Disenchanted: Disney attempts to break stereotypes of motherhood only to reinforce them

By Vanessa Marr, Principal Lecturer in School of Art and Media, University of Brighton

Mothers in fairy tales have a way of being absent, typically through untimely deaths (think Cinderella, Snow White or Beauty and the Beast) or thanks to storylines that position them as background characters. Disney’s Disenchanted turns this on its head. Here, at last, we have a fairy tale where mum takes centre stage, as well as left and right, as Good Mother, Wicked Stepmother, and the ever-entertaining and power-hungry Queen Mother.

Usually, fairy tales end when the princess gets her guy, as it did in the first film, Enchanted. But this sequel shows what happens next, following the…

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