History Main / Disneyfication

* ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'': In addition to changing its heroine from a quiet, thoughtful girl into Creator/ShirleyTemple's usual brassy, vivacious smart-aleck, the 1939 film softens the hardships Sara undergoes, changes the villain's weak and complicit sister into a heroic brother, and, while Sara's father is reported dead, [[spoiler:he's really suffering from a head injury and brain damage, including amnesia]]. There have been more faithful adaptations since, but even [[Film/ALittlePrincess1995 the 1995 Alfonso Cuaron version]] has her father survive.

* ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'': In addition to changing its heroine from a quiet, thoughtful girl into Creator/ShirleyTemple's usual brassy, vivacious smart-aleck, the 1939 film softens the hardships Sara undergoes, changes the villain's weak and complicit sister into a heroic brother, and, while Sara's father is reported dead, [[spoiler:he's really suffering from a head injury and brain damage, including amnesia]]. There have been more faithful adaptations since, but even the 1995 Creator/AlfonsoCuaron version has her father survive.

* Parodied in ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRfOsl0nSnc DISNEY STAR WARS]]" video, which poked fun at the fact that Disney now has ownership of the whole ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise. The video takes nearly everything from the original trilogy and turns it into a TastesLikeDiabetes comedy. Complete with musical numbers, recasts, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and Millennium Falcon being replaced by a]] ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking literal]]'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking giant falcon]]. A bit HilariousInHindsight when you consider that ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and ''Film/RogueOne'' actually inverted this trope (the latter especially).

[[Administrivia/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 (for example, 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 [[{{Pun}} grimmer]] aspects. Visual representations of the fairy tales are often strongly influenced by Disney --Literature/SnowWhite is seen [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs wearing a dress with primary colors and a red bow in her hair]], Literature/TheLittleMermaid with [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 red hair, a green tail, and a purple seashell bra]], and so on.

* In addition to changing its heroine from a quiet, thoughtful girl into Creator/ShirleyTemple's usual brassy, vivacious smart-aleck, the 1939 film of Frances Hodgson Burnett's book ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'' softens the hardships Sara undergoes, changes the villain's weak and complicit sister into a heroic brother, and, while Sara's father is reported dead, [[spoiler:he's really suffering from a head injury and brain damage, including amnesia]], all while ladling generous quantities of TastesLikeDiabetes over the entire story. There have been more faithful adaptations since, but even the 1995 Creator/AlfonsoCuaron version has her father survive.

** In ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'', Injun Joe's name is changed to the more [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad politically correct]] "Crazy Joe."

* ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets'' was the Disneyfied version of ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' by dint of some "interesting" (for a given value of "interesting") editing and the addition of the egregrious 7-Zark-7 and his cute not-quite-talking robot dog sidekick. Thank whatever powers-that-be, there were no musical numbers. The end result was an entirely different story.

* This actually happened to ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', of all characters, in TheMovie, where they ditched most of the slapstick, [[SuddenlySpeaking started to talk and sing]], became best friends, and helped a little girl reunite with her father. Needless to say it was not very will liked.

* ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard'' discusses this, with the tales of a {{bowdlerize}}r who'd rewritten the primal and admittedly occasionally horrific Tales to be filled with obnoxious {{Glurge}}. Dumbledore sourly comments that hearing her versions of the Tales causes children to be filled with "an intense urge to vomit". However, the book takes a sympathetic stance on her, attributing her attitude as being caused by sneaking downstairs as a child and hearing her sisters talk about what she claims was the most bloody of the Tales, but what is implied to be details of a sexual affair. And apparently "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" was just too gruesome for her to find a way to give it this treatment.

* The happy ending of ''Film/TheWitches1990'' is pretty Disneyfied. Which is a bit odd, as [[Literature/TheWitches the original novel]] doesn't have anything near a DownerEnding... it just isn't a perfect HappilyEverAfter, but much more [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] in flavor.

** Moses was [[ThePatriarch 80 years old and father of two sons]] when he came to see the Pharaoh. He also was "[[SpeechImpediment slow of tongue]]" and so Aaron did the talking. Moses as a younger man is probably more due to the influence of ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' than this trope.

