Children across time and boundaries have grown up listening to or reading stories of fairies, witches, and the wishful child protagonist. We as modern-day readers know these tales as fairy tales, available as vibrant books, sending us into an otherworldly dimension. These stories have it all; an idyllic pastoral land, a wild forest, enchanted objects, anthropomorphic animals, and most importantly- a child protagonist with a wish for a utopian ending. However, the versions we have grown up consuming are far from the original tales. They are a commercial product of heavy translation and Disneyfication.

Fairy tales, as we categorise them today, were originally folktales from Europe, circulated orally. It’s difficult to ascribe authorship to these tales, we only have collectors and translators for them, such as Charles Perrault in 17th-century France and the Brothers Grimm in 19th-century Germany. They compiled the tales and etched them on paper, with much of the essence changing as their interpretations were translations of the original.

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Notably, these lores were never meant for a juvenile audience and were brimming with violence. For example, in the original Cinderella, the stepsisters chop their feet to fit into the glass slipper. It was later that the texts were adapted for a child reader and were highly sanitised to fit a proper framework. Brimming with the fantastical and the mystical, these tales now performed a moral and national function of educating the child reader of bourgeoisie families. These texts had no copyrights and with the availability of the printing press, these books witnessed mass production.

Catering to a certain upbringing of the readers, the books showed the child protagonist as naïve, pure, and most importantly, morally right. These protagonists are sometimes of noble lineage trying to find their rightful place, like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. The setting is primarily lush green countryside with chirping birds and a wild forest becomes the site for danger and adventure quests. Take texts like Rapunzel and Red Riding Hood as examples. The ideal child protagonist is faced with the ills of society, often in the form of witches and evil step-relations who threaten domestic bliss. To revert things to their utopian setting, the primarily female protagonist embarks on a journey and more often than not, the damsel in distress is saved by a male figure.

Sending readers to an otherworldly land, these tales offered an escapism. They offer a way to manifest innate desires of overcoming the world and finding one’s rightful place with bravery and morality. Elevating the imaginary and the fantastical quotient, amid magic dust and lush natural settings, everything is possible and one can go beyond the human. Additionally, anthropomorphic animals end up serving as the protagonist’s sidekick aiding them on their quests.

Following the compilations and adaptation for the minor reader, with the onset of the 20th- century, a major pivot in consumption emerged. Following the aftermath of World War II, when advertising and capitalism saw a surge, these texts got heavily commercialised and Americanised particularly through their Disneyfication. Their circulation started taking place through films, comics, cinema, and so much more.

Today, Disney has become the biggest producer of fairy tales through cinema. Employing technological advancements in animation, the studio creates a visual spectacle which is at once enchanting, inviting, and surreal. Disney films have created a persona for every character; from their looks to the specific tropes attached to them. The banner is also taking the fairy tales ahead, by introducing titles like Moana and Brave, developed for the studio.

What started out as oral tales not meant for children has transmuted into being a large part of everyone’s childhood. While the materials we consume today are way different from the original, mass circulation has made them available and accessible across the world. Fairy tales are often rebuffed as childish and juvenile, however, it is one of the most thriving industries. From books and films to merchandise, they have become an integral part of modern-day society.

What started out as a humble practice of passing down old tales has become with the passing of time a significant canon in literature, scholarly studies, cinema, and the merchandise business.