Most of the old European fairy tales were pretty dark by our standards. In one published version, Cinderella's wicked stepmother was enclosed in a casket with iron spikes on the inside and dragged through the streets of the village until she bled to death.
None of this would fly with mid-20th century parents - never mind failing to pass standards of the Hayes office (movie censors) - so Walt Disney and company tidied up the stories for our children's tender sensibilities. After all, this was the company of Mickey Mouse and friends.
