I recently wrote several articles where I ranked the 58 Disney Animated Canon films that I had seen. However, as much as I enjoy Disney animated films, I’ve always been frustrated by a particular trope that developed over the course of their films, Disney Death. Considering how I feel about this particular trope, as well as how I see it in other media as well, I thought it would be interesting to discuss my reasons for why I hate Disney Death.
I should start by defining what the Disney Death trope is. Disney Death refers to any situation where a character seemingly dies near the end of the media, only to reveal at the end that they are, in fact, alive. The original purpose of this trope seems pretty obvious, to shock the audience and raise the stakes for the climax without actually killing the character and upsetting the audience. I could understand how, with sharp writing and infrequent use, this trope could prove to be effective but, all too often, it’s predictable and poorly executed.