Darker Human Nature: The Good Luck Child

I'll bet you thought I wouldn't be posting for another eight some weeks, didn't you? Thought there would be a huge gap between posts? Well today I'm defying expectations. Continuing with the theme of exploring the darker human nature of literary characters, we're going to take a look at the story of "The Devil's Three Golden Hairs" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. You may also know it as "The Good Luck Child."
If you're not familiar with the story, click the link to read it. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-devil.htm
In the story, this boy from, as far as we know, a family of no worth or title is born and a prophecy is bestowed upon him that in his nineteenth (or some versions it's fourteenth) year, he will wed the princess. The king of that land happened to be passing through, heard the prophecy, got very upset, and placed the child in a box and threw him in the river. The king thought he had rid his daughter of her "unlooked-for suitor," but as this was a lucky child indeed, he drifted downstream until he came to the shore of another poor man and his wife, who raised him as their own. The boy grows up, the king returns by chance, and realizes that the poor man's son is in fact the child he thought he had killed. To make a long story short, the king gives the lucky child a series of tasks in order to prove himself worthy of becoming his son-in-law, all of which are fool's errands and the lucky child is never intended to survive any of them. But as his name implies, he does. On the last errand however, he encounters a ferryman who has been ferrying people across a lake for years, and he wonders when his job will end. The lucky child discovers that all he need do is hand his oar to his next client and run away freely. On returning home to the king and the princess, the lucky child was rewarded by towns which he passed with lots of gold. The king asked him how he acquired it and if he, the king, could get more. The lucky child tells him he has to be ferried across the lake to get the rest of the gold. The king ventures out, but when he comes to the ferryman, upon remembering the lucky child's answer, the ferryman hands his oar to the king, runs away, and the king is left to be the ferryman for the rest of his life.
Now, bearing all that in mind, I found it interesting that throughout the story, the lucky child is by no means impish, cruel, or ill-favorable. He is virtuous, brave, smart, and determined. But he knew by sending the king across the lake, that the ferryman would hand off the oar, and the king would be gone forever. But if he is such a good guy, and throughout the story we have no reason to doubt that he is, why would he essentially send the king to his doom?
I believe that along the journey -and in the story I think the lucky child had to venture out about three times- the lucky child realized how perilous his journey was. He most likely also realized that the king had intended it so. The lucky child finally comprehended the king's disdain for him, because he was a poor boy. (I wonder if he even knew about the prophecy?) And so, to ensure the safety of himself and the princess, the lucky child sent the king to the ferryman, who would "pass the oar." Even though the lucky child is a good guy, and the king was his father-in-law, he did send him to his doom. I find that interesting, because I really don't think the lucky child just said, "Oh, yes, I got it from the palace across the lake; just take the ferry and you'll be fine." I don't think he forgot the answer he gave to the ferryman about how to leave his post. Sending the king away -permanently- was intended. I suppose even good guys must complete bad deeds for the good of their kingdom, at least when their predecessor would potentially go mad at having a poor man's son on the throne.
If you haven't read the story yet, I would suggest doing so. Despite the tone of this post, it's actually a very fun story and doesn't focus on the darkness of it all (which is saying something, considering it was written by the Grimm brothers). It has a happy ending at least! Good conquers evil and the bad guy gets his comeuppance.

-Grace

Darker Human Nature: Red Riding Hood

Have you ever wondered if iconic characters of books and television had a hidden side to them? What if Princess Aurora was a rebel? If she were depicted in modern times, would she be that bad girl who always went against her parent (or legal guardians, in Aurora's case)? What if Daisy Duck had a secret online shopping addiction? Was Ursula once a mermaid? Bits of a person's character that have only been touched on or never explored. In short, the darker human nature. My friend Mark Venturini loves to explore the darker side of human nature with his characters. For more on that, see my last post where we had a very interesting discussion about The Hobbit. But Mark inspired me to take a look at a few characters and explore their darker side -or hidden side, depending on which character we're looking at.

