History Main / Disneyfication

* ''{{Asterix}}'' does this for TheRomanRepublic and the Roman conquest of Western Europe. Plenty of PoliticallyCorrectHistory is used - for instance, the historical Gauls were big fans of human sacrifices and killed enemies often in highly disturbing ways to serve as a deterrent, but the Gauls in the comic are big-hearted, childish party animals who love a good, friendly brawl and to poke fun at authority, and NoOneCanDie is in full effect. Slaves in the comic are usually shown in such a way that the horror of being literally owned by another human being is nullified; the gladiators in one story all decide they prefer playing parlour games to fighting; the pirates, while not quite ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything, are way too incompetent to actually get any pillaging done; and the complicated politico-sexual mess between Cleopatra, Caesar and Mark Anthony is completely glossed over in favour of making them a happy (if prone to bickering) husband and wife, with Cleo being something of a softening influence on him. Brutus, one of Caesar's eventual murderers in RealLife, is portrayed as ObviouslyEvil and just there for DramaticIrony HorribleJudgeOfCharacter jokes.

* The 1995 Hollywood Pictures film version of ''TheScarletLetter'' starring DemiMoore not only has [[spoiler: Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl riding off into the sunset, but also Dimmesdale is saved from hanging by a convenient tribe of Native Americans]]. Do filmmakers do this just to prank lazy students who didn't read the book?

* ''Dino Babies'' often adapted stories this way. For example, their adaptation of ''OliverTwist'' ended with Oliver finding his mother, while in the original story she was dead from the start.

* ''{{Wishbone}}'' does this as a matter of course, being a kids' show about reading literature. For example, in the ''{{Frankenstein}}'' episode, the Monster's request for a bride is replaced with a request to "make me a frieeeend!", the Monster is portrayed much more like the dumb brute from the movies than the highly intelligent creature from the book, and Victor (Wishbone) doesn't die.
** And then there's ''TheTimeMachine'' episode, wherein the Morlocks' only crime is being creepy, rather than [[spoiler: farming and eating the Eloi.]]

* ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. Besides the minor HijackedByJesus elements, we also have the fact that the only precaution to protect the princess in the original was the outlawing of spinning wheels; the princess slept for one-hundred years, as opposed to just until PrinceCharming returned home; speaking of the Prince, he wasn't introduced until ''after'' those one-hundred years had passed; and there's also that {{egregious}} case of DudeShesLikeInAComa, too, which ended up with a pregnant princess... And she also didn't wake up until one of her babies, more by pure, rotten luck, accidentally sucked out a cursed splinter from her finger... And then there's the version where it wasn't the Prince, but A BLOODY OGRE who did all of the above mentioned to her, and then planned on eating her AND the kids.

** The film also toned down a lot of the original anti-Catholic themes, to try to stave off complaints from religious viewers. It didn't work.

* ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. The original script was actually closer to the original fairy tale than the final film, but as the film was made during TheGreatDepression, the animators could not afford to make the film as long as the source material demanded (such as having the witch try multiple times to kill Snow White, and the opening with Snow White's mother.)

[[TropesAreTools This isn't always a bad thing, though.]] Done properly (i.e. not [[TastesLikeDiabetes too cute]] or dumbed-down), the Disneyfied property can be just as entertaining as the original or even better (possibly more so if you're not a fan of {{Downer Ending}}s, or if they've improved boring parts and given the characters personality, or fixed a PlotHole). The actual tales themselves are often too short to adapt properly, and the expanded versions can be hit and misses. The reworked Disney versions lead to AdaptationDisplacement and SadlyMythtaken, with most people being unaware that the original fairy tales might have even contained [[IncrediblyLamePun grimmer]] aspects. Visual representations of the fairy tales are often strongly influenced by Disney--Literature/SnowWhite is seen [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs wearing a dress with primary colors and a red bow in her hair]], Literature/TheLittleMermaid with [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid red hair, a green tail, and a purple seashell bra]], and so on.

