Almost every child knows the name Disney. Many of us grew up with his animations; which educated and entertained us throughout the years. Disney casted his own spell on fairy tales and animations which changed the original stories. Jack Zipes gives us a peek into the life of Disney, and how he affected fairy tales through his essay: "Breaking the Disney Spell." Zipes wrote that Disney tried to subvert from the image of women as being pretty ornaments who belong at home, waiting for the prince. He attempted this by creating films with mostly female heroines. Zipes also explained that Disney did not celebrate the female domestication like original versions. But i would say that Disney still up held these female gender norms through his animations. If we think about Cinderella and Snow White, they were both beautiful women who had to do a bunch of house chores. The beauty of these women also resulted in a happy ending where the prince usually comes to rescue them. The princesses are usually weak and refrain from bold actions. They are supposed to behave and cower under the evil villains until the prince's bravery frees them from their boring lives. It shows how strong gender norms can be since the image of women lasted from the original authors to a modern man like Disney. And since Disney is so widely spread, he is casting his spell on all of us.
