History AdaptationDisplacement / Disney

* How many of people know that ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was based very loosely on a 2002 children's novel called ''The Frog Princess'' (itself a variant on ''LiteratureTheFrogPrince'', a story collected by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm)? The novel only has a few similarities with the movie, such as the heroine turning into a frog as well after kissing the prince and the main characters going into a journey throught the swamp in search of a way to reverse the spell that turned them into frogs. The New Orleans setting was something made up for movie, as the novel takes place in the Middles Ages, and voodoo as a plot device was also made up, meaning that Mama Odie and Dr. Facilier did not exist in the novel. Another major difference between book and movie is that the protagonist is a princess and a young witch in training, while in movie she's a waitress dreaming with opening a restaurant, [[spoiler:althought in the end she becomes a princess and the owner of her own restaurant]]. The novel has multiple sequels, too, collectively known as ''Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess''.

** One of the most well-known segments of the movie features WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse as [[SorcerersApprenticePlot Sorcerer's Apprentice]]. Few would know that this short is based on ''Der Zauberlehrling''[[note]]German for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"[[/note]], a German poem by Creator/JohannWolfgangGoethe.

* The Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' displaced the original everywhere outside of Italy.

* ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' and its [[EvilIsCool memorably cool]] villain Maleficent have become so iconic that few people know that in the original fairy tale, the fairy who cursed the baby princess [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never appears again after her introduction]]. (Well, in some version she's also the old woman who gets Beauty to prick her finger, but there's certainly no big ScaledUp battle.) Even other ''Sleeping Beauty'' adaptations that differ greatly from the Disney film otherwise will ''always'' give the fairy who curses the princess an expanded role and personality similar to Maleficent's (ex: Robin [=McKinley=]'s ''Spindle's End''). Additionally, the good fairy who softened the evil fairy's curse in the original tale didn't do so by making it breakable by TrueLovesKiss but by changing it into a century-long sleep and the prince who eventually wakes up the princess doesn't do so via any thorn-cutting or dragon-slaying heroics but by [[ContrivedCoincidence just happening to be near the wall of thorns at the exact time the kingdom's century of sleep ended]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' was also based on a book series, ''Basil of Baker Street'', which was obviously inspired by Literature/SherlockHolmes -- many viewers just assume the film itself is a parody of the Holmes stories and aren't aware of its source books.

* How many of people know that ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was based very loosely on a 2002 children's novel called ''The Frog Princess'' (itself a variant on ''The Frog Prince'', a story collected by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm)? The novel only has a few similarities with the movie, such as the heroine turning into a frog as well after kissing the prince and the main characters going into a journey throught the swamp in search of a way to reverse the spell that turned them into frogs. The New Orleans setting was something made up for movie, as the novel takes place in the Middles Ages, and voodoo as a plot device was also made up, meaning that Mama Odie and Dr. Facilier did not exist in the novel. Another major difference between book and movie is that the protagonist is a princess and a young witch in training, while in movie she's a waitress dreaming with opening a restaurant, [[spoiler:althought in the end she becomes a princess and the owner of her own restaurant]]. The novel has multiple sequels, too, collectively known as ''Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess''.

* The story of Rapunzel was pretty well known before ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', but the film's popularity seems to be eclipsing the story. Many people still know that the film was based on a fairy tale and that Rapunzel doesn't spend nearly as much page time out of the tower in it as she does on screen, but some may be surprised to hear that the original Rapunzel ''wasn't'' a princess at birth or that her parents willingly gave her up to the witch as part of a trade.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' has easily eclipsed the Marvel comic it was based on, a small title set in the main Franchise/MarvelUniverse. It replaced several of the existing Marvel characters with new ones, altered other characters just made for the comic, and polished the whole thing into something new. Not helping is that [[ExiledFromContinuity Marvel has barred the characters from appearing again in the Marvel Universe]] and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes have no plans to ever reprint the original comics.]]
* Disney's animated short version of ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeLittlePigs'' is another example that's completely taken over the original fairy tale. The pigs all flee to the third pig's house, while in the original the Big Bad Wolf just eats the two of them.

* How many of people know that ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' was based very loosely on a 2002 children's novel called ''The Frog Princess'' (itself a variant on ''The Frog Prince'', a story collected by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm)? The novel only has a few similarities with the movie, such as the heroine turning into a frog as well after kissing the prince and the main characters going into a journey throught the swamp in search of a way to reverse the spell that turned them into frogs. The New Orleans setting was something made up for movie, as the novel takes place in the Middles Ages, and voodoo as a plot device was also made up, meaning that Mama Odie and Dr. Facilier did not exist in the novel. Another major difference between book and movie is that the protagonist is a princess and a young witch in training, while in movie she's a waitress dreaming with opening a restaurant, [[spoiler:althought in the end she becomes a princess and the owner of her own restaurant]]. The novel has multiple sequels, too, collectively known as ''Tales of the Frog Princess''.

