The Single Dads of Disney

Written by Shae Rufe

I'm not going to lie, I'm going through a Disney phase. As it turns out, a lot of things have been going on in Disney that I never caught as a kid. Does Disney have a thing against parents? Let's face it, only a handful of our beloved characters have both parents, which means there are a few single dads in the mix. What's going on with that?

Belle was our first Disney Princess with just one biological parent raising her, well that I can remember. The Internet told me I was right....it does that often. We never see Belle's mother, and there's little to no mention of her. Maurice may be unconventional, but he does everything he can to raise Belle right. Her sacrifice to take her father's place speaks volumes about the relationship the two have. In fact, the entire events of Beauty and the Beast after Maurice stumbles into the castle are all because Belle wanted to save her father from a horrible fate. Had Maurice stayed he likely would have died...
 
Ariel is our next princess with a single dad. Only she's a legit princess and daddy Triton is a King. We get the typical fit throwing of a young girl, whom even declares she doesn't need rules because she is 16. The only difference? Ariel isn't an only child. She's got 6 other sisters. Triton isn't just ruling the seas, he's taking care of multiple children. Ariel seems to be the most rebellious at the moment, and that is hard. Watching this as an adult you realize how utterly childish Ariel really is. She even gets married at the end of the film, at 16! Still, Triton's attempts to raise a teenage angsty, lovesick, girl are certainly wearing on one's self. Triton manages to make it all good in the end, and by all good, I mean he loosens the rules to let her go off, but for dealing with the youngest and most bullheaded of his daughters...Triton deserves some mad props.
 
Jasmine was just as stubborn. The only child to our Sultan, she wanted more freedom and less to do with her duties as the only princess. The Sultan is certainly protective, but he also cares about making his daughter happy. Jafar seems more interested in ultimate power, but you know, he's the antagonist, so of course he is. Raising a kid isn't easy, but Jasmine seems to be having none of it. She's daddy's little girl, except when it comes to rules. Of course, by the end of the movie she gets what she wants, but only because she finally opened up and talked to her dad. Had she told him about Aladdin in the first place, he probably would have done the same exact thing and let her be with him. Street Rat or not, Aladdin made the Sultan's daughter happy, and in the end that's all that mattered to him.

It seems these single dads have their hands full with trying to raise their daughters, but these are just a few of the Disney Dads that don't get enough credit...

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