(Little Red Riding Hood by Isabel Oakley Naftel, 1862)

(Meghan Ory as Ruby/Red in ABC's Once Upon a Time www.pixgood.com )

(Little Red Riding Hood by Evanira http://evanira.deviantart.com )

I want to start with someone a lot of people are fairly familiar with: Little Red Riding Hood. In the tale by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, Red is depicted as a young girl, quite innocent, venturing into the mysterious forest to do a good deed: bring goodies for sick, old Granny. She ends up being swallowed whole by the wolf, but then saved by the Huntsman before she can be digested.... Charming. (The version by Charles Perrault, which came before Grimm's, is similar, except the Huntsman slays the wolf before he can eat the grandmother and Little Red.) In another version, while the wolf is threatening Red and her grandmother, Red pulls a gun from somewhere and handles the villain Old Western style. ABC's Once Upon a Time (which I'm terribly behind in) depicts Red as... wait, too much of a spoiler. But in Scarlet, a book by Melissa Meyer, the main character who is a depiction of Red Riding Hood is a streetwise farmer who is trying to find her missing grandmere. So you have lots of different perspectives on this one character, although a few details stay the same, like the red theme, the wolf, and the grandmother.
It's interesting that in each of the tales, Red has to go on some kind of journey. It's also interesting how from the Grimm's version to now, there is a perceptible decrease in Red as being purely innocent. It's as if the tale by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm were the very start of Red's adventures, when she was a child, and as the story has evolved, the character has grown up and matured, becoming bolder and less predictable.
I like to think characters learn from their mistakes, even if they are make-believe. What did Red learn from all her experiences? Is the wolf merely metaphorical? Is the grandmother supposed to be the goal we are always trying to achieve, and the wolf the obstacles we must overcome? And what of Red's nature as a person? How did she change? Did she become more pessimistic or worrisome? Did the experiences make her braver? Did she crave danger? I think she would have made a good cop or PI. I don't know why, but for some reason those two just stick out to me.
Hopefully in a couple of days I'll have another character for you. Which would you prefer: heroes, villains, or secondary characters? Let me know in the comments. :-)

-Grace

Blog Interview with Author Mark Venturini

Here is my interview with author Mark Venturini!

(Mark Venturini, author of Whispers from Forbidden Earth)

Q: Let's start with something off the wall. Who's your favorite dwarf in The Company and why?
A: Part of my answer will surprise you, since my genre of choice is Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I hate the Hobbit movies. I guess my favorite dwarf is Thorin Oakenshield. He's driven and a strong leader. There's also a darker nature lying below the surface that I appreciate since my writing tends to lean toward the darker side of human nature. So, back to the Hobbit movies. As a teenager, I devoured all the books, from The Simarillion to the Return of the King. I consider the LOTR movies to be cinematic masterpieces in every way: character development, plot, stunning imagery, all worthy of Tolkien's epic tale. The Hobbit movies feel more like a bloated, large-scale video game. any scenes are unforgivably cheesy. I will plop down money and watch Battle of the Five Armies when it is released, but you won't find the DVDs on my shelf at home.

Q: If you could have a chat with anyone from history, who would it be?
A: There are so many.

• Jules Verne
• Thomas Edison
• C.S. Lewis
• The Apostle Paul
• Albert Einstein
• King Solomon
• Abraham Lincoln

Q: I love the world you've created for Whispers, especially how Eversong is tied to music in almost every way. Can you tell me about where you got the inspiration for all that?
A: It started with the "Creation Song" in the very first novel I wrote many years ago. Crossway books considered publishing it, but eventually passed. The story was a fantasy retelling of the creation story from Genesis, where God sang the universe into existence. I incorporated some elements from that novel into Whispers and just added to it. From there, Eversong was born. I enjoyed playing with the musical theme. Some readers caught it.

