Disney Mothers: The Maternal Disney Characters Who's Mostly Known for Being Excluded and Dead

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Yes, we do exist. Gasp!

We're an extended version of
 Brady's Bunch. The motherly ones ;)

Disney is a family friendly company who's mostly known for their family friendly brand. Despite that they're far from squeaky clean and innocent with their content as they want to be, their child targeting brand has made Disney synonymous with that harmless staple. However, their individual components has been individually scrutinized or picked upon. And through all their years of existence, some of these components have been more criticized than others. And certainly one criticized component is their depiction of motherly characters... or rather said, their famous absence of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fate of a Disney Mother



You're blending perfectly in, mom ;)

No, there's no treat for ya here :)

The staple of a Disney mother is somewhat a contradicting confusion, since there's hardly anything wrong about these characters themselves! 
As the matter of fact, Disney mothers usually appears as politically correct, devoted characters who mostly appear loving to their kids! 
However, the real criticism about Disney mothers is the famous absence of them! In fact, while Disney has made several motherly characters throughout their films, they've been stuck with their missing presence that Disney rarely gets praise for the motherly characters who's actually present. Perhaps this criticism isn't exactly wrong anyways. Since it`s a trope that applies to various of their films.

You're good at hiding your feet, Son :)

Of course this staple began in Walt's time. His very first features, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were absent of motherly characters (for the title characters, anyway). That streak was broken with Dumbo. But of course we could thank the following Bambi for that everlasting staple that would actually happen to hamper following Disney mothers.

In fact, the sudden and harrowing death of Bambi's innocent mother has been such a trademark that it has even labeled Bambi completely for that incident (regardless of the other qualities that Bambi possesses). And while I've mentioned this before in my entry for Bambi; the sudden death of a important character was so shocking for an audience, that Walt decided to be careful about depicting deaths afterwards (which may be the reason for why Trusty from Lady and the Tramp and Baloo from The Jungle Book lived). 

But at least Bambi would set the mold for following mothers to come. And while of course these motherly characters have been killed for narrative purposes and not only due to Disney tradition, they`ve been immediately linked to Bambi for that staple. Which is certainly true in The Fox and the Hound's case, which opens with the demise of Tod`s mother.

The Mothers of the Princesses

Of course Disney mothers tend to be various species: From humans, animals or goddesses. Some of these mothers are old and plumb, but various of them happens to be actually quite slim and attractive. 
But of course the characters who gets most criticized for the absence of a mothers are (gasp) the Princesses (unsurprisingly enough, duuuh).
The absence of a mother was of course was present in both aforementioned Snow White and Cinderella. And while Sleeping Beauty would be a rare exception (despite that Aurora and her mother rarely spends any time together, to add fuel to the injury), the staple was definitively prominent and used through the 1990`s. Where Disney introduced the famous father/daughter stock staple. The movie that was going to break that staple, was Pocahontas (where her mother gets referred to more than once). But it was afterwards changed (and the film of course implied that Pocahontas actually knew her mother).

Look at this, Anastasia :)

Of course Mulan broke the pattern and gave a mother to our titular heroine (while their dynamic is barely given any light, at least Fa Li served a deliberate purpose; To serve Mulan's role as a future Chinese wife).  

However, some spin-off content would eventually give some information about the deceased mothers. Since The Little Mermaid III would give Ariel a mother, Athena (who looks almost exactly like her). Walt Disney World's Resort Enchanted Tales With Belle has a picture of Belle with her mother (and the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast shows what happens to the mother). While an episode of The Legend of Tarzan series, Tublat's Revenge, would have Jane drawing a picture of a mother. Of course there`s been some fanarts about these deceased mothers, which came from how their users have envisioned them, not how the mothers were actually drawn. However, the film who would really add fuel to the fire was Atlantis The Lost Empire. Who showed how Princess Kida's mother being eliminated at the prologue, in front of the very eyes of her wee daughter.

 

How the Revival Era Has Changed the Mother Policy

The Revival era, however, has actually listened to the criticism and tried to improve it! At least in some ways. In The Princess and the Frog, Tiana's mother Eudora is alive and well. But the mother/daughter dynamic is never the central theme of the movie. The following Tangled would take a cue from Sleeping Beauty and having the daughter being taken away from her mother (and the spinoff series Tangled Before Ever After would enhance that dynamic). 

With Frozen the parents gets vanished in the prologue, it was confirmed in 2018 that the mother, Queen Iduna, was having a brief cameo in the sequel (which she did and having a lullaby with her two daughters). But at least Moana allowed our titular character's mother, Sina, to have some slight purpose (which the directors deliberately wanted, since their mothers urged them to). And since Mulan belongs to the prominent Princess franchise, at least she`s among those who has both her parents alive (alongside with Rapunzel and Moana).

