Disney's Snow White on This Day in History

This Day In History: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premiered on this day in 1937. The film had many fans: Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra, even Hitler loved the movie. 

The Disney film is a however a sanitized version of the original story. In an older version, the Queen actually asks the Huntsman for Snow White’s liver and lungs – which were to be served for dinner that night. The Grimm version also has a wedding for Snow White where the Queen was forced to dance to her death: “They put a pair of iron shoes into burning coals. They were brought forth with tongs and placed before her. She was forced to step into the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell down dead.”

Many fairy tales have been repurposed and cleaned up. For instance, in “Cinderella” the evil stepsisters cut off their toes in order to make the slipper fit, and later have their eyes pecked out by birds. 

In “The Six Swans” an evil mother-in-law is burned at the stake. 

In “The Goose Maid” a girl is stripped naked, thrown into a barrel filled with nails and dragged through the streets.

“Sleeping Beauty" was actually raped.

Pinocchio was hanged.

The queen in Snow White was actually a cannibal. 

In the Frog Prince the frog is turned back into human form by having its head cut off, or by being slammed into a wall.

See also: The Origin of Nursery Tales in Mythology by Charles De B. Mills 1889
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-origin-of-nursery-tales-in.html

The Grimmest & Darkest Original Fairy Tales - 50 Books to download
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-grimmest-darkest-original-fairy.html

This Kindle book, The Dark History of Christmas, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99 and The Strange History of Easter and the Christian Cross is on Amazon for only $1.99 

The Odd Hans Christian Andersen on This Day in History

Watch The Snow Queen

This Day in History: Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was born on this day in 1805. You may know him for writing "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Little Mermaid," "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen,(which led to the Disney hit FROZEN)" "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Match Girl," and "Thumbelina." 

Like many other writers HCA was an odd sort. He was probably celibate his entire life, though he paid a prostitute just to talk. He was afraid of dogs. He didn’t eat pork because he thought eating pigs would make him sick. He travelled with a long rope in case he needed to escape a fire. He also had a fear of being buried alive, so before bed each night, he propped up a note that read, “I only appear to be dead.” 

His original "Little Mermaid" was a bit grimmer than the popular Disney version. A mermaid who falls in love with the Prince is offered the chance to take on a human form, though she'll live in perpetual agony with her tongue cut out. The mermaid also wants immortality, which can only be attained if the prince falls in love with her and they marry. The prince marries another however and the mermaid contemplates murdering him.

See also: The World of Hans Christian Andersen

See also The Grimmest & Gloomiest Fairy Tales - 50 Books on CDrom

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-grimmest-gloomiest-fairy-tales-50.html

Charles Dickens and Hans Christian Andersen

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2018/09/charles-dickens-and-hans-christian.html