Q: Can we expect a sequel to Whispers? If so, tell us about it.
A: There is a sequel. The working title is Blood Tithe. The portal that opened between Earth and Eversong in the first novel also freed faeries from the Winter Court (the Unseelie) and Summer Court (the Seelie) to run amok on Earth and cause major troubles for Jason Snider. I'm really excited about how two parallel plot lines between Jason on Earth and the elf Strum and Magus Sinngh on Eversong unfold.

Q: I know you're working on a project called Medieval Mars with author Travis Perry. What can you tell me about that project?
A: The concept is interesting. The world of Medieval Mars takes place in some future time after humans colonized Mars. Over time, though, technology and scientific knowledge was lost and society degraded to a feudal system reminiscent of the Middle Ages. What little technology that survived is referred to as coming from the "Time of Magic." The stories primarily take place in the area from Olympus Mons eastward to the Chryse Planitia that is now a shallow sea in our world. I really enjoyed exploring the region and the society that lives there within the stories.

Q: Let's talk briefly about the writer's group Pittsburgh East Scribes. We have both been involved since the very beginning. Can you believe it's grown as much as it has? And all the writers have gone in so many different directions.
A: I am humbled by the success of Scribes. I started the group with one goal in mind: to provide information, resources, and encouragement to help aspiring authors pursue their dream of seeing their work published. We've assembled a great group of writers that I think covers most genres. The energy and passion and commitment I feel at every meeting is so encouraging to me. Every time I suggest a summer or holiday break, I'm shot down. Everyone wants to meet. I can't tell you how that makes me feel.

Q: I feel like I know you too well that I can't think up any good questions. So let me see here... I know you love kayaking and basically the great outdoors. You told me not long ago that you saw a bear! If you could go and do anything in the world and you had no restrictions, what would it be?
A: After my rafting trip through the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago, I have 3 items left on my bucket list.

• Hike to Everest base camp. I don't want to climb Mt. Everest, but I think the 16 day hike through the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal to base camp where the expeditions are launched would be spectacular! (I have a feeling I would not be doing this with my wife, Kathy.)
• A cruise to Antarctica.
• Explore Alaska by rail and hopefully do some kayaking during the trip.

Q: Do you still make time to read?
A: With a full time job and many obligations, finding time to do everything I want to do is really a challenge. The only way to fit in everything is to give up on sleep. That isn't going to happen. Thank God for my kindle and kindle app on my smart phone. I have a 45 minute commute to work on a rideshare van. That's when I do the majority of my reading as well as my critiquing.

Q: What kind of traditions do you and your family keep around the holidays? In other words, how much does your Italian show?
A: For Thanksgiving, we're traditional with the turkey and stuffing. For Christmas, though, we keep the tradition of the "Feast of the Seven Fishes" on Christmas Eve. Menu items vary from family to family. We've added a few items to our menu over the last couple of years.

• Linguine with a red anchovy sauce
• Orange Roughy in tomato sauce
• Calamari
• Baccala (salt cod)
• Whiting (fish)
• Scallops
• Smelts (fish)
• Shrimp
• Bagna cauda (warm anchovy dip)

Add to this all the Italian cookies! Christmas Eve is always a special time for my family.

Q: And on a fun note, what do you think about Twitter? Do you like it or would you rather keep what you had for lunch today to yourself?
A: I've always been uncomfortable with the marketing and social media end of the writing business. I'm basically a private person. But Twitter and Facebook and blogging and Goodreads (I could go on) are all necessary evils. So, I tweet and do all the other social media stuff that's expected. Am I as active as I should be? See my response to question 8 about making time to read. :-)

