To notice that andys mum is a single parent in toy story?

[whatalwayshappenlife]

Watching toy story 3 and there's a graduation photo of andy, his mum and sister.

Thinking about it I've only just notices that it is a single parent family.

Portrays single mums in a good light.

[SPsFanjoIsSantasLittleHoHoHo]

Tee I said that on the first page and it also got ignored

[SantaIAmSoFuckingRock]

couldn't read your link. wouldn't let me log in.

[FellatioNelson]

Are single mums usually portrayed negatively in family films though? Or do you just assume they are? Can you give me some examples in children's films where being a single mum is portrayed in a very negative non-capable way?

I think that is the film focuses on the break-up itself as a major part of the plot then yes, it could be seen as negative, because let's face it, it's usually a pretty upsetting thing for a child to live through, and the plot often centres around the parent and the child coming to terms with huge change in their circumstances which can be stressful.

But I'm not sure I'd agree that just the state of a mother being single is, in itself, portrayed negatively.

[nkf]

The Cat in a Hat also features a single mum.
My two favourite single mother films are Erin Brockovich and Hideous Kinky.

[MrsJREwing]

Hideous Kinky lost her child after the people she trusted to care for the little girl pissed off.

[chrismissymoomoomee]

If someone is a good parent it makes no difference whether they are married/in a relationship or not, they will be a good parent anyway. I'm not really sure why its any better than her being a good parent and married tbh.

I actually can't think of any films where a single parent is portrayed negatively for simply being single.

[MrsJREwing]

Toothfairy, he took a little girl to a night club and left without her.

[StinkyWicket]

I read somewhere probably Snopes that Disney mostly had single mothers as he was so close to his own mother.

There's probably a lot more to that story but I can't remember, sorry!

[yggdrasil]

I did follow the link, Tee, but I dunno, I couldn't find any reference to the cost of adding in an extra adult. Regardless, they didn't need to animate him, just stick in a reference to him. TBH just put him in the graduation photo and then add a 2 second reference to him being away in the army or off being a spy or whatever, I dunno, something.

The point is, film makers prioritise what they believe is important. What's greatly refreshing to me is that Pixar was ok with having a single mother headed family. And that this was not something that needed commenting on, in fact it was not even noticed by many of us.

[yggdrasil]

And actually I am not sure that I agree that if someone is a good parent then they are a good parent, end of. I think, as a rule, single parents do have it harder, and I think it is more work to raise kids alone than with a partner. I think there are many, many ways in which raising kids in a two-adult family makes it easier to do the job well-I'm talking about things like back up, support, relative financial security. Massive generalisations, which absolutely don't apply to all lone parents or married parents, but I think, on balance, lone parents work harder and deserve applause for that.

To take my kids to some Pizza Hell Place after work is more than I can imagine bearing most days, and yet she does it without even having anyone else at home to share overtired baby bedtime duty with. Kudos.

[whatalwayshappenlife]

chrismissymoomoomee I'm not saying single mums are bad mums. But in a majority of cases being a single parent is going to be harder.

And because it's not even obvious in toy story it shows that she's as good a mum as she would be of she had a partner.

[flyingspaghettimonster]

Maybe dad is in the forces...

[DoubleYew]

For me the point is not that single parents are portrayed negatively, just that they are invisible.

Ds is only little so we haven't watched many films yet but I can't think of a Cbeebies show that has a single parent and most books portray mum and dad living together. My ds comments that mum and dad live in a house together in these stories as he's just getting used to the idea that his dad has a new house.

Its nice to give him a feeling that other families have only one parent and its not an issue.

[stifnstav]

Just watched TS2 and I think Andy's dad got an original Woody because he was the boy in the Woody's Roundup TV Show that hugged the puppet. That boy looks very like Andy!

Also, there is a book on the shelf where Mr Wheezy is that has the Mumsnet logo on it! Well, not quite, but very similar!

[CatchingMockingbirds]

OP tangled is a single parent family. She had two parents when she was a baby and was then stolen and raised alone by who she thought was her mother. Once she grew up she escaped and eventually found her birth parents but she was raised by just one person.

[BelleDameSousMistletoe]

Also, it's different from the fairy tale adaptations. Getting rid of the parents/protectors in fairy tales is a story telling device that leaves the hero/ine needing to rely on themselves and enables them to behave outside the norm and have adventures, etc.

In Toy Story the parent/s are largely irrelevant. The stories are about the toys and the children.

[Trills]

I did follow the link, Tee, but I dunno, I couldn't find any reference to the cost of adding in an extra adult.

Toy Story (movie series): Why is Andy's father never mentioned in any of the Toy Story films?

Craig L Good, Pixar Camera Artist
I'm often highly entertained by the deep analyses and psychological guesswork about this. The real answer is that we couldn't afford a dad. Human characters were just hideously expensive and difficult to do in those days and, as Lee mentioned, Andy's dad wasn't necessary for the story. Sid's dad was a solid arm and leg, meant to be seen from that one angle, and his mom was just an off-screen voice. Same reason.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Human characters were just hideously expensive and difficult
just like the real thing

Now can we turn to analysing the fact that they have a dachshund? Clearly no family is complete without one.

[ibelieveinyouandme]

I think even if it was hideously expensive then if he was still around there would have been a reference made about him and he would have been included in the family portrait.

I watched the 2nd Toy Story yesterday and there was mention that Woody's show was cancelled after Sputnik happened, which was in 1957. Andy is therefore probably not Woody's original owner and maybe he used to belong to Andy's dad.