
07:17Ariel, stop talking crazy.
07:20I gotta see him again. Tonight. Scuttle knows where he lives.
07:23Ariel, please. Will you get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs?
07:29Enter Ursula, a sea witch who seizes the opportunity to steal the naive mermaid's voice.
07:34Once Ariel signs the unbreakable contract and trades her mermaid tail for legs,
07:39the only way to get her voice back and avoid being Ursula's prisoner is for the prince to give her
07:44true love's kiss.
07:45And you don't know why, but you're dying to try. You wanna kiss the girl.
07:51Did you hear something?
07:53In Disney's 2023 live action The Little Mermaid,
07:56Halle Bailey's Ariel saves herself by breaking Ursula's shell and getting her pipes back.
08:01She also saves Eric again, killing Ursula with a bowsprit, an inverse of the original movie that has Eric impaling
08:08her.
08:09The movie gives Ariel a different ending, one that sees her and Prince Eric exploring the world together,
08:14and no extremes when it comes to choosing between environments.
08:17Being on land doesn't mean she can't speak to her merpeople ever again.
08:21And I will always be here for you. We all will.
08:34The original Ariel transitions from being fascinated by the whole world to narrowing her focus in on one guy.
08:40And she must leave behind her family and friends to marry him.
08:44At least they met more than just once before tying the knot.
08:48You have been. I knew it. You're the one. The one I've been looking for. What's your name?
08:52Aladdin.
08:53Three years after Ariel, Disney released Aladdin, which introduced a new princess named Jasmine.
08:59Then maybe I don't wanna be a princess anymore.
09:03Like other princesses, she's sheltered from the world and trapped by patriarchal traditions, leaving her yearning for adventure.
09:10Who could be more adventurous than a guy with a magic carpet?
09:14You don't wanna go for a ride, do you?
09:17We could get out of the palace, see the world.
09:20Is it safe?
09:21Sure, do you trust me?
09:22The story mostly centers on the titular character and his life-changing discovery of a genie lamp.
09:27His first of three wishes is to become a prince so he can wed Jasmine, the undercover royal he rescued
09:34from an angry merchant.
09:35Little does he know she'd prefer the real him.
09:38You are the boy from the market. I knew it. Why did you lie to me?
09:41Jasmine, I'm sorry.
09:42Did you think I was stupid?
09:44No.
09:44That I wouldn't figure it out?
09:45No, I mean, I hoped you wouldn't.
09:49Jasmine is a headstrong young woman who dreads being married off to a stranger, or worse, Jafar.
09:54But she's surrounded by authoritative men with power.
09:57And she has very little say, if any, in her present and future life.
10:02It's wonderful.
10:03I wonder what it would be like to live there.
10:06And have servants, valets.
10:08Oh, sure. People who tell you where to go and how to dress.
10:12In the 2019 live-action remake, Jasmine is just as willful.
10:16Her goal is to defy tradition and become the next sultan, which her father says is impossible, even though he
10:22could break tradition because, well, he's the sultan.
10:25Jasmine's happy ending is marrying the man she loves and becoming sultan, putting her in a position to help the
10:31impoverished people of Agrabah.
10:33You have shown me courage and strength. You are the future of Agrabah.
10:42In the animated film, Jafar is defeated, and Jasmine's father suddenly realizes that he, as sultan, has the power to
10:49change the law, allowing his daughter to wed the person she actually wants to marry.
10:53While Jasmine and Aladdin have their happy ending, there's no indication that things will improve in Agrabah for everyone else.
11:00But you two will be wed at once, and yes, yes, and you'll be happy and prosperous, and then you,
11:07my boy, will become sultan.
11:09Sultan?
11:10Yes, a fine, upstanding youth such as yourself, a person of your unimpeachable moral character, is exactly what this kingdom
11:17needs.
11:19Pocahontas. Pocahontas is loosely based on a true story, but it doesn't play out accurately in Disney's version.
11:25And as you can imagine, it's one of the studio's most controversial films.
11:30I'm so sorry.
11:32For what? This? I've gotten out of worse scrapes than this. Can't think of any right now, but...
11:38Set in 1607, the film follows a young woman who tries to escape a potential arranged marriage, which leads to
11:45an unexpected romance with an outsider.
11:47Sound familiar?
11:49Nothing's happening.
11:51No, no, I need your hand first.
11:58It's how we say hello.
12:00Pocahontas and Captain John Smith are from two different worlds.
12:04Each of their leaders forbids them from seeing one another.
12:06They continue to spend time together and hope to bring peace between their people.
12:10They're not gonna listen to us.
12:12Young man, sometimes the right path is not the easiest one.
12:16Don't you see?
12:18Only when the fighting stops can you be together.
12:26All right.
12:27Let's go talk to your father.
12:29After another colonist kills a man from the Powhatan tribe, John takes the fall.
12:34His new love stops her father from executing him.
12:37Look around you.
12:38This is where the path of hatred has brought us.
12:44This is the path I choose, father.
12:47What will yours be?
12:48While the situation looks hopeful for a moment, John still ends up having to take a bullet to save the
12:54chief.
12:54Then, a wounded John and the others head back to England, leaving Pocahontas behind.
13:00I'm needed here.
13:04Then, I'll stay with you.
13:06No.
13:07You have to go back.
13:09But I can't leave you.
13:10You never will.
13:12No matter what happens, I'll always be with you.
13:16Maybe it's not a happy ending in the romantic sense, since they don't stay together.
13:20But the revisionist history is a fantasy.
13:23The real Englishman massacred the Native Americans and settled on their land.
13:28And Pocahontas, who was much younger when she originally met Smith, was later abducted by the colonizers she had tried
13:34to help.
13:35Pocahontas, her status as the daughter of the great chief is hugely important to the English.
13:43She's important as a piece of collateral.
13:45The Disney-fied take on Pocahontas avoids the real-life atrocities, which is obviously more suitable for young viewers.
13:52But if they weren't going to even come close to the truth, why make the historically inaccurate film at all?
13:58They want to move in and destroy real history in order to create a facsimile, something synthetic, plastic.
14:10Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album, Balance.
14:15Classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
14:18Check out the full track and album below.
14:21Gold by silence, guilt by prayer.
14:26I am the echo, you can't outrun the jokes on you.
14:30The blade's begun.
14:35Disney's evolution of happy endings.
14:38One of the biggest problems with Disney's happy endings is that relationships are always the goal.
14:43Even if, or especially if, it's with a stranger.
14:46Over the years, Disney has attempted to and somewhat successfully change their approach to storytelling.
14:51Particularly with their princess-centric movies.
14:54I am Merida, first-born descendant of Clan Dunbrock.
15:00And I'll be shooting for my own hand.
15:03Like the live-action remakes, princesses like Merida from 2012's Brave,
15:08and the titular heroine in 2016's Moana are more independent.
15:12It's much less about romance and more familial love.
15:15Like we see in 2013's Frozen and 2021's Encanto.
15:19Let's hope Disney continues to deliver princess movies with happy endings
15:23that don't have love and marriage solve everything.
15:26Dolores, I see you.
15:28And I hear you.
15:32Let's get married.
15:33Slow down.
15:34What's your favorite Disney happy ending?
15:36Let us know in the comments below.
15:42.