# Why are there no mainstream disabled Disney characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281 "2015-12-03T02:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/21 "2015-12-03T13:12:20Z")
Marvel has professor Xavier in a wheelchair. In Stephen King’s Tower series, the main action hero is a woman in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/22 "2015-12-03T15:55:03Z")
Professor Ludwig Von Drake wears glasses. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/23 "2015-12-03T16:15:22Z")
If we define “disabled” the way most of us do (ie, not Donald Duck), then I’d suggest that a big factor is that a disabled character is limited in their movement, making it difficult to stage action scenes. Carl in _Up_ was elderly and used a walker, and as a result there was very little in the way of action, until the end when the writers just kinda forgot that he needs a walker and had him climbing ladders with a \>90 degree incline ( :rolleyes: ). Notice that Professor X usually just sits around the school, as the heroic version of a Big Boss, and when he doesn’t it’s usually because some convenient plot device has temporarily removed his paralysis. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/24 "2015-12-03T16:19:36Z")
Of course almost none of the named characters (Eeyore, Cpt. Hook, Quasimodo, Tiny Tim, Marvel/Star Wars characters) were created by Disney. I know the Snow White story predates Disney but I have no clue if the dwarfs had the sleepy, dopey, etc characteristics. Nemo seems the best fit and, even then, most of the story was more about Marlin than it was about Nemo. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/25 "2015-12-03T16:21:59Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Of course almost none of the named characters (Eeyore, Cpt. Hook, Quasimodo, Tiny Tim, Marvel/Star Wars characters) were created by Disney. To be fair, most Disney characters weren’t created by Disney. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/26 "2015-12-03T16:26:15Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > To be fair, most Disney characters weren’t created by Disney. I’m well aware which was my point: the disabled characters named were already known before Disney cribbed the story. It’s not as though Disney was taking any risks by having the Hunchback of Notre Dame be a hunchback. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/27 "2015-12-03T16:33:47Z")
One of the minor recurring characters in _Kim Possible_ is Felix Renton, who is confined to a wheelchair (albeit one tricked out like a James Bond car). In the first episode where he appears, Kim is a bit uncomfortable and over-helpful, much to his amusement. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/28 "2015-12-03T16:42:42Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’m well aware which was my point: the disabled characters named were already known before Disney cribbed the story. It’s not as though Disney was taking any risks by having the Hunchback of Notre Dame be a hunchback. I’d argue that “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was actually a fairly risky property for a Disney film, Quasimoto being only _one_ of the reasons why. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/29 "2015-12-03T16:59:35Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Seriously?! > > Because it’s _ **Disney!** _ The expression ‘Disney-like’ means everyone and everything is happy, attractive, satisfied, perfect, the good-guys always win etc. IOW saccharine-sweet, unrealistic, fairy tale-like utopia where everything always works out for everybody. I don’t have an example but I wouldn’t be surprised if some old Disney live-action show portrayed a disabled kid who somehow learned to walk in the end… > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Yes, all those dead/vanished parents certainly paint a happy picture. Not to mention the boys who were slowly transformed into donkeys. One of the earlier victims tried to warn Pinnochio, which showed that they would remember having been boys, and presumably continue to miss their families. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/30 "2015-12-03T17:26:59Z")
On Disney’s ZORRO, [del]Alfred[/del] Bernardo was mute (and pretended he was also _deaf,_ the better to innocuously spy on people for [del]Bruce Wayne[/del] Don Diego de la Vega). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/31 "2015-12-03T17:41:59Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Seriously?! > > Because it’s _ **Disney!** _ The expression ‘Disney-like’ means everyone and everything is happy, attractive, satisfied, perfect, the good-guys always win etc. IOW saccharine-sweet, unrealistic, fairy tale-like utopia where everything always works out for everybody. I don’t have an example but I wouldn’t be surprised if some old Disney live-action show portrayed a disabled kid who somehow learned to walk in the end… Disney movies always have a happy ending, but I think you’ve forgotten just how rough they can be in getting there. Bambi’s mom, Simba’s dad, the first ten minutes of _Up_… and that’s just the real deaths, and doesn’t include fake-out deaths like _Beauty and the Beast_ or _Snow White_, that are also pretty major tear-jerkers, particularly if (like most young children) you don’t know the formula. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/32 "2015-12-03T17:46:32Z")
