Disney has always had a secret love for Pagan culture. Brave is just one of their latest creations that tips a hat to the ways of the old religions. A story about a strong Celtic young woman who is so independent, and strong willed that when the day arrives for her to be married she does everything in her power to fight off her preset destiny as a woman. Challenging all the warriors that have come to compete for her hand, she enters her own skills into the games in order to win her independence; to prove the power of the Goddess. The imagery of this piece is breathtaking. But there are many other Disney cartoons that pay tribute to the beauty of pagan cultures that few have ever noticed.
Beauty and the Beast is the tale about a shapeshifter. Shapeshifting was a big part of Celtic culture. There are so many stories about men and woman who by divine, or magical means transform into wolves, and owls, and cats, and so on and so forth. Sometimes the men our cursed, some are almost angelic in nature, others accidentally consume a drop of a magic potion that gives them the knowledge and power of all of the world, and in order to survive they must shapeshift into various creatures to escape the vengeful clutch of Cerridwen. There are so many stories about humanoid shapeshifters, a symbol of our connection with animals, and the changing seasons of our world. The fact that this story begins with the curse of a witch, that after being treated unfavorably by the Prince, she transformed him into a hideous beast who must learn to love in order to turn back, proves that it was indeed inspired by those old Celtic legends. Granted the tale was originally conceived by a French author, and though France was very much inspired by the Roman Catholic movement, they are quite near to the Celtic British Isles and enjoyed sharing their tales and legends. Their are many who believe that Joan of Arc, the heroic saint from France, was too deeply rooted in Pagan tradition. No doubt that the Anabaptist movement who unfortunately shared the fate of the Witches during the Burning Times, were influenced by some of their neighbor's pagan wisdom in the Netherlands; landing Joan's home in Lorraine right in between them both. The shape shifting Beast who was once consumed by hatred and rapacious greed, yet sacrifices his life for true love in the cartoon we all know and love ourselves, was definitely inspired by those old legends.
Mermaids are apart of a vast mythology that spreads from Greece to the Middle East and beyond. Many cultures have stories detailing the existence of Mermaids. But this particular story about a young and curious female mermaid who seeks to live on earth as a human for the love of a man, and is betrayed by a maniacal sea-witch, could be seen as a symbol of how the demonization of pagans destroyed the beauty and innocence of the power of the Goddess. In Hans Christian Andersen's version of "The Little Mermaid" that inspired the animated film, Ursula was actually quite a neutral character in the tale. She allowed Ariel to make her decisions, and suffer the consequences of her choices. She wasn't evil per sey. Perhaps I am reading a little more than is actually there in the Disney adaptation, but that is how I took it. Also her father Triton is based on the Greek god who fathered two daughters. His Goddess daughters were Pallas and the foster child Athena. Athena (goddess of courage, law, war, and various other things) kills Pallas in the mythology; perhaps the reason why Ariel often quarreled with her sisters, and was an odd ball in her under water community in the cartoon. Plus she has red hair, long regarded as a symbol of the Goddess. If you look hard enough at that one, you'll find pagan symbols everywhere.
One of my personal favorites! Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a story that shows how the apple transformed feminine power into an evil force. In the book of Genesis it is Eve who is the first to be wooed by the serpent into eating the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; and so the demonization of the Goddess had begun. In Disney's Snow White, she is tricked into eating a poison apple by a Witch; pretty obvious that one was a message on how the apple in the bible set the course for turning Witches (usually seen as female sorcerers) into sinister creatures. And dwarfs are the mysterious mountain men that stem from Germanic pagan mythology.
Have you ever heard of The Green Man? The spirit of the seedlings that escapes during harvest season, reeking havoc until he is captured to ensure yet another great harvest next year? It is an old Celtic legend, and the Origen of such fantasy Heroes as Robin Hood and Peter Pan. This story derives from the mind of a Scottish author, (Scotland is part of the Celtic lands, The British Isles) J. M. Barrie. The story of a young boy who takes children to another world called Neverland, where they deal with Faeries, mermaids, and pirates. The Fay (faeries) are a huge part of Celtic mythology, and Neverland is very much like the Isle of Apples, also known as The Otherworld. Not to mention that adventures of great peril are apart of almost every Celtic story.
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I can go on and on about this topic, but to wrap it all up, there are pagan symbology in many Disney flicks. All you have to do is open your eyes, let them show you the Otherworld, and just wish upon a star. You just have to look for them. It's like an awesome Easter egg hunt... Funny thing about Easter eggs; guess where that tradition came from!
