12 Super-Dark Origins Behind Your Favorite Disney Movies

Everybody dies, basically.

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid

When mermaids die, they turn to sea foam and cease to exist. In the original fairy tale, the prince falls in love with a different girl, breaking the Little Mermaid's heart. She's faced with a dilemma: If she slays the prince and lets his blood drip on her feet, she'll turn back into a mermaid. Ultimately, she can't bring herself to do the deed, and instead flings herself into the ocean, transforming into sea foam.

Disney

Cinderella

Cinderella

The original Cinderella fairy tale is completely disgusting. When neither of her stepsisters can fit into Cindy's slipper, one of them cuts off her toe and the other cuts off her heel to fool the prince. Later, Cinderella has her magic birds peck out her sisters' eyes as punishment for their deceit. Oh, and she also slams the lid of a chest on her stepmother's neck, breaking it and killing her. Damn, CInderella, you bad.

Disney

The Lion King

The Lion King

Even though The Lion King is completely plagiarized from a Japanese cartoon, Disney claims it's based on Shakespeare's Hamlet — a play in which pretty much everybody dies. In the climax, Hamlet (the character Simba is based on) is stabbed to death with a poison blade. Hakuna matata!

Disney

Aladdin and the King of Thieves

Aladdin and the King of Thieves

The original Aladdin's source material is pretty tame, but the movie's second sequel has darker origins. In Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the character Cassim (Aladdin's father) is killed and dismembered and his body parts stacked around a treasure cave as a warning to travelers. Later, Cassim's body is stitched together by a tailor so his family will think he died of natural causes.

Disney


View Entire List ›

BuzzFeed - Latest