However, fairy tales, particularly Disney films, do not just teach lessons; they also offer vivid illustrations of Bible stories. For Christians, fairy tales enhance, not substitute, the Bible. Here are some examples:
Redemption in Beauty and the Beast
The enchantress plays the role of a messenger angel who opens the Beast's eyes to his sinful ways. His punishment of becoming a beast is related to Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden: both come with promises of restoration. However, the Beast's promise is more specific: it has to be a woman.
That woman is Belle, who displays several Christlike qualities-especially her willingness to resist the patriarchal standards of her time and sacrifice her freedom for her father's safety. As the Beast spends more time around Belle, he becomes more like her: kind and sacrificial. Belle's leaving the castle represents Jesus's
ascension into Heaven just as her arrival represented His coming. Like Jesus will return to Earth someday, Belle returns to the castle to restore it and all who lived there.
ascension into Heaven just as her arrival represented His coming. Like Jesus will return to Earth someday, Belle returns to the castle to restore it and all who lived there.
Once the curse is broken, Belle and the Beast happily dance surrounded by their loved ones; they are finally free from the struggles of their past years. Likewise, when Jesus recreates everything, believers will live with him in joy forever.
Sacrifice in The Little Mermaid
King Triton serves the Biblical role of a father: leading his family with love. His youngest daughter Ariel, who longs to be on land, falls in love with a man and sacrifices her voice to be with him.
Ariel has disobeyed her father by going to the surface along with making a deal with Ursula, who represents Satan. Yet, King Triton took Ariel's punishment for her just as Jesus did for us. Like Jesus, King Triton rose from his state and freed Ariel to be with Prince Eric, her lover. Their wedding scene represents the Biblical verse in Genesis about leaving behind one's parents to be with their wife/husband.
Awakening in Pinocchio
Geppetto, representing God, makes Pinocchio in his image and wishes for him to become a real boy. The blue fairy, representing an angel, grants Geppetto's wish by bringing the wooden boy to life. However, she tells Pinocchio he must be truthful, honest, and kind to gain human flesh.
Pinocchio gives in to temptation by listening to Honest John and Gideon, who represent the serpent. He gets locked in a bird cage only to have the blue fairy give him another chance. However, Pinocchio follows the same fox and cat to a coach headed towards Pleasure Island. There, boys indulge in fleshly desires until they become donkeys, a representation of eternal punishment in Hell.
Like Jonah in the Bible, Pinocchio finds himself inside the body of a whale longing for freedom. He rescues himself and his father from the whale. Pinocchio nearly dies afterward, but he becomes a real boy as a reward. Likewise, a sacrificial life will give us eternal life.
Resurrection in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Under the huntsman's order, Snow White runs through the forest to find refuge in a cottage. After she cleans it with the help of animal friends, Snow falls asleep until a group of seven dwarves discover her. They happily live together until tragedy strikes.
The evil queen giving Snow White a poisoned apple relates to the serpent telling Eve to eat it. As the serpent tells Eve she will know good and evil, the queen tells Snow her wish will come true. Both eat the apple and suffer harsh consequences: Snow White falls to her death, illustrating the punishment Adam and Eve face because of their sin.
However, just as Jesus rescued humanity from death, the prince of her dreams saved Snow White from the curse and, as Jesus will do someday, takes her to eternal glory.
Truth in Tangled
As a baby, Rapunzel is kidnapped inside a tower by Mother Gothel and grows up believing she is her mother. Rapunzel obeys all her rules by staying inside the tower; by her eighteenth birthday, though, she becomes desperate to leave.
Rapunzel gets her chance upon freeing Flynn Rider. Afterward, Rapunzel resists the commands from Mother Gothel by following Flynn to a bar and, eventually, the floating lights.
Once Rapunzel returns to her tower, she realizes Mother Gothel has lied all those years; she was really the lost princess. After her last fight, Rapunzel returns to her parents. Not only has the truth set her free, but her return illustrates the parable of the lost sheep returning to its shepherd.
Which Biblical parallels have you seen in Disney fairy tales?
No comments:
Post a Comment