Animated Parental Slaughter; Also Known as Kid's Movies

It’s no shock to anyone that has ever seen a kid’s movie that you will either see one of the main character’s parents die or they will be mysteriously missing, or heck, sometimes both.  After seeing How to Train Your Dragon 2, I made a joke to my friend about the parental slaughter that movie companies engage in while also attempting to charm children.  So I had to analyze and compare companies and how they engage in mommy and daddy animated killing to please children. Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen these movies.  Sorry.

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Disney Films

(Since there are so many, I’ll be taking a few from each decade to make my point)

Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs	1930s	Mom dead, father remarries, father dies, at mercy of stepmother who is evil
Dumbo	1940s	Absentee father (because storks drop him off...uh huh), ripped away from mother
Bambi	1940s	Absent father who shows up at the end, mother killed
Cinderella	1950s	Mom dead, father remarries, he dies, at mercy of evil stepmother
Alice in Wonderland	1950s	Both parents nowhere to be found
Sword in the Stone	1960s	Parents gone completely, stuck with guardian who treats him poorly
the Jungle Book	1960s	Orphan raised by animals (literally)
the Aristocats	1970s	Father cat not around
the Rescuers	1970s	Orphan girl gets kidnapped
Oliver & Company	1980s	Absentee parents
the Little Mermaid	1980s	No mother, overbearing father
Beauty & the Beast	1990s	No mother
Aladdin	1990s	Mother gone, father believed to be dead, actually just absent
Tarzan	1990s	Parents murdered by jungle cat
the Emperor’s New Groove	2000s	No parents
Lilo & Stitch	2000s	Parents dead
Frozen	2010s	Parents die

Now, Disney has plenty films that feature two parents.  But there are just as many instances of absentee parents or dead parents.  In these cases, the abandoned character is raised by animals or left to be taken advantage by evil people.  Woohoo.

Pixar

(yes I know they work with Disney, but they are separate entities in my book)

Toy Story 1, 2, 3	1995, 1999, 2010	Single mom
Monster’s Inc	2001	Parents unseen
Finding Nemo	2003	Mom eaten by barracuda
Up	2009	Absent idolized father

Pixar by itself, has less films, therefore has less evidence of parental abandonment.

Dreamworks

Prince of Egypt	1998	Abandonment of child
Shrek 1, 2	2001, 2004	Parents are ashamed of daughter, hide her away
How to Train Your Dragon 1, 2	2010, 2014	Absent mother, mother returns, father dies

Dreamworks did slightly better because most of their films are centered around adults or animals that are adult-ish so dealing with parents isn’t as important as those that feature younger characters.

Disney has been around longer than any others, so it follows that they’d be perfect at parental slaughter.  I know not all kid’s movie deal with this, but it’s something worth acknowledging.  Because children internalize information like crazy and noticing absentee parents could be something.  If a child already deals with a parent that isn’t around much, this could leave an imprint on them.  That being said, I still freaking love kid’s movies.  Parental murdering aside, they can be seriously fun.