Thanks for the interview, Mark!
Check out Mark's blog to stay updated about his stories: www.markventurinijourney.blogspot.com
Also find Mark on Twitter (@Mark_Venturini), Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/markkventurini/ ), and Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7173590.Mark_Venturini?from_search=true ). Mark is also a contributing author to the Colony Zero series, up on Amazon now! Links to his chapters are below.
Colony Zero -Volume 1 -Contact http://www.amazon.com/Colony-Zero-Contact-Travis-Perry-ebook/dp/B00IC86952/ref=asap_B00G14LU1W?ie=UTF8 
Colony Zero -Volume 3 -In the Midst of Sorrow http://www.amazon.com/Colony-Zero-Volume-Midst-Sorrow-ebook/dp/B00JFZJXLI/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GYBGEXEYZ9WF4YC4JVQ 
Colony Zero Series II -Volume 2 -For the Children http://www.amazon.com/Colony-Zero-Series-II-Children-ebook/dp/B00OGOXBFM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SGBER1JZ36S7WD0X2Z7

-Grace

Blog Interview with Willow and Darrion of "The Call"

Ooh, this is exciting! As promised, here is a special blog interview from writing sisters Willow and Darrion, who maintain their blog, "The Call." Enjoy!

1. Tell us a little about yourselves.
Willow: I'm a Christian introvert teenage writer who loves Lord of the Rings, cosplay, Doctor Who, Marvel, and photography. I'm two years the elder of my younger sister, Darrion. {Wow, that was a mouthful!}

Darrion: I consider myself an extrovert, a Bible believing Christian, an amateur photographer and artist, and last but not least, writer.

2. How did your blog “The Call” get started?

Willow: I originally entitled it "Many are Called but Few are Chosen", though we never really used it. I did two fanfics from the "Star Wars the Clone War's" and "The Codebearer's Series", but never really got into it. Then I joined a story blog called "The Story Club" where I wrote most of my story "Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate", a fanfic of Pirates of the Caribbean. I realized how much I loved writing, and reworked "The Call" into what it is now, to put my book "Friends and Enemies" on, and D wanted to get into the action finally. She'd wanted to originally, but didn't want to be a part of the blog until she had something to put on it, which turned out to be "The Watchmen Files", and we eventually added our friends Ammelia Gabriella and Billie Catherine.

Darrion: See above.

3. Aside from your fantasy stories, have you always liked writing fanfiction?
Darrion: Yes, in fact that's where our fascination with writing started with. We sort of inserted ourselves into the stories we loved (Star Wars and every other TV show or movie we watched) and always intended to write the stories we invented down. And that's how we started: our little imaginary ventures in written form. I think one of the best things about fanfiction is that you can make it what you want to. Actors interpret their characters in their actions and delivery of lines, but writers can do whatever they want. They can be all of the characters, they can make them act however they choose. And I love that.

Willow: What she said!

4. How do your tastes differ from each other in regards to your writing? Willow, I know you have “Friends and Enemies,” which is a wonderful fantasy story, and Darrion, you have “The Watchmen Files,” which is just a fantastic build-off of the Marvel Comic universe.
Willow: I really love fantasy, and the modern world, but I do think that I like writing fantasy more than D does.

Darrion: I think Willow's writing style is more conversational, and I like more description. I also really try to cram as much emotion into my characters as possible, and I love character development (even if it does mean someone has to suffer, which Willow does not prefer). I wouldn't say that either of us could choose one genre over the other, but I am really looking forward to making a fantasy tale, and Willow is also excited about a more modern story.

5. You are both such wonderful writers. Do you think it’s something you’d like to pursue as a career, if you could? Why or why not?
Willow: I would love to do that as a career, but there are other things I plan to that that writing would get in the way of. I still plan of writing for fun, more and more books will make their way onto our blog, but I doubt I'll actually turn it into a career.

Darrion: I would like to make it an on-the-side sort of thing, since I don't think I could live off of my writing. But I plan to keep at it as life moves on, and who knows where that will take me!

6. What do you guys like to do in your free time?
Willow: Surf pinterest, grabbing pins for books/future reference {hehehe} and search eBay.uk for Clara Oswald cosplay stuff, and designing book covers :) Just a few things!

