Disney's portrayal of single mothers

[tigermoth]

We have seen the two recent Disney films - Lilo and Stitch and Treasure Planet. I have to say that if I was a single parent taking my children to see these films, I'd have been deeply upset about the storylines.

In 'Lilo and Stitch' an orphaned older young woman is the sole guardian of her wayward younger sister. She has social services on her back and is lurching from one crisis to another. She ends up admitting that she is not giving her charge the best parenting, so it is best if the younger sister is taken into care. It is only when magical/fantasy things happen that life improves for them. The happy ending sees the older sister with a partner taking on the father's role and a happy, well adjusted little sister.

In 'Treasure Planet' a single mother is running an inn while trying to bring up her teenage son. The son, we are told, has gone off the rails ever since his father walked out when he was 8 years old. The mother says she just cannnot cope with him any more. The son is getting into trouble with the police. Again magical/fantasy things happen, the son goes on a quest for treasure, getting lots of male company and role models along the way. His experiences transform his attitudes so when he comes back home he is a fine upstanding young man, joins the forces and embarks on officer training.

In each case these films contain lots of social comment on parenting and humourous asides etc aimed at the adults in the audience. This is why I find the storylines particularly annoying.

I was a single mother I would find the assumption that single mothers can't cope on their own extremely unfunny.

I don't know whether I am having a sense of humour breakdown or not - did anyone else see these films and feel the same way as me?

Tigermoth I haven't seen the films but doubt that it's down to a sense of humour failure on your part. I dislike the way Disney operate as a company and really can't stand some of their films (classics mostly excepted). That's why Shrek was so welcome I think, since it was so refreshingly different from Disney's saccharine and often morally suspect film making.

I haven't seen either of them either but ds is taking a keen interest in Lilo and Stitch so it's only a matter of time. Agree from your description that they sound infuriating, but also with WWW that this is too often par for the course with Disney's main studio output. The views of the man himself weigh heavy on the company still, alas.
The two Pixar Disney films Toy Story and Toy Story 2 never show Andy's father and his mum manages the family house move without a dad being mentioned. I guessed from this that she is a single parent, and she manages just fine, as does Andy himself. But they are minor players in the plotlines...and I found the "pairing off" of Woody and Bo Peep, and Buzz and Jessie, for the final song of Toy Story 2, pretty annoying as well. More films like Shrek needed, definitely.
I hope you didn't starting chucking seats or popcorn about, Tigermoth...

gosh, tigermoth, you've really made me think, even though like Marina, Lilo & Stitch isn't on our agenda.

at the moment, dd is completely entranced by Pinocchio - and I really love the relationship betweeen the puppet/boy and Gepetto, very warm & unquestioning, but that's the classics for you (even if there are racist portrayals of gypsies/Italians etc etc)

I have noticed that in the majority of Disney films something awful happens to the mother - Bambi (mother shot), Fox & Hound (mother shot), Dumbo (mother locked up). Maybe Disney had a bad experience with his mother and from there on in films made at his studios have to have bad storylines for mothers.

Marina, I too, noticed in that the mother in Toy Story organises the house move seemingly alone - and with no sense of panic. And she had her son's mysteriously disappearing toys to contend with. What a woman!

It's interesting what you say about bambi etc, bundle. I'm too hot on my Disney classics, but can't think of any off the top of my head that feature, from the beginning of the story, a happy mother, father and child scenario. Or, indeed a happy single parent scenario. I'm sure someone can prove me wrong.

Anyway I wouldn't have felt so cross about Lilo anbd Stitch and Treasure planet if it they were presented as pure kid's make believe stories, as the disney classics are. It was the fact that the films contained adult parenting in-jokes and asides. I felt Disney was moralising far too much. If I'd been a single parent taking my son out, I'd have left the films on a real downer.

WWW I didn't realise this type of approach is common in the disney company. I will watch out in future. I havn't seen shrek, but glad to hear you all found it less disney-fied.

Not just Disney, DS loves the Farmyard Tales books and I quote 'Mrs Boot is the farmer, she has 2 children called Poppy and Sam, and a dog called Rusty'.

I did wonder for a long time if there was a Mr Boot, (I need to get a life! but he does appear in one of the sories I bought recently.

Eve - my dh is convinced there is something going on bwn Mrs Boot & Ted.

And as for Scarecrow's secret - no one could surely have written that storey with a straight face?

I was going to write that E.T. has a positive portrayal of a single mother but as I think about it I'm not sure. She works and the house is chaotic and the kids are a bit neglected and seem to look after themselves. But it's a close loving family. Can't decide whether it is being judgemental or merely reflecting things as they are. But don't think she gets rescued by a bloke so that's good. In fact Steven Speilberg has a few (can you tell I'm a bit conscious of this type of thing?). The mother of the little boy in Close Encounters is a single mother I think but I can't remember if she hooks up with Richard Dreyfuss' character at the end. Hmmm, I'm going to be thinking about positive single mother roles al night now!

Megg - All the bad things that happen to mothers are usually only animal mothers. Apparently when Walt Disney was a boy he killed an owl. He said he felt so terrible and full of remorse that he vowed to never kill another living creature. This was something he tried to get through in every animal cartoon he later made.

Mulan is one of my daughter's favourite movies and although I think its a good one as the heroine saves the day, it is because she feels so rejected by society that she has something to prove. It seems you can't have your cake and eat it.