Fairy Tale Endings
“In fairy tales, ‘good’ triumphs over ‘evil,’ but how this happens isn’t simple. It’s quite common for traditional fairy tales to have complicated, even troubling, conclusions.”
“It’s quite common for traditional fairy tales to have complicated, even troubling, conclusions…where innocent princesses get the prince only if they torment and kill their adversaries. What Disney did…was give us what we really want from ‘happily ever after’: an ending with no guilt, no loose ends. An ending where hope is resolved. Maybe that’s why all other Snow Whites and Cinderellas disappear in the face of Disney’s. Orson Welles said that a happy ending depends on where you stop your story. Walt Disney’s genius was that he knew just when, and how, we like our endings. Not with hope but satisfaction.”