Darrion: When I'm not on Pinterest (like Willow, snatching up ideas for stories), I enjoy sketching with pencil, mostly fanart, which I post on my personal/art/other blog, 'Sincerely Darrion'.

7. Yeah, I'm a Pinterest junkie, too. Just out of curiosity, are you both homeschooled or do you go to public school? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.
Willow and Darrion: We're both homeschooled.

8. That's what I thought. Takes one to know one, I guess. ;-) Who are your favorite book characters (could be from more than one book)?
Willow: I love Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, Fili and Kili from the Hobbit, Samwise in Lord of the Rings, Aravis in the Horse and His Boy, and Hope and Trista from the Hunter Brown books.

Darrion: Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit, Frerin from the appendix in the Return of the King (not so much what is written about him, since there really is hardly anything there, but what I imagine him to be like), Gimli from Lord of the Rings, and Edmund and Lucy from Narnia.

9. Who are your favorite on-screen characters (could be from more than one show/movie)?
Willow: Elsa in Frozen, Fili and Kili in the Hobbit Trilogy, Samwise, and Eomer in Lord of the Rings, Skye and Jemma in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America and Hawkeye in the Avengers, Edmund in Narnia, and Clara and Donna in Doctor Who.

Darrion: Thorin and nephews (and Balin and Bilbo!) from the Hobbit (especially the Unexpected Journey), Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc., Flynn from Tangled, Captain Rex and the rest of the 501st from Star Wars the Clone Wars, Anna from Frozen, and Captain America from the First Avenger, and more then I have room to mention here.

10. This might be inappropriate since you both incorporate worlds and themes from Lord of the Rings and S.H.I.E.L.D. into your writing, but… humor me. If you could live in another fictional world, which would it be and why?
Willow: Tough one, but Lord of the Rings. I'd love to live in Rivendell.

Darrion: Ouch, that's difficult... I think I'd want to live in Erebor, before the firestorm.

11. Finally, if you could have a conversation with any writer in history, who would it be?
Willow: I'd talk to J.R.R. Tolkien and ask him questions about the Hobbit, and have him sign our copy!

Darrion: I would do the same... Tolkien, tell me about the heart of every character in the Hobbit!

Thanks for the questions, Grace! You picked really good ones, and it was very nice of you to ask us :)


And I'd like to thank Willow and Darrion for participating in my little interview.  You guys were wonderful guests. :-) Click the link below to visit their awesome blog.
http://www.willow-the-call.blogspot.com/

-Grace

The Dragon Chronicles: Leia

Well this is embarrassing. Here I was hoping to give you guys a blog interview, but unfortunately I haven't gotten all my questions out, and the ones I have have not been responded to yet. No worries. Instead, I present to you a short story entitles The Dragon Chronicles: Leia. Enjoy!

Leia measured the sun’s position as it pertained to the height of the trees, then turned back to glance at the mountains, and then back to the sun again.

            “We’re lost, aren’t we?” said Natalia, sounding unsurprised.

            “No we’re not,” assured Leia. She blew a strand of brown hair out of her face. Her wings drooped a little, betraying her uncertainty. “The cove is just… this way.” She pointed to a gap in the trees that looked somewhat familiar, and she and Talia flew towards it, the hedgerow a cool, dark, luscious green. The fairy sisters zipped through the leaves and for a moment Leia was confident they were going the right way… until they came to the river. For the third time.

            “Great!” said Talia, exasperated. “We’re lost.”

            “We are not lost.” Leia flew high above the trees and shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare.

Talia’s voice appeared beside her. “I thought a graduated fairy was supposed to be a highly intelligent keeper of nature. You don’t even know where north is!”

Leia brushed away her comment. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s that way. And besides,” she added, flying toward a maple tree she thought she recognized. “I am an intelligent keeper of nature. We’ve been trained to pinpoint locations instantly.”

“Instantly, huh? Well, we’ve been flying around for fifteen minutes. How is that instant?”

Leia rounded on her little sister sharply. “Oh, will you stop it? I could find my way out of this forest blindfolded.”

