Comments on: I am Queen Mommy

By: Chantal

Chantal — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:43:59 +0000

Bea over at “Bub and Pie” (http://bubandpie.blogspot.com/) wrote an interesting post on this ages ago. I should dig it out for you. She teacher childrens lit at a university in Southern Ontario. I tried to find it but I can’t seem to at this moment.
I am not a fan of this dramatic device either. Last week my 3 year old asked me where Max’s parents were (max and ruby). I didn’t really know what to say (but I did think how much I hate that show)

By: melanie

melanie — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:48:30 +0000

I have some serious issues with the Disney Princesses (I’ve been writing a post about it for a while now) but I never thought about the mother issue. The orphan phenomenon is a popular literary tool in a lot of kids books: everything from Harry Potter to The Little Princess to most Roald Dahl books (where at least one parent is missing if the kid isn’t an out right orphan except when the parents are evil like in Matlida). And I just glanced up and say XUPs comment so I’m going to stop writing instead of reiterating what she said.

As for movies – other than The Incredibles I can’t think of any and that is really sad.

By: XUP

XUP — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:29:56 +0000

I’ve noticed that the dead and/or missing parent is central to most children’s literature/cinema/TV. I think it gives the hero/heroine the freedom to solve their own problems. Otherwise they’d just go tell their parents and mom would step in and fix everything and that would be boring like real life. It’s exciting for kids because the first thing they usually think of doing is getting their parents to help — But wait! There are no parents…now what? Adventure ensues.

By: sinnick

sinnick — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:02:24 +0000

Wow, that’s a great observation.

I don’t think it’s about trying to suppress a strong female character. I suspect there is a deep-seated fariy-tale archetype going on: The Father-As-Protector/Authority Figure.

The father in many of these movies has the function of being there to hold the heroine character back, giving her something to rebel against (and thus provide some conflict). Mothers on the other hand are typically seen as nurturing and understanding, which doesn’t serve the same dramatic purpose. You can’t very well go running off to fall into the villains hands your mother is smiling and saying “You should follow your heart.”

Disney isn’t exactly known for breaking the cliches.

I’m not as familiar with some of the older movies, but Beauty and the Beast is one of the only films on your list that I can see really breaking that mold: it’s more the town and Gaston who are holding Belle back, her father is kind of bumbling and benign, and serves more as the sidekick-who-gets-rescued. But maybe they didn’t make him a Mother because they were worried about how the early scenes with a mother captured by the Beast would play.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:42:51 +0000

CapnPlanet – I agree. I think the missing mothers are a required plot point…but I’m still not sure that I like it.

Mary Lynn – I’ll check out Mulan, then!

FameThrowa – It does seem that finding ANY kind of mother in animated films is tough. One I did think of is the mother in The Lion King — not in it as much but she does seem to be caring and supportive. There’s also a good mom in 101 Dalmations.

Andrea — I can’t believe I forgot about Helen Parr! She rocks. My favourite scene in that movie is when her plane blows up with her two older kids aboard, and when they hit the water, she tells them that they will GET A GRIP or else be GROUNDED FOREVER. Awesome.

By: andrea from the fishbowl

andrea from the fishbowl — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:03:23 +0000

Best Disney mom BY FAR: The Incredibles.

By: fame_throwa

fame_throwa — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:28:47 +0000

Some others:

Finding Nemo: mother is dead (is that Disney or was that Pixar’s first film on their own?)

Bambi: haven’t seen it, but doesn’t the mother die in the end? Is there much of a bond in the rest of the movie?

By: Mary Lynn

Mary Lynn — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:20:14 +0000

Mulan’s cool. She’s not a very princess-y Disney character at all. She totally kicks butt.

By: CapnPlanet

CapnPlanet — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:50:35 +0000

Interesting observation. I suspect, though, that the missing parent is a simple device for creating the fundamental tension that drives the plot. Why it’s always the mother, though, well maybe that’s for the psychologists to debate.