** Another Disney example is Walt Disney World's ''The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter'' becoming ''Stitch's Great Escape!'' The original attraction, the theme parks' darkest, had the trapped audience menaced in the dark by a deadly Xenomorph-like alien. Because it fell firmly into WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids territory, it was revamped into a prequel to ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' in which the audience need not fear for its life and the worst thing Stitch does is belch in one's face. Since it didn't completely mitigate the frightening conceit of being trapped in the dark, however, the attraction not only alienated (so to speak) the original's fanbase but let down families hoping for harmless fun.

** A variation happened with the attempts to revamp Epcot's Journey into Imagination ride. The musical salute to imagination was drenched in colorful whimsy -- ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld, a purple dragon named Figment, etc. In 1999, it was completely overhauled into a mundane-by-comparison non-musical tour through the "Imagination Institute" built primarily around optical illusions; EccentricMentor Dreamfinder was completely excised and Figment got only a cameo or two. Fans were ''not'' happy, and designers were allowed a second crack at it. The AuthorsSavingThrow was taking the basic premise of the revamp...and applying this trope to it in-story: The tour is ''supposed'' to be ordered and mundane, but Figment playfully disrupts it again and again to prove that imagination needs room to run wild. And there's ''a lot'' of singing (restoring the original version's theme song). While it will never replace the original in the hearts of Disney park die-hards, general consensus is that this version's a darn sight better than the first revamp.

* In-world example: In ''EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'', the legacy of the dread pirate Tiny [=LaFeet=] is Disneyfied by [[ExecutiveMeddling real estate kingpin Ozzy Mandrill]] to better appeal to local tourists. According to Ozzy's marketers, the actually quite mean Tiny [=LaFeet=] "always said 'please' and 'thank you', twice!"

* The first 4 seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' has some examples of how the adaptations from the ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' have softened. One example includes from the novel "Resource and Sagacity", where Oliver falls into a turntable thanks to the troublesome trucks and was given a stern talking to by The Fat Controller, Donald, and Douglas whom the latter two were angry that he had broken their turntable. In the television version "Oliver Owns Up", The Fat Controller gave Oliver advice on how to handle trucks and the other engines felt sorry for Oliver and hope that he comes back from the works to be mended.

A form of editing, known for often falling into AdaptationDecay, that renders a story "safe" for juvenile audiences (or the parents thereof) by removing undesirable plot elements or [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory unpleasant historical facts]], adding Broadway-style production numbers, and reworking whatever else is necessary for a LighterAndSofter HappilyEverAfter Ending. TalkingAnimal sidekicks tend to be tacked on somehow.

-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''

A form of editing, known for often falling into AdaptationDecay, that renders a story "safe" for juvenile audiences (or the parents thereof) by removing undesirable plot elements or unpleasant historical facts, adding Broadway-style production numbers, and reworking whatever else is necessary for a LighterAndSofter HappilyEverAfter Ending. TalkingAnimal sidekicks tend to be tacked on somehow.

* Just about any comic book adaptation that isn't specifically praised for being dark and edgy. There's a reason why so many people confuse comics books with cartoons, or assume superheroes [[AnimationAgeGhetto are for kids]] (and admitting to reading them to those who haven't may lead to awkwardness). Apparantly, that characters such as the {{Punisher}} and {{Wolverine}} regularly kill others, and characters like {{Batman}} and SpiderMan's entire premise is based around death means nothing to some people, because the cartoons are too childish to be taken seriously sometimes.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' series has some examples of how the adaptations from the ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' have softened. One example includes from the novel "Resource and Sagacity", where Oliver falls into a turntable thanks to the troublesome trucks and was given a stern talking to by The Fat Controller, Donald, and Douglas whom the latter two were angry that he had broken their turntable. In the television version "Oliver Owns Up", The Fat Controller gave Oliver advice on how to handle trucks and the other engines felt sorry for Oliver and hope that he comes back from the works to be mended.
** Just about all of the U.S. narrations of the episodes seem to be more lighter and lenient than the UK narrations. In the episode "The Sad Story Of Henry/Come Out, Henry", the UK version has The Fat Controller bricking Henry in a tunnel "for always and always and always", but in the U.S. version, The Fat Controller bricks Henry in a tunnel "until he's ready to come out". Also in the ending of said episode, the UK version has the narrator asking the audience if he agrees that Henry deserved his punishment while the U.S. version has the narrator asking the audience how can Henry overcome his fear of the rain.