Of course the film that took the mold to a new heights was Brave. While of course being a Pixar production and not being the first Pixar film with a mother/daughter dynamic, at least it had the intention to break the stigma. 
However, if there's one film that actually take the time to create a  mother/daughter dynamic which was the main focus, then it's The Little Mermaid II; Return to the Sea. Of course many people would hate me for even mentioning it. But at least it does deserve genuine credit for actually tackling a mother/daughter dynamic that is the center of the piece.

The Reasons Why The Mothers Are Absent

The constant scrutiny centered around the lack of a mother is of course understandable. The reason for why this staple has even existed has been debated. But producer Don Hahn (The Lion King) suggested that it could be linked to the fact that Walt's own mother, Flora, died at the beginning of his career. 

While it haven't been confirmed as the main reason, it's a plausible theory (yet his mother's death happened in 1938, after the release of Snow White). And if we're going to scrutinize this on an historical content, women usually died from childbirth priorly. 

Yes, I look haughty. What else
did you think?

Of course this doesn't mean that only motherly characters are usually killed and not only fatherly characters. But usually they are (and no, we're not entering this discussion by having the Disney's trope of a single-parent device. Despite that it's easy for Disney to do so, due to narrative and economical purposes). 

However, as aforementioned, they are unfortunately killed to deliberately serve the narrative a plot point. Even the much loathed Chicken Little had the same issue where they were considering to keep the mother, Chloe. But eventually made her a demised character. However, we can't only blame Disney themselves for that

trope. Since some of their original stories features a demised mother. Yet it stilleasy to scorn Disney for it. It would also be tempting to tap into another, similar Disney trademark: The one of the Wicked Stepmother. Which also Disney is widely known for. But frankly, I find it irrelevant to this case.

The Mothers Who Are Major Characters



At least we're not playing E.T.

What a way of playing hide and seek

While motherly characters are usually supporting characters in Disney (with the exception of Perdita and the characters who reproduces at the end of the movie), there`s been a couple of mothers who`ve been somewhat pivotal. As the mother`s of Dumbo and Bambi have taken the crown for it. 

But perhaps a motherly character who truly becomes a truly fleshed-out character, is Kala from Tarzan. While of course Kala is just a supporting character (and primarily an adoptive mother), it`s remarkable how her arc and functioning part is actually given more weight and screentime than to a regular Disney mother. It would be tempting to also place Plio from Dinosaur in the same category. And while she has a functioning screentime, she`s overall more a supporting character than Kala.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue

Look at us, Lady Gaga :)

However, it's still a pity that a missing mother is the trope that Disney mothers are usually stuck with. And not for their other qualities. With a couple of exceptions, they`re usually good mothers. With the exception of Zira from The Lion King II Simba's Pride, who`s deliberately evil. And while it would be tempting to call out Iduna for being a bad mother, she`s mostly passive in her scenes. And frankly, Queen Ellinor from Brave doesn't count, since she's a Pixar property after all. Prince Naveen's mother could also be put in the same category, for placing an harsh ultimatum on her son.

However, it would be tempting to wonder if Disney will ever get past the absent mother-staple and be completely without it. While it would be tempting to analyze every Disney mother individually, at least we could be glad that Disney actually manages to do motherly characters well, after all. Regardless of what criticism Disney receives, the portrayal of a good mother is one of their most admirable aspects. So all kudos to Disney for that and may they go on to continue to make several good motherly characters.

Look at this, critics :)  There's plenty of us :)

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References:
Mouse Under Glass (David Koenig).
Lady and the Tramp Diamond Edition.
The art of Mulan (Jeff Kurtti)
Tale As Old As Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast (Charles Solomon).
Moana Collectors Edition Blu Ray.
Chicken Little Blu Ray.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roles_of_mothers_in_Disney_media
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/King_Agnarr_and_Queen_Iduna

https://books.google.no/books?id=avgpakf_RhoC&pg=PA94&dq=mothers+disney+films&sig=UpwC_vkyq8-HSR5F-J2G1uK9b6g&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mothers%20disney%20films&f=false
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disneys-motherless-films/
http://www.feminist.com/askamy/media/me28.html 
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http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/culture/film/216573-disney-single-parents-dead-mothers
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-there-are-no-moms-in-disney-movies-2014-9?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
https://www.glamour.com/story/disney-secrets-beauty-and-the-beast
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/521551/Walt-Disney-mum-death-film-characters-motherless
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/15/disney-characters-moms_n_5825428.html
https://disneytheory.com/2014/09/14/why-the-death-of-disneys-mother-doesnt-explain-the-absence-of-disney-mothers/
http://www.mtv.com/news/1927911/why-disney-princesses-dont-have-mothers/
http://www.threecommentears.com/2016/04/chicken-little/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_hfOSLrvKA (Nostalgia Chick Disney Princess).
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/malaysia-beauty-and-the-beast_us_58c6d650e4b0598c66986fb3?guccounter=1