Talia crossed her arms, her blue eyes narrowing under platinum blonde bangs. “Then maybe we should blindfold you. It would probably get us home a lot faster. We weren’t even supposed to go this far. Mother said to stay by Make-A-Wish Falls.”

Leia was about to respond when she spotted a dark figure over Talia’s shoulder. Eyes widening, she grabbed Natalia and dove just as the hawk’s claws missed them. “Hurry!” she yelled as they dashed away from the hungry bird. Leia heard the bird’s angry cries and could feel its wings beat against the wind as it gained on them. Sparing a glance at Natalia, she saw her sister’s wide blue eyes frozen in panic even as her wings pushed her faster and faster. “To the river!” Leia called over the wind.

Talia nodded stiffly and they both straightened their arms against their sides, piercing the air like bullets.

They were close now, the river a mere stone skip away, when suddenly the hawk swooped in front of them, spreading his wings like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Leia spread her wings wide to stop, but Talia soared straight into the hawk’s embrace. Grabbing her by the wings with his beak, the hawk gave a gargled squawk and started to rise.

“Put me down!” Talia cried, thrashing in the hawk’s mouth. But the hawk shook her once her cries reduced to a whimper. Pulling wings was like pulling hair.

Leia watched in silent horror as her sister shrunk from view, helpless in the predator’s clutches. Looking around, she only saw a few pinecones, some pebbles, and a cluster of mushrooms. She needed something to help Talia. She needed something to fend off the hawk. She needed something now! And then, out of the bushes toddled a brown and grey porcupine, its pointed face nuzzled to the ground, searching for food. Suddenly inspired, Leia raced to the porcupine and hovered carefully above it. She reached for one of the spines, but the animal wouldn’t stop moving. Talia screamed again.

“Sorry, mister,” Leia said. “But this is gonna hurt.” Grabbing a handful of spines, Leia yanked with all her might until they came loose in her hand. The porcupine yelped but Leia didn’t wait for his scolding. She sped toward the hawk brandishing her spines.

The hawk only realized what was happening an instant before it came to be.

Leia jabbed him sharply with all three of the spines and the hawk gave a pained cry. Talia dropped from his mouth. Seizing her hand, Leia and Talia flew toward the hedgerow and waited until the hawk disappeared from view before braving the skies again.

Leia stuffed the porcupine spines into the back of her belt. She was sure she could find another use for them. Turning to Talia, she saw her sister’s cheeks had grown a tender pink, her bangs hiding her dark blue eyes.

“Thanks,” said Talia, sheepishly.

Leia smiled and blew another strand of brown hair out of her face. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m sorry I was mean to you before.”

“It’s okay.”

There was silence for a few moments before Talia spoke again.

“So… how do we get home now?”

Leia pondered, her gaze drifting to the laughing river. “Maybe if we follow this,” she said with a gesture to it, “it will lead us to Make-A-Wish Falls. Then we can find our way home from there.”

Together the two sisters drifted above the water, enjoying its’ sound and the peace it brought. Leia spared another glance to Natalia. She had been very close to losing her today. The thought made her want to hug her sister. But instead, she dipped a foot into the water and splashed Natalia in the face. By the time they reached Make-A-Wish Falls, both of them were laughing and soaked. Thankfully the air was warm as evening came, the summer sky turning shades of pink and lavender. Before the sun had set, the cove came into view with its’ bustling populace of fairies. Leia and Talia made their way to their hovel, which had once been a mole’s home before the family converted it to a fairy home after the mole’s departure. Mother only looked slightly taken aback at the state of the sisters’ frizzy hair. Leia produced the porcupine spines and set them in the corner by the coat rack, which had been fashioned out of two paperclips twisted together.

“Where did those come from?” asked Mother with a knowing look.

Leia and Talia glanced to one another. Leia cleared her throat. “We found them… while we were… looking for algae. For the tadpoles.”

