Disney is known for quite a few things: animated features with catchy songs, emotionally-charged scenes, and some wicked villains. While there were only a few evil stepmothers, they have become part of Disney’s DNA, too. It just goes to show that even if there were less than a handful of them, they truly made their mark in everyone’s lives.
A lot of people like to hate on the evil stepmothers but when you think about it real hard, they weren’t so bad. And to celebrate Mother’s Day, we’d like to pay tribute to Disney’s evil stepmoms who weren’t actually so evil:
Lady Tremaine, Cinderella (1950)
Lady Tremaine forced her stepdaughter Cinderella as the household’s help, serving her and her two equally evil daughters. She makes Cinderella do tasks like cook meals, clean the house, feed the animals, and event stops her from going to the royal ball. Of course, the lady gets her comeuppance in the end, but what if she was just preparing Cinderella for adulthood? Adulting means washing your own clothes and dishes, cooking for yourself, and learning to do other chores. You can’t survive without knowing those things, Cinderella!
The Queen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Queen Grimhilde, popularly known as the Evil Queen, is known as a vain stepmother who enjoys being the fairest of them all. But when she learns that her stepdaughter Snow White is more beautiful, she orders a huntsman to kill Snow White and bring her the young princess’s heart. While this may sound disturbing (and a little gross), she was probably just worried that Snow White will be taken advantage of her beauty when she grows up. After all, she’s so innocent that she makes friends with animals. Let the Queen handle being judged for being beautiful and nothing else.
Mother Gothel, Tangled (2010)
So technically, Mother Gothel isn’t Rapunzel’s stepmom because she abducted the young princess when she was a baby, but she is a mother figure so we included her on this list. In Tangled, Gothel locks Rapunzel in a tower to keep the princess’s magical hair to herself. Yes, she’s selfish for locking the princess to remain youthful but she also probably did it to protect Rapunzel from the evils of the world. With all the crazy things happening everywhere, it’s totally understandable for a mother (figure) to shield her child.
With these theories, it’s entirely plausible that these evil stepmoms were just looking out for their kids.
Do you agree? Share your thoughts below!
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