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迪士尼世界是個神奇的世界，但是這世界總是有個奇特的悲劇存在:故事裡總是沒有母親。

仔細想想，從小鹿斑比到冰雪奇緣，故事中的主角(protagonist)幾乎都是孤兒或是沒有媽媽的角色。但到底為什麼迪士尼總是要讓他故事裡的主角得不到母愛呢?

Nemo(海底總動員的尼莫)還是個魚卵就沒有媽媽了。

根據獅子王、美女與野獸的製作人Don Hahn說的，這其實跟華特迪士尼的個人經驗有關係。

不過Hahn也承認這些沒有媽媽的角色設定上也是有他的考量的:

「主要是因為這些電影都長達80-90分鐘，而迪士尼的電影通常都是與”成長”有關。電影通常在探討你人生中開始學會接受責任的日子。辛巴(獅子王)離家出走後還是必須要回去。簡言之，角色設定成失去父母總能凸顯他們的成長。小鹿斑比的媽媽被殺掉，所以他必須長大。貝兒(美女與野獸)只有爸爸，但她爸爸迷路了，也因為這樣貝兒必須要承擔風險。這就是故事的重心。」

Don Hahn認為華特迪士尼有真正他私人的原因所以把電影中角色都變成缺乏母親。但這理由卻是非常耐人尋味也很悲傷的。這位退休的動畫師說:

「另一個理由，其實很奇怪。華特迪士尼在1940早期買了一棟房子，同時也買了一棟給他的父母親。他有請工作室的同仁到他的新家，幫忙修理火爐。到他爸媽搬進去新房後，火爐卻外漏，也造成他媽媽死亡。

管家第二天早上到他們家時，把他父母親救到外面的草皮上。華特迪士尼的父親受重傷送醫，而他母親則過世了。他從此避談這件事情。他從來不對任何人提起，因為他覺得這是他的錯，只因他自認自己必須要變成功、幫爸媽買一棟房子。」

Hahn認為在這些缺乏媽媽角色的背後，像是白雪公主、辛蒂瑞拉等，其實都是華特迪士尼在他的作品中表達他最深沉的痛。

「這只是我的想法，我當然不是什麼心理學家，但他的確是無法走出這段過去。他認為是他自己造成了母親的去世。如果你上網查查，那麼你就可以找到這段過去，這也不是什麼天大的秘密。但這的確是一個讓人難以啟齒的悲劇，一個讓你更了解華特迪士尼的悲劇。對我而言，這樣的過去讓他更有人性。他的這段故事使他悲傷，相信如果發生在任何人身上都是如此。」

雖然說華特迪士尼只有參與1966年之前迪士尼所製作的卡通，但用死去的母親作為迪士尼卡通一貫的作風已不再更換。

JL碎念:

華特迪士尼怪自己覺得自己”必須”要成功，才能幫爸媽買一棟新房子，才能讓他們過好日子，才會最後造成母親的過世。

這樣的自我責怪是無用的，但也的確讓我思考，我們是不是總是花心力在追求錯的東西。

失去父母總是傷痛、總是成長的開始。來得及之前、多陪陪他們吧。

原文在這裡: http://goo.gl/2WBu4c

The wonderful world of Disney is a magical place, but it suffers from a unique tragedy: a severe shortage of mothers.

Think about it. From Bambi to Frozen, the young protagonist is often totally orphaned or left motherless...but WHY did Disney insist on bringing up his characters without a loving mom to care for them?

According to the producer of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, Don Hahn, a horrible personal tragedy from Walt Disney's past holds the answer.

But firstly, Hahn acknowledges there's a practical reason for those motherless characters:

One reason is practical because the movies are 80 or 90 minutes long, and Disney films are about growing up. They’re about that day in your life when you have to accept responsibility.

Simba ran away from home but had to come back. In shorthand,it’s much quicker to have characters grow up when you bump off their parents. Bambi’s mother gets killed, so he has to grow up. Belle only has a father, but he gets lost, so she has to step into that position. It’s a story shorthand

But, the other reason Hahn gives is much more intriguing, and, profoundly tragic. The veteran animator explained that;

The other reason—and this is really odd—Walt Disney, in the early 1940s, when he was still living at this house, also bought a house for his mom and dad to move into. He had the studio guys come over and fix the furnace, but when his mom and dad moved in, the furnace leaked and his mother died.

The housekeeper came in the next morning and pulled his mother and father out on the front lawn. His father was sick and went to the hospital, but his mother died. He never would talk about it, nobody ever does. He never spoke about that time because he personally felt responsible because he had become so successful that he said, 'Let me buy you a house.'

According to Hahn, one of the theories behind lost, motherless characters such as Snow White, Cinderella and Dumbo is that Disney was reliving his deep emotional pain through his art.

There’s a theory, and I’m not a psychologist, but he was really haunted by that. That idea that he really contributed to his mom’s death was really tragic. If you dig, you can read about it. It’s not a secret within their family, but it’s just a tragedy that is so difficult to even talk about. It helps to understand the man a little bit more. ... To me, it humanizes Walt. He was devastated by that, as anyone would be

Of course, Walt Disney was only involved with productions until his death in 1966, but by then the trope of the dead mother had became a signature of the Disney brand.

I had no idea something that happened over half a century ago could make me feel so sad...