Mother smiled. “I see,” she said. “What else happened today?”

Talia looked down, but Leia only smiled and leaned casually against the compass which served as the dinner table. “Oh, nothing. Played in the river. Raced each other.”

“Uh-huh.” Mother turned stirred some kind of bluish mixture in an acorn bowl. “What a day. Why don’t you two set the plates for dinner,” she suggested. “You father will be home soon.”

Lei and Talia nodded and began the nightly ritual. Occasionally they would catch each other’s eye and smile or wink. And to think, all that adventure had come from a few minutes of playing a little too long.

What a day indeed.

What's to Come

Hi everybody. So, just a little heads up, I'm doing a bunch of blog interviews that I'm hoping to post this coming week. The interviews will be from different authors and bloggers of various genres, what they like to do in their free time, who their favorite fictional characters are, what being a writer is like... all kinds of stuff. I'm trying to switch up the questions for each person, but you may see some of them repeated.
Be on the look-out for interviews from Mark Venturini, Tracy Krauss, Travis Perry, and Willow and Darrion, the authors of one of my favorite blogs, The Call.
Stay tuned!

-Grace

Disney Parents

What does Disney have against parents? If you’re in a Disney movie and you’re a parent, more than likely you are either single or dead. Why is that? There are a few exceptions, of course: Rapunzel’s parents in Tangled (though Rapunzel was separated from them most of her life); Aurora’s parents in Sleeping Beauty (same situation as Tangled); Prince Naveen’s parents in The Princess and the Frog; Mr. and Mrs. Darling from Peter Pan; King Fergus and Queen Elinor of Brave; and Fa Zhou and Fa Li of Mulan. This is not a complete list, but you get the idea. Compared to how many Disney movies have parents who are either single or deceased, the scale is remarkably unbalanced.

While this strategy may be handy in removing unneeded characters from the plot and giving some depth to the protagonists, the reasoning must go deeper.

Children are raised with stories of brave knights and dastardly villains, rescuing the princess or saving the village. In tales like those from Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, kings or parents in general usually play a significant role in the story. But as fairytales have evolved, the role of the parent seems to have diminished to that of a prop in the background. No longer are fathers the voice of wisdom and reason. Mothers are so rarely ideal role models (take Mother Gothel from Tangled for example). While many other Disney themes are wonderfully imaginative and otherwise agreeable, their regard for parents has dwindled to something nearly nonexistent.

My dad works as a flight medic. One day he came home and was telling us about his interesting patients. He said a middle-aged man was moving a very heavy dresser in his bedroom and the dresser somehow fell on top of him. The drawers and knobs pinned his limbs in place, and the only things not being crushed by the very sturdy piece of furniture were the man’s head and one of his arms. His Mac computer happened to be sitting on the desk with the power cord running down the side. The man had gotten hold of the power cord and very carefully tugged the computer off the desk so he could type an e-mail to his mother telling her that he was trapped under a dresser and couldn’t reach the phone to dial 9-1-1. It was the man’s mother who had called for help for her son, but not until she read the e-mail… two days later. The medics stormed the man’s house and strategically removed the dresser while keeping pressure on certain body parts so the blood wouldn’t rush to his heart and give him a heart attack. The man was fine after a lot of medical treatment, but as my dad was relating this story to us at the dinner table, it struck us that the man would still be under that dresser if he hadn’t e-mailed his mother. And it made me realize that no matter how old you are or where you settle down, you will always need your parents.

I don’t think this theme is expressed enough in Disney films. The value of parents throughout our lives is not something that can be measured in dollars or pounds. And I don’t mean calling them when you need a recipe or you’re trapped under a dresser. My parents are people I want to be more like. People that others can depend on and look to for encouragement. I hope someday to have gained my father’s wisdom and my mother’s compassion. I hope one day I can understand what it means to be a good parent.

And while I still love Disney films and am all about strong female characters, it would be refreshing to see a more family-oriented tale from my favorite storytellers.