9 Disturbing Origin Stories Behind Famous Disney Characters

4. Cinderella Brutalizes Her Family As Punishment

One of--if not the--most popular fairytales ever told, Cinderella is the movie that gave millions of little girls the completely wrong idea about love and what a woman's place in the world should be. But that little grievance aside, it's certainly not a very revolting tale and is actually kind of sweet in its own way and oh wait I forgot what article I was writing this is only going to get worse. Cinderalla, in her original iteration, follows the general outline of the Disney story, but the nuts and bolts are far weirder and generally more uncouth. The fairy godmother isn't the magical old lady with the wand that Disney wants us to believe. No, she's actually the ghost of Cinderella's dead mother. Also, she's a tree. Cinderella planted a twig over her mother's grave and watered it with her friggin' tears until it grows into a sort of wish-granting oak. But that's neither here nor there. Let's move on to the bloodshed. See, whereas in the Disney version, Cinderella's sisters try to cram their big feet into the glass slipper to claim prince charming for themselves, what they actually do required just a little more dedication. One sister hocks off her toes to attempt to squeeze her bloody flesh into the shoe while the other cuts off her heel, both hoping to fool the prince into thinking they're his mystery girl, without giving any foresight whatsoever to the fact that he'll probably catch on after witnessing the massive amount of blood loss. But after Cinderella puts her own foot into the presumably still blood-filled slipper and gets her man, she has her magical bird friends peck her siblings' eyes out for their attempted trickery. And as for her beeyotch of a stepmother, she decides to go ahead and break her neck.