Oral Folktales: A Comparative Analysis

In addition, when animals are represented as transfigured humans, both Disney films and oral folktales highlight the superiority of humans in relation to animals by conflating happiness with the restoration of the human condition. In The Emperor's New Groove, Kuzco regains his human form, is reinstated as emperor, and shares his wealth with Pacha and his family. In The Princess and the Frog, Navene and Tiana regain access to the human condition because of Tiana's new status as a princess, and the couple lives happily ever after. Similarly, in Madame de Beaumont's “Beauty and the Beast,” the Beast is transformed back into his human form because Beauty “preferred virtues to look[s] and intelligence, and so [Beauty] deserves to see those qualities united in a single person,” (42) not in in an animal or beast. When the Pig King's parents discover his transformation into a human, they burn his pig skin and reward him with the crown, so he and …show more content…
Each variant distinguishes a different relationship between animals and humans. Both oral folktales and Disney films characterize the relationship between animals and humans by a power imbalance if the folktale or film illustrates humans transforming into animals. In addition, both art forms showcase humans becoming animals to teach their characters important life lessons. But, if no humans are transfigured into animals and animals are represented exclusively as animals, then the two art forms allude to different relationships between animals and humans. Whereas oral folktales highlight animals as antagonists and at times tricksters to humans, Disney films underscore an animal's role as a domesticated pet, subservient to human agency. That being said, these relationships are not definitive and future analysis should focus on the exceptions to these