A colleague of the founder of the legendary film studio explained what could be the matter.
Fairy tales can be cruel – children are convinced of this at a very early age. Cinderella is raised by her stepmother, in 12 Months the main character also lost her mother early, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty – in all these fairy tales the girl has only her father, who seems to be there, but apparently not. Walt Disney’s cartoons were no exception. Very often mothers die in them. Why?
Those who tried to analyze fairy tales generously flavored with family tragedy found the following explanation: the authors are trying to help children cope with the loss of loved ones. The death of parents in a fairy tale is a kind of psychotherapy tool designed to prepare children for the inevitable.
The second option is the explanation of honored Disney producer Don Khan. He believes that the death of his mother is just an artistic device:
“Disney movies are about growing up. They are about the day in your life when you will have to accept responsibility. In short, characters grow up much faster when you kill their parents. Bambi’s mother is dying, so he must grow up. Belle only has a father, but he disappears, so she must take care of herself. This is a way to make the story shorter. “
But there is a third possible reason, which has nothing to do with creativity or attempts to form the character of the viewer. It is associated with Walt Disney’s personal tragedy.
A resounding success came to the animator after the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938. Then Disney bought his parents a house next to his film studio. It was his XNUMXth wedding anniversary gift for Flora and Elias Disney. Mom and Dad were happy and proud, the son was also happy and proud that he could afford such generosity. But a month after the move, Disney’s mom started complaining about some strange smell from the stove. Walt sent the studio workers to see what was going on, figure it out, and fix it. But they did not find any faults.
The next day, the housekeeper found Flora and Elias lying unconscious. She managed to pull both of them onto the front lawn, but Flora could not be saved: she died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 71. Walt and Elias are orphaned.
“He never talked about this time because he felt guilty,” Dong Han told Glamor. – Everyone dreams of buying a house for their parents. But it turned out that Walt’s mother found her death in this house. It’s just a coincidence. But Walt thought he was responsible for that. “
Nobody knows what the founder of the film empire actually felt. But the cartoons “Dumbo” and “Bambi”, which featured the most heartbreaking scenes of maternal death, appeared a couple of years after the death of Flora Disney.
“This is a real tragedy for the Disney family, which was difficult to talk about even after many years. Walt was completely devastated by his mother’s death, ”said Don Han.