[[caption-width-right:350:There is also singing, per the norm.[[note]]Despite this, ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Hunchback]]'' [[DarkerAndEdgier is still one of the darker Disney films.]][[/note]]]]

* Inverted by the stage musical of ''Theatre/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', which utilizes the music of [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the Disney movie]], but retains the dark storyline of [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the novel]], including its DownerEnding.

** Socrates drinking hemlock is portrayed as Fallbot, who is portrayed by Fallbot, accidentally stumbling upon a cup of it and saying "I shouldn't have touched that!" [[RunningGag before falling apart.]] In reality, Socrates was charged with the crime of corrupting the youth and was given the choice of either death by drinking hemlock or being exiled. He chose the former because he refused to be away from his home of Athens.

** Lampshaded in "Throw Grampa From the Lane" regarding the Disneyfication of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''.

* The 2003 Spanish animation ''WesternAnimation/ElCid: La Leyenda'' tells the story of real-life national hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. Though it lacks elements such as magic and musical numbers, this is an historical adaptation that takes several liberties to make it lighter and softer, such as toned-down violence, the lead being less morally ambiguous and a couple of animal sidekicks, all to make it more palatable for families.

* The first four seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' have some examples of how the adaptations from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' become less dark and more lenient:

** The episodes adapting ''More About Thomas The Tank Engine'' cut down Thomas and Percy's feud to just the first episode (due to not adapting the stories in order and the final story "Drip Tank" being omitted). In the original version of "Thomas, Percy and the Coal", Thomas laughed at Percy's mishap with the coal, [[HereWeGoAgain leading Percy to swear revenge.]] In the TV episode, Thomas decides to call it even and they make peace in the shed later.

* Most of Creator/GoNagai's classics were originally aimed for teens and adults. TV adaptions for kids during 1970s-1980s softened the materials significantly. A notable example is ''Manga/{{Devilman}}''. Even though the show is still a horror genre, it's nowhere as brutal as the original.

* The first four seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' have some examples of how the adaptations from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' become less dark and more lenient:

* WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole:

* TheFilmOfTheBook ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'':

* A good majority of cartoons based on [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel]] and [[Franchise/DCUniverse DC comics]] tend to be aimed at children, and lighten up some of the more adult elements found in their source material, such as sex, violence, drug use, and murder. For example, the Joker's gas kills people and leaves them with a grotesque rictus grin in the comics, while most cartoons keep the smiling aspect, but with his victims giggling uncontrollably instead of outright dead. Your Mileage May vary on [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools which one's creepier]]. Another, better example is the Green Goblin [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries tossing Mary-Jane off a bridge into an inter-dimensional portal]], instead of [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied tossing Gwen Stacy off a bridge to her death]].

* ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics'' averts this trope for the most part, and sometimes even inverts it (a few episodes, such as "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Iron Stove", are actually ''darker'' than their sources). A few straight examples exist in "Cinderella" (where the stepsisters don't cut up their feet) and "Bearskin" (where the two older sisters don't kill themselves).

