Top 10 Most Common Disney Movie Clichés

Many Disney movies have featured many overused cliches.
The Top Ten
Loss of Parents

Perhaps the oldest and most overused cliché dates back to when Walt Disney's mother died, resulting in almost every Disney movie having one or no parents or parents dying in the movie.

The exception is Hercules. His parents are gods, so they can't die and, therefore, don't die and are alive the entire movie.

Can we have a whole family in a movie like Inside Out did for once, Disney?

Inclusion of Musical Numbers

I love Disney movies with songs in them. It would be boring without them. Just don't watch The Black Cauldron - the movie is pointless, with no songs, just a waste of a movie and very disappointing.

It wouldn't be a Disney movie without characters breaking out into song for no reason.

Representation of Unrealistic Female Body Types

I have to point out that Snow White had a quite realistic body. However, her head was almost twice as big as would be proportional to the rest of her. There are some extreme cases such as Jasmine and Megara, but this has become less of an issue. It is not really the main problem when it comes to Disney.

Do you know how skinny Meg's waist is?

Trusting Unknown Characters

So many characters in Disney movies are too trusting when it comes to strangers, which is why they end up in the trouble they get into. For example, Snow White bites into the poisoned apple from the Queen disguised as an old woman despite warnings by the dwarfs against strangers. Pinocchio trusts Honest John not once but twice. Tarzan foolishly trusts Clayton and gets his ape family captured.

Come to the shed, child.

Disney Princess: Okay.

Experience of Love at First Sight

When Anna fell in love in Frozen, she thought true love was something at first sight. But then Elsa pointed out that she can't marry someone she just met. Elsa is wiser than Anna.

Dramatic Demise of Main Antagonist

I'm all for killing off villains, but Disney can just have them be hit with magic and have it take away their powers without killing them.

Disney really loves killing off their villains in the most horrific and violent ways possible.

Everyone Achieves a Happy Ending
Presence of Animal Sidekicks

Everyone has to have some sort of talking animal or pet that seems to be smarter than the main character in Disney movies.

Female Characters Requiring Rescue

This actually isn't as common as people say. For quite a while now, Disney has practiced equal opportunity rescuing. It's funny you cited The Little Mermaid because Ariel saved Eric twice in that before he returned the favor. I can also cite Pocahontas saving John Smith, Mulan saving Shang, and even Megara saving Hercules when she pushed him out of the way of that falling pillar.

I really hate when people complain about "female characters needing to be rescued," as if a woman can't be strong unless she's a physical god. The fact is, everyone needs help sometimes, whether they're a man or a woman, and complaining about who's doing the rescuing doesn't help anyone.

Derivation from Fairy Tales

Disney's Hercules is based on Greek mythology.

The Contenders
Alteration from Original Source Material

Changing the source material is a common practice in adaptation. It isn't specific to Disney. Practically every studio does it. For example, Laika's Coraline made changes from the book, DreamWorks' Shrek bears only a passing resemblance to its book, and Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant barely resembles the book it's based on. This is not uncommon, and it's not always detrimental.

However, the manner in which Disney does it could be something worth criticizing. Frankly, there are some stories that Disney should just avoid adapting. If they have to alter so much about Heracles or Tarzan of the Apes or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame to fit their mold, then perhaps they shouldn't adapt those stories at all. I think I might dislike Pocahontas the most because it was part of our history, and they treated it like just another fanciful fairy tale!

I wonder what's next. Will Disney transform A Song of Ice and Fire into a 90-minute animated musical? Or perhaps a Disneyfied Berserk, where Griffith actually does nothing wrong? Or, imagine Disney creating a movie about 9/11 where the planes are controlled by an evil wizard and nobody dies! Because if the real story is too scary for children, modifying it makes it all acceptable, apparently.

Conveyance of Moral Lessons by the End

I don't want to watch a movie and end up realizing that I was watching a lesson-in-your-face movie.

Ariel doesn't really learn anything. She just sort of wants to get something, and she gets it.

Portrayal of Stereotypical Princesses
Depiction of Inherently Good or Evil Species
Hero Exhibiting Moments of Doubt

Is this what they refer to as a Movie Quit Scene? I joke about it sometimes with friends by suggesting there should be some kind of drug that prevents these kinds of quit scenes from occurring.

Anthropomorphism of Inanimate Objects

Just because something exists doesn't mean it needs a face.

Do we need to give Tumblr any more material?

References to Disney’s Other Works

Disney went too far with this category when Timon tries to sing Be Our Guest in The Lion King remake.

Incorporation of Contemporary Social Themes

I'm all for empowering women, but don't do it like this, Disney.

Disney made Captain Marvel a Disney Princess. What?! And Elsa is the queen of SJWs.

Presence of Comic Relief Characters
Utilization of Animal Stereotypes
Association of Heroes with Light and Villains with Darkness
Representation of Heterosexual Main Protagonists
Introduction of Hero as an Infant
Conclusion with Characters Kissing
Presentation of Good vs. Evil Narrative
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