Why Are Moms Almost Always Dead in Disney Movies?

The real story involves Walt Disney’s own mom and it’s heartbreaking.

I’m not sure I would have even picked up on it had a friend not pointed it out, but have you ever noticed that moms are largely absent from Disney films? At first, I figured this was a coincidence. Perhaps even a necessary plot device used to shove characters into dangerous situations where they are forced to change or grow. Having a mom around might hinder that kind of adventure, after all. But it got me wondering, was there a particular reason for this?

Not all Disney movies are missing a mother, though. Quite a number of them feature a maternal figure of some kind. For example, there are motherly figures that make brief appearances in Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Hercules, Mulan, Tangled, Zootopia, and Moana, to name a few. However, many other Disney movies lack a motherly figure that some have wondered if perhaps Disney himself was behind the narrative choices to disclude moms.

Cartoon logic might be on explanation.

In 2014, Glamour Magazine published a curious interview with Don Hahn. If you’ve never heard of Hahn, that’s likely because the masterminds behinds the movies seldom make headlines — they’re too busy producing great stories. Hahn is the Oscar-winning producer behind Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. He also served as Maleficent’s executive producer, the 2014 box office hit, which starred…