[[TropesAreNotBad This isn't always a bad thing, though.]] Done properly (i.e. not [[TastesLikeDiabetes too cute]] or dumbed-down), the Disneyfied property can be just as entertaining as the original or even better (possibly more so if you're not a fan of {{Downer Ending}}s, or if they've improved boring parts and given the characters personality, or fixed a PlotHole). The actual tales themselves are often too short to adapt properly, and the expanded versions can be hit and misses. The reworked Disney versions lead to AdaptationDisplacement and SadlyMythtaken, with most people being unaware that the original fairy tales might have even contained [[IncrediblyLamePun grimmer]] aspects. Visual representations of the fairy tales are often strongly influenced by Disney--Literature/SnowWhite is seen [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs wearing a dress with primary colors and a red bow in her hair]], Literature/TheLittleMermaid with [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid red hair, a green tail, and a purple seashell bra]], and so on.

** Just about all of the U.S. narrations of the episodes seem to be more softer than the UK narrations. In the episode "The Sad Story Of Henry/Come Out, Henry", the UK version has The Fat Controller bricks Henry in a tunnel "for always and always and always", but in the U.S. version, The Fat Controller bricks Henry in a tunnel "until he's ready to come out". Also in the ending of said episode, the UK version has the narrator asking the audience if he agrees that Henry deserved his punishment while the U.S. version has the narrator asking the audience how can Henry overcome his fear of the rain.

** In a 1998 installment of ''SaturdayNightLive'''s animated "TV Funhouse" segment, there's a RealTrailerFakeMovie for a Disney film called "Titey" in which the Titanic is a singing, dancing ship and the story mangles history in countless ways - the ship swordfights a singing, dancing iceberg voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, and then "refuses to stay sunk" by being rescued by a gang of wise-cracking whales. (The final line of the skit is "See it, or your children will ''hate'' you!") The sad thing is, this skit predated the two above films -- and if ever became a real movie, it'd probably ''still'' manage to be better than them.

* A particularly egregious case occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI''. The king's advisor Kralahome is turned into the BigBad. Animal sidekicks are omnipresent, and they serve little actual purpose in the story. The slave girl Tuptim is given as a love interest to King Mongkut's eldest son instead of Mongkut himself to avoid the implications of a fifty-something man interested in a teenage girl. The King's multiple wives are omitted too. Bad comedy is put in the movie in exchange for the stuff taken out. And yet the film includes a rather stereotypical caricature in the form of the villain's sidekick. The estate of Rogers and Hammerstein was not pleased by the film, and as a result it no longer allows animated adaptations of its musicals.

* Dozerfleet Comics has a superhero interpretation of the Gray Champion, a character first mentioned by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Part of Gray's backstory is an ''extreme'' Disneyfication of ''TheScarletLetter'', in which Hester is given a magical golden necklace with a letter "A" -shaped locket with a ruby inside, instead of embroidering the letter on her clothing. The townsfolk, not believing the Marlquaan exists or that the A-shape helps control the ruby's power, assume a value for the letter given Hester's situation. It actually collects [[NegativeSpaceWedgie the Marlquaan]], shoots it at Dimmesdale's A-shaped chest scar, and the [[MetaOrigin Marlquaan]] de-powers Chillingworth and defeats him. Her more likely plain Puritan looks are replaced with a sultry DisneyPrincess look that oozes sex out of every strain of hair, and her ''dress'' looks like [[AlvinAndTheChipmunks Alvin's shirt]]. Chillingworth's powers aren't just MindRape either...he [[AnIcePerson literally inflicts frostbite on his victims]] while [[EvilLaugh laughing]].
** And then the 21st-century villain calling himself Chillingworth is defeated by Gray and the black-haired single mom ''Hea Pang'' [[HistoryRepeats in a similar way]]. ([[SubvertedTrope Although]] Hea's lover was a teen boy named Kyle that died freeing Gray so that Gray could defeat Eqquibus.)

* "Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette" is a family friendly adaptation of ''Literature/LesMiserables'', removing almost all the violence, adult themes and angst.