* There are those who think that Disney created ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' from whole cloth in 1953, with their still-classic animated motion picture. People (usually children, it must be said), are surprised to hear it was [[Literature/PeterPan a book]] back in 1911... based off [[Theatre/PeterPan1904 the original stage play]] that debuted in 1904... while the character himself debuted in [[Literature/PeterPanInKensingtonGardens a short story]] in 1902. There is a rather larger section of the populace who believe that [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope Disney currently own the copyright]] on Peter Pan. They don't, that belongs to Great Ormond Street Hospital in perpetuity; [[note]]in the U.K.; it's in the public domain in the U.S.[[/note]] they get royalties on all derivative works, but cannot stop anybody from making something they don't want made (hence Disney rolling out its new ''Tinker Bell'' movies).

* ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'': ''Bongo'' is already obscure by Disney standards, but pretty much no one knows about the original 1930 short story penned by Creator/SinclairLewis.

* The Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' displaced the original everywhere outside of Italy, where''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi remains obscure.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' is based on two ''[[{{Understatement}} extremely]]'' obscure children's stories, so little-known that neither they nor their authors (Tom [=McGowan=] and Tom Rowe) have Wikipedia pages.

* Many people know well the Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', but how about the original ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi? And did you know that in that book, the Cricket character (whom the Disney film's Jiminy Cricket was based on) was ''killed off'' early on -- by '''Pinocchio himself'''? (Although [[UnexplainedRecovery he does turn up alive again toward the end]].) Of course, this is averted in its native Italy, where the book is still pretty well-known and read (and depending on whom you ask, people think of the Collodi fairy tale when you mention "Pinocchio" in Italy, just as much as the Disney movie). The Bavarian/Tyrolian Lederhosen pants and hat Disney gave him are not Italian also, he looked dressed like a CommediaDellArte Pierrot (i.e. more Italian) in the Enrico Mazzanti illustrations of the first editions of the original novel.

* ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'': Averted for the ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'' segment, as the non-Disney version of the ''Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk'' fairy tale is still pretty ubiquitous in American childhoods. Played straight for ''Bongo'' - it's already obscure by Disney standards, but pretty much no one knows about the original 1930 short story penned by Creator/SinclairLewis.

** Averted in Russia, where Disney's version was outshined by ''Animation/VinniPukh'' and the books are still well-known. The books were also well-known enough in Scandinavia, Hungary and Poland for Disney's translators to [[DubNameChange get the correct character names]].

!![[AvertedTrope Aversions:]]
This happens in some cases, mainly when the Disney version flops, or at least doesn't make as big an impact for some reason, and the source material is already AdaptationOverdosed.
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* When people think of Myth/RobinHood, they usually don't picture(or if people are non-visualizers they would think of robin hood without picturing the character) him as a fox, rather looking like either [[Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood Errol Flynn]] or [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves Kevin Costner]]. However, ''WesternAnimation/{{Robin Hood|1973}}'' remains a CultClassic, especially for the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom who view it as a [[GatewaySeries gateway]]. However, unlike some of the other aversions, the Disney version stays generally true to most of the popular myths, making it difficult to distinguish what people who've seen the film remember from Disney and what they don't.
* While ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'' is more well-known than the individual book, when most people picture or most people think of Myth/{{Merlin}} and Myth/KingArthur, they won't necessarily go to the Disney version by default. Though this is more due to Merlin being a fairly generic WizardClassic (understandable, as the legendary Merlin was the TropeCodifier) and Arthur, or Wart, is still a young boy (squire) who hasn't become king yet, hasn't fought battle or sought the Holy Grail etc. Merlin's owl [[TalkingAnimal Archimedes]] is arguably more individually memorable, even getting a ShoutOut in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', though this could be because he was in the book too.
* WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} is well known as a figure of Myth/GreekMythology, and most people are familiar with aspects of his story not (strictly) in the Disney movie, such as his twelve labors and his being half-god, half-human instead of full-god turned human. The Disney version is in many ways a SpiritualAdaptation of ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' starring Perseus, who was very clearly the son of Zeus and a mortal woman like the classical Herakles/Hercules, so parents who grew up on the older movie could easily pick up on the differences (plus it was remade years later as well). And the series ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' was fairly popular in TheNineties before the film came out.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', though well received is also an exception because people are just as likely to picture Franchise/{{Tarzan}} in live-action thanks to the many older films, chiefly those starring Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starting in [[Film/TarzanTheApeMan 1932]]. Though this is arguable past a certain age. When Creator/WarnerBrothers put out ''Film/TheLegendOfTarzan'' which was fairly [[TruerToTheText closer to]] [[Literature/{{Tarzan}} the original books]], a surprising number of online comments were mainly about the lack of Music/PhilCollins, as well as shock over Tarzan's father being brutally killed by the apes instead of a leopard which only started with Disney, although previous films that showed the origin story didn't show the apes killing him either. More understandable were surprised comments about Tarzan's real surname being "Clayton" like the Disney film's villain, since past Tarzan movies tended to just call him "Lord Greystoke" which is [[BlueBlood his title]], and Jane being American instead of British like in older films including Disney's (the similarly TruerToTheText live-action film ''Film/GreystokeTheLegendOfTarzanLordOfTheApes'' with Creator/ChristopherLambert from the 1980s retained the Clayton name, Jane being American, and the apes killing his father).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' is a unique example among aversions, as ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' doesn't have the same mythic quality built around it as the others, likely owing to being not as critically or commercially well received (although the book on which the film was based was nominated for a Newbery Medal, with the last book in the series even ''winning'' said award). Disney purchased the rights to adapt the saga in 2016 (possibly in live-action), but has done nothing with them since.
** Princess Eilonwy has even been ignored by the Disney Princess brand, though this could be for licensing issues.
** That said, it's not uncommon to see ''The Black Cauldron'' lumped in as one of Disney's "original ideas" by fans unaware of its source material, or for its source to be misattributed as "Celtic fairy tales".
* The original treatment for ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' (then know as ''Kingdom of the Sun'') was based on Creator/MarkTwain's novel ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'', before the original concept was ditched and it was turned into a meta-parody of itself, full of LampshadeHanging, instead. It also borrowed its title from ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes''.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' displaced its source material for a lot of kids in the '80s and '90s, who were surprised to learn it was ([[InNameOnly ostensibly]]) based on the Haribo candy and not the other way around. These days, however, the candy remains popular while the cartoon brand has mostly faded into the background.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' displaced the candy it was ([[InNameOnly ostensibly]]) based on for a lot of kids in the '80s and '90s, who were surprised to learn it was based on the Haribo candy and not the other way around. These days, however, the candy remains popular while the cartoon brand has mostly faded into the background.

* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' is something of a two-fer. It began as ​"Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog", a one-page farce by Ward Greene; Walt Disney read it in ''Cosmopolitan'', bought the rights, and hammered out movie plans - then actually had Greene write a novelization of the movie's ([[AdaptationExpansion exponentially longer]]) plot, which was published ''two years'' before the film was actually released. This was so people would be familiar with the story, since most people associated the Disney studio with adapting famous tales, and it was thought that people wouldn't watch the film if they didn't know there was a book. How many of you today knew there was a book?

When Creator/{{Disney}} adapts a story or fairy tale, their version tends to [[AdaptationDisplacement become the best known]] and [[LostInImitation may influence future adaptations]].

* When people think of Myth/RobinHood, they usually don't picture him as a fox, rather looking like either [[Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood Errol Flynn]] or [[Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves Kevin Costner]]. However, ''WesternAnimation/{{Robin Hood|1973}}'' remains a CultClassic, especially for the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom who view it as a [[GatewaySeries gateway]]. However, unlike some of the other aversions, the Disney version stays generally true to most of the popular myths, making it difficult to distinguish what people who've seen the film remember from Disney and what they don't.
* While ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'' is more well-known than the individual book, when most people picture Myth/{{Merlin}} and Myth/KingArthur, they won't necessarily go to the Disney version by default. Though this is more due to Merlin being a fairly generic WizardClassic (understandable, as the legendary Merlin was the TropeCodifier) and Arthur, or Wart, is still a young boy (squire) who hasn't become king yet, hasn't fought battle or sought the Holy Grail etc. Merlin's owl [[TalkingAnimal Archimedes]] is arguably more individually memorable, even getting a ShoutOut in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', though this could be because he was in the book too.

* Many people know well the Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', but how about the original ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi? And did you know that in that book, the Cricket character (whom the Disney film's Jiminy Cricket was based on) was ''killed off'' early on -- by '''Pinocchio himself'''? Of course, this is averted in its native Italy, where the book is still pretty well-known and read (and depending on whom you ask, people think of the Collodi fairy tale when you mention "Pinocchio" in Italy, just as much as the Disney movie). The Bavarian/Tyrolian Lederhosen pants and hat Disney gave him are not Italian also, he looked dressed like a CommediaDellArte Pierrot (i.e. more Italian) in the Enrico Mazzanti illustrations of the first editions of the original novel.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' is very loosely based on [[Literature/TheFoxAndTheHound a much darker novel]] in which the title characters are written as being [[BlueAndOrangeMorality extremely inhuman in their thought processes]] to the point of not having anything resembling human morality, since they're animals. For some this is an AudienceAlienatingPremise that makes the title characters, let alone their [[HumansAreCthulhu perspective on the bizarre ways of humans]], come across as unsympathetic at best and EvilVersusEvil at worst. [[spoiler: The novel also has a DownerEnding in which [[EverybodyDiesEnding the two title characters are both dead and their world has been destroyed by advancing suburbia.]]]] None of this would be particularly suitable for a children's musical, so the story of the Disney film is much LighterAndSofter. It's telling that it still manages to be one of Disney's darker films. Not helping is that the original book has been [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes out of print for decades and is quite rare, and only recently got a rerelease as an ebook.]]