** In one myth Freyja sold her body to receive the Brisinga-necklace, but in the comics she just gave up a small part of her blood. In the case of Freyja, Odin (and the reader) are led to believe for most of the story that she did, indeed, sleep her way to getting the necklace. Odin (who, true to the myths, is often a {{Jerkass}}) gets Loki to steal it for him, intent on asking the same price for it as she originally paid if she wants it back. He wasn't expecting her to cut her finger and give him a few drops of her blood.
** The book dealing with Baldur's death takes this trope even further. Loki kills Baldur purely by accident (not on purpose, like in the original myth), and he spends much of the story trying to ''avoid'' committing the prophesized murder, thereby setting up the very circumstances that lead to it. Granted, Baldur still dies, but when he comes to Helheim (the realm of the dead), his cheerful disposition makes the goddess Hel so happy that the dark and miserable Helheim spontaneously turns into a lush, green pasture! Since the myths are not entirely clear on Loki's involvement in the incident, with several sources blaming Hod, and claiming Loki's only involvement was refusing to shed the tear needed to secure his release from Helheim, it works. Only a few relatively modern sources (mainly Snorlsson's ''Prose Edda'') blame Loki.
** The final album in the series, which deals with Ragnarokk ''also'' manages to play this trope, even if it deals with the prophesied end of the world. It does so partly by playing up the oft-forgotten "rebirth" part of the myth, and partly by treating the "end of the world" as not the literal end of the human world, but a sign that the Scandinavian lands were converted to Christianity. The famous scenes of Asgard burning, Odin being swallowed by the Fenris wolf and Thor falling in battle with the Midgard serpent still happen, and are treated very dramatically, though the end of the story reveals in roundabout ways that this probably wasn't their final end and that they would go on in some form even if they were no longer worshipped as gods. The biggest Disneyfication is in Loki's fate, though: In the original myths he is killed by Heimdall, but in the comic he skips out of their fight and escapes to the untouched Midgard with Tjalve and Roskva. He gets about half a page to gloat that he's the only god left before being interrupted by a pair of Christian monks who invite him down to the newly-built church and join him in the worship of the "Almighty Lord." Loki being [[EnsembleDarkHorse a very popular character]] thanks to his JerkassWoobie characterization, no readers complained about this.

-> ''Meeting up with Rhett, the pair sings a duet or so before wondering what to do. Rhett is still blockade running slaves, and offers to smuggle Scarlett out along with Big Sam, so that they can both settle down in peace. Scarlett, after three animated moments of agonising soul searching, decides to refuse. Her place is with her people, she tells him. The Yankees have reached Atlanta, and though the South's defeat seems imminent, Scarlett cannot betray her side, faulty and racist though they may appear to be even after all of Disney's modifications.''

* ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard'' discusses this, with the tales of a BluenoseBowdlerizer who'd rewritten the primal and admittedly occasionally horrific Tales to be filled with obnoxious {{Glurge}}. Dumbledore sourly comments that hearing her versions of the Tales causes children to be filled with "an intense urge to vomit". However, the book takes a sympathetic stance on her, attributing her attitude as being caused by sneaking downstairs as a child and hearing her sisters talk about what she claims was the most bloody of the Tales, but what is implied to be details of a sexual affair. And apparently "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" was just too gruesome for her to find a way to give it this treatment.

* ''Anime/LesMiserablesShojoCosette'' is a family friendly adaptation of ''Literature/LesMiserables'', removing almost all the violence, adult themes and angst. It still has it's dark moments, though.

** The final album in the series, which deals with Ragnarokk ''also'' manages to play this trope, even if it deals with the prophesied end of the world. It does so partly by playing up the oft-forgotten "rebirth" part of the myth, and partly by treating the "end of the world" as not the literal end of the human world, but a sign that the Scandinavian lands were converted to Christianity. The famous scenes of Asgard burning, Odin being swallowed by the Fenris wolf and Thor falling in battle with the Midgard serpent still happen, and are treated very dramatically, though the end of the story reveals in roundabout ways that this probably wasn't their final end and that they would go on in some form even if they were no longer worshipped as gods. The biggest Disneyfication is in Loki's fate, though: In the original myths he is killed by Heimdall, but in the comic he skips out of their fight and escapes to the untouched Midgard with Tjalve and Roskva. He gets about half a page to gloat that he's the only god left before being interrupted by a pair of Christian monks who invite him down to the newly-built church and join him in the worship of the "Almighty Lord." Loki being [[EnsembleDarkhorse a very popular character]] thanks to his JerkassWoobie characterization, no readers complained about this.

* The ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' fic [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/20974 GWTW: The Animated Film]] parodies this.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Camelot}}'' removed the sexual undertones of [[Myth/KingArthur the original myths]] to make the story kid-friendly. It still shows the adulterous affair between Guinivere and Lancelot, but anything explicit is not shown, not even a kiss.

