Topic: Motherhood in Disney Films

In children's literature, there is a convention to get a child protagonist out into adventure -- to deprive the child of one or more of his parents. Parents act as a protective influence upon their children, thereby keeping a child out of the action. This convention can be seen in animation as well. To quote Don Hahn, a Disney producer, "By not having a complete family, it represents a catalyst or a dramatic turning point that forces the character to grow up. . . . It's that crossroads where we all have to decide if we're going to mature or remain a kid forever. And the thing that gets that going in many of our stories is the absence of a parent or the death of a parent."

However, this convention has translated into American animation becoming a patricentric (father-centered) world. Of the three options -- single mom, single dad, or both parents being dead -- the one that has risen most dramatically is the single father.  He now exceeds even the rate of true orphans in Disney films.  Prior to The Little Mermaid, the only Disney film in which we saw a single father is Pinocchio (which is the ultimate in a patricentric film since there was never a mother at all). In every case where the mother was dead, excepting Bambi, both parents were dead. Since The Little Mermaid, single fatherhood has risen dramatically in Disney films, as has the death of mothers. More mothers have died in the fourteen years since The Little Mermaid than in the fifty-one years before.  I made a graph to illustrate.

Graph note: Yes, a dead mother is counted in both the "both parents dead" and the "dead mom" column.

 INSERT GRAPH HERE

Some of these changes are understandable; the studio must move with the times. Two parent families have declined in their representation -- two parent families have declined in real life. (However, we have yet to see a divorced family in a Disney cartoon.) However, single motherhood has held steady in Disney films while it is on a dramatic rise in real life. And the rates of single fatherhood and of dead mothers have skyrocketed in Disney films. The instances of a deceased mother in a Disney film in the last thirteen years is greater than the rate of a traditional two-parent family in the previous fifty-one years.

Since this representation does not reflect the actual changes in society (except the decline of the two-parent household), this must be sending a subtle message -- that fathers are more important than mothers. This can be seen in the depiction of fathers as well. Patricentrism is not only seen in the lack of the mother, but in the differing treatments of fathers and mothers.

Fathers become the center of lives. Mothers are cast as less important. They are hardly spoken of by the husband they have left behind. The Sultan says in Aladdin of his wife only that she wasn't nearly so picky. The Little Mermaid's King Triton only mentions his late wife in wishing she was there to help him corral Ariel. Jane's father in Tarzan and Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast never mention their daughters' mothers.

Their children treat them as less important too. Mulan wants her father's approval and seeks to honor him, while Hercules wants to join his father Zeus on Olympus; neither mentioning their mother. Tarzan seeks Kerchak's approval and recognition, not content with Kala's. Milo tries to fulfill his grandfather's legacy in finding Atlantis, never mentioning a mother or grandmother.

Outside Disney, this is equally evident in other American films. In Anastasia, Anya's memories surface of her father and siblings, never her mother. Cale's search for the Titan is to validate his father with nary a mention of his mother in Titan A.E..

Mothers can be nameless. Aurora's mother in Sleeping Beauty is not alone. Pacha's wife in The Emperors New Groove, Andy's mom in both Toy Story movies and Mulan's mother are also nameless throughout those films, while the mother in Lady and the Tramp is known only by her nickname 'Darling'.

Society hardly considers them. When the wolf pack ejects Mogli in The Jungle Book, it is his father who is told, not his mother. Kerchak refuses to consider Kala's feelings toward the adopted Tarzan. Stefan's Queen has no role in her daughter's life.

Mothers even treat themselves as less important. Pacha's wife talks about confronting the Emperor, but ends up washing something. Hera takes no action to bring her son home. Sarabi in The Lion King bows to Scar when he assumes power and does not challenge his right to rule.

Sarabi defies the usual treatment of allowing animal mothers more status, independence and action. We see this treatment of animal mothers in films such as Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, and The Aristocats. Bambi's mom, Lady, Perdita, and even Duchess are all much more active then the human woman such as Cinderella, Aurora or Snow White. Part of the problem with seeing the differences in these treatments is that most recent films have featured humans and not animals. This keeps the discrepancy from being noted by the casual viewer. Only 6 of the 30 Disney films since 1989 have featured an animal cast, as opposed to 12 of the 27 before 1989. Obviously the trend has left films featuring animal protagonists, despite the high box office gross of The Lion King. In those films we see Sarabi bow to Scar, the Queen in a bug's life get protected by circus bugs, Dinosaur's Plio offer advice to Aladar, and Finding Nemo's clownfish mother die in the first scene.

This is not the only option for getting the protagonist into the action. Anime does not follow the convention as slavishly as American animation. While there are depictions of families that have a single parent and heroes who are orphans, anime also explores other options. The senshi of Bishôjo Senshi Sailor Moon live with guardians as diverse as traditional two-parents, divorced parents, and grandparents, or alone or with a lover. Utena attends a boarding school. The Magic Knights are summoned away from their homes. Satsuki and Mei's mother is ill. Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs. Kiki leaves home. Other anime can be found that is patricentric, while others can be found to refute that view. Probably because there is a wider variety of style in anime than in American animation, there are wider possibilities in the depiction of motherhood and fatherhood.

The only conjecture I can offer to this depiction of motherhood in American animation is backlash. With the decline of two-parent families and the rise of single motherhood, perhaps Disney and other studios are feeding a conservative, patriarchal reaction to the decline of the role of fathers in the lives of their children. Mothers are no longer staying with men who are unsuited to them solely for the sake of the children or because they are supported by them. With the exodus of women from the home, perhaps the backlash in popular entertainment is to exalt the status of a single father, eliminating the mother from the picture as someone who would normally have the custodial rights by killing her off. There is no messy divorce, no custodial battles, and the father comes out as the good guy.

This is by no means a definitive analysis of the data. I'd like to hear if anyone else has any ideas as to why there is so much patricentrism and why there has been such a rise of single fatherhood and dead mothers. E-mail me and I'll post your comments.