* The Creator/WarnerBros animated feature ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'', supposedly based on Vera Chapman's novella ''The King's Damosel'', itself a feminist retelling of the [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian]] tale of Linette and Gareth. Similarities between the book and the film are, in total, that the lead character is an ActionGirl with a falcon, she's accompanied by a blind man, and it's set in Arthurian England. It was decided to [[AnimatedMusical add songs]] [[FollowTheLeader to compete with]] Creator/{{Disney}}, [[AdaptationNameChange change all the lead characters' names]], add ''three'' {{Non Human Sidekick}}s, [[ClicheStorm add more Disney cliches]] to make the film more of a Disney-esque musical, and to top it all off, dump the BittersweetEnding in favor of "Kayley" living HappilyEverAfter with "Garrett" (an amalgamation of Lucius [the blind man] and Gareth).

** ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' alters history so that (almost) everyone survives, including bad guys who would be considered AcceptableTargets, and also shoehorns some really bad singing and dancing in. It's a ripoff of a bunch of more famous movies, such as like James Cameron's ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', with comic scenes practically lifted wholesale from Disney movies.

** The movie greatly tones down the violence and darker elements from the [[Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole books]], including removing the "fun" fact that Diggers brother was killed and [[ImAHumanitarian eaten]] by the St. Aggie's owls. As well as depicting Soren's parents as alive and well rather than being murdered offscreen by [[spoiler: Kludd]].

** Mostly averted with Myth/{{Faust}}. They leave out Gretchen's pregnancy, but they retain how she ''' [[KilledOffForReal dies]], [[DyingAlone alone]] [[DrivenToMadness and completely insane]] because Faust (Wishbone) [[TearJerker left her when she needed him the most]]'''. You have to admit, that [[{{Double Entendre}} took serious balls]]. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And it was awesome]].

* Stagings of the Theatre/SwanLake ballet are divided on the happy ending vs the traditional: some have the lovers die (or parted forever as Odette is condemned to remain a swan), while others have them live happily ever after. Research suggests that the happy ever after one might be the originally intended ending of the ballet... which would push it in the [[{{Grimmification}} opposite trope]].

* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'': The original Creator/LFrankBaum books contain a surprising amount of casual and sometimes decidedly un-PC violence: in the first one alone — besides the wholesale witchicide — the Scarecrow twists the necks of crows sent to attack them, the Tin Woodsman chops the heads off vicious wolves, and the Cowardly Lion swats the head off a giant spider with his paw. And, of course, the Tin Woodsman became tin by gradually having all his bits cut off and replaced — up to and including his head. Additionally in the book Dorothy intentionally throws the bucket of water on the Wicked Witch after the Witch steals one of the Silver Shoes (she doesn't know it'll make her melt of course). The film changes this to Dorothy trying to put out a fire on the Scarecrow's arms and the water accidentally splashing on the Witch.

** The setting's status as a FantasyConflictCounterpart of world war II is also dropped.

** Of "Literature/HanselAndGretel": The title characters go and nibble on the witch's house. The witch comes out and yells at them for ruining their roof. After a brief break for literary education from Our Heroes, Hansel and Gretel apologize to the witch; she accepts their apology and delivers the moral, then ''gives them cookies shaped like houses''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Darkstalkers}}'' cartoon. While originally there was a lot of moral ambiguity, with the monster hunter wanting to kill nice monsters and even the main heroine not giving a rat's ass about being queen, the cartoon had BlackAndWhiteMorality and was way less violent. For example, Demitri's teeth are just two fangs instead of a clusterfuck of sharp teeth. They also tone down all the sexual elements, turning Morgan from a sexy [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld teenage-looking]] [[HornyDevils succubus]] heroine to an older-looking villainess in a much less appealing outfit.

* The first four seasons of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' have some examples of how the adaptations from the ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' become less dark and more lenient:

** Many episodes that ended with the starring engine suffering a HumiliationConga or left in disgrace were altered or lengthened for a more upbeat ending. "A Scarf For Percy" for example adapts "Percy and the Trousers" loyally, but adds a longer epilogue in which Percy is cleaned and makes up with Henry. "Buzz Buzz" also adds a side plot with the Reverend raising bees for honey, and James' situation inadvertently helping him, leading him to get praised at the end of the story.

** Parodied in "The Daughter Also Rise", where Grampa tells Lisa the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, only for Lisa to discover a Disney-like version with the tragic ending removed and a rapping parrot thrown in.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' does this for UsefulNotes/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 NobodyCanDie is in full effect (save for a single HoistByHisOwnPetard death in a particularly dark story). Slaves in the comic are usually shown in such a way that the horror of being literally owned by another human being is [[BlackComedy 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 Antony is completely glossed over in favour of excising Mark Antony and making Caesar and Cleopatra 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.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}''. Goodbye incestuous lovechild of Arthur and Morgan le Fay, hello adorable orphan druid boy.
** Mordred does get considerably less adorable as the series goes on. He was a CreepyChild when he was first introduced, and he just keeps getting creepier. At one point he magically picks two spears and stabs one soldier with each of them. Then he smiles. All this before the watershed.
** Worth noting that the incestuous love child was in itself a RetCon. In older stories Mordred is not related to Arthur (though nor does he have magical powers), and Morgan le Fay is a good Fae (hence the title), one of the three who take Arthur to Avalon.
*** Even after Mordred was made a relative of Arthur, he was originally just portrayed as his nephew, the child of his sister Morgause and her husband, Lot, rather than his nephew and son.

* Creator/{{Activision}}'s ''{{VideoGame/Oink}}'', a video game adaptation of the Literature/ThreeLittlePigs, avoids the FamilyUnfriendlyDeath of the pigs when the Big Bad Wolf captures them by simply having the wolf chase the pigs off the screen.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/WhatsNewWithPhilAndDixie'' on possible ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering: TheMovie'': "of course, [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205810/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20080921 there]] ''are'' elements of game play that'll be changed onscreen to make the characters more sympathetic".
-->'''sidekick''': Look, Lars, Orcish Chiropractors!

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* It's quite common to parody the censorship practices of Creator/FourKidsEntertainment by making "If 4Kids got X" videos, with the dialog badly dubbed over, anything non-American or not "kid-friendly" being poorly censored, and the storylines {{bowdleri|se}}zed into unrecognizability. One of the better-known ones is a GagDub of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', called "Casey and Friends". Another infamous example is ''JustForFun/MagicalMolly'', which gives this treatment to ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', but does it [[ShallowParody so ineptly]] that if 4Kids somehow ''had'' gotten the localization rights, it would probably have been ''better''.
* Parodied in ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRfOsl0nSnc DISNEY STAR WARS]]" video, which poked fun at the fact that Disney now has ownership of the whole ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise. The video takes nearly everything from the original trilogy and turns it into a TastesLikeDiabetes comedy. Complete with musical numbers, recasts, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and Millennium Falcon being replaced by a]] ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking literal]]'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking giant falcon]]. A bit HilariousInHindsight when you consider that ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and ''Film/RogueOne'' actually inverted this trope (the latter especially).
[[/folder]]

* The ''Manga/{{Warrior Cats|Manga}}'' manga waters down a dark children's series notorious for its FamilyUnfriendlyDeath and other mature themes. The manga adaptations have a cute art-style that contrasts with the realistic cats on the books covers. There's barely any violence, the plots focus on romance and non-actiony elements, and there's BloodlessCarnage galore. This is enforced by [=TokyoPOP=]. They wouldn't even allow a shot of a dead rabbit without censoring it to be less graphic.

** Mostly averted with Myth/{{Faust}}. They leave out Gretchen's pregnancy, but they retain how she ''' [[KilledOffForReal dies]], [[DyingAlone alone]] [[DrivenToMadness and completely insane]] because Faust (Wishbone) [[TearJerker left her when she needed him the most]]'''. You have to admit, that [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar took serious balls]]. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And it was awesome]].

* ''The Adventures of WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' replaces the guns with bazookas and generally has the characters involved in decidedly not detective-related plots. Max also has a much friendlier voice and personality than he did in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad''. However, the humor and general atmosphere is still there, GettingCrapPastTheRadar constantly.