How about Johnny Tremain, the Revolutionary-War-era silversmith’s apprentice who lost the use of his hand? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/33 "2015-12-03T17:51:24Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Donald had a speech impediment. Seems like a sociopath, too. At best, serious anger-management issues. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/34 "2015-12-03T18:09:39Z")
Isn’t there a mermaid that uses sign language? Aha: Gabriella, from the tv series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/35 "2015-12-03T18:24:36Z")
Disney isn’t the only one: disabled characters were rare in just about every medium until recently. There were occasional blind or mute characters, but they were usually part of plot (e.g., **Wait Until Dark, Longstreet** ), not just there are regular human beings. And, of course, Lionel Barrymore did some of his best work in a wheelchair and on crutches (he broke his hip and it didn’t heal well). Marlee Matlin won an Oscar, too, and a lot of Oscar winners played disabled characters of one form or another. But in general, movies didn’t portray characters with physical problems. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/36 "2015-12-03T19:15:30Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > If we define “disabled” the way most of us do (ie, not Donald Duck), then I’d suggest that a big factor is that a disabled character is limited in their movement, making it difficult to stage action scenes. Carl in _Up_ was elderly and used a walker, and as a result there was very little in the way of action, until the end when the writers just kinda forgot that he needs a walker and had him climbing ladders with a \>90 degree incline ( :rolleyes: ). > > Notice that Professor X usually just sits around the school, as the heroic version of a Big Boss, and when he doesn’t it’s usually because some convenient plot device has temporarily removed his paralysis. In “Up” I think Carl’s disability was more mental than physical. That is once he lost purpose he started acting like an old man. The kid reintroduced purpose to his life thus “rejuvenating” him. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/37 "2015-12-03T21:33:21Z")
> [@Find\_Friends](#): > > Not to mention the boys who were slowly transformed into donkeys. One of the earlier victims tried to warn Pinnochio, which showed that they would remember having been boys, and presumably continue to miss their families. That was still the early, old-school fairy tale Disney. And it wasn’t a ‘disability’ at all in the modern sense. It was a magical spell or curse which was just as easily (and magically) reversed completely. And come on. I don’t care if they legally own them Marvel does **NOT** count when we’re talking about _‘Disney’_ in this manner… ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/38 "2015-12-03T21:59:06Z")
Mickey Mouse’s nemesis Peg-Leg Pete had a peg leg. I’m not seeing him in that Disney Wiki link from post 3 though. Is he completely forgotten? Also, Wilby Daniels occasionally turned into a sheepdog. That’s a hard thing to live with. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/39 "2015-12-03T22:48:02Z")
> [@Brodi](#): > > Since we’ve had characters of nearly every race and have long since stopped with the “girls are there to be rescued” stuff, so why haven’t there been any disabled characters? Why did you ask “Why aren’t there any disabled Disney characters” instead of “Why aren’t there any disabled characters in fairy tales”? Disney based a lot of their movies on centuries-old folklore. Maybe story tellers throughout the ages didn’t feel the need. Travel back in time and ask them. Plus, the way you titled this thread seems to assume Disney decided beforehand they wouldn’t feature disabled characters. Why did you single out Disney, for that matter? Why didn’t you ask the same about Hannah-Barbera, Sid & Marty Kroft, Bullwinkle Studios, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, MGM, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Rankin-Bass, or any of the Japanese animation studios? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281/40 "2015-12-03T23:04:06Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Why did you ask “Why aren’t there any disabled Disney characters” instead of “Why aren’t there any disabled characters in fairy tales”? Disney based a lot of their movies on centuries-old folklore. Maybe story tellers throughout the ages didn’t feel the need. Travel back in time and ask them. There are many disabled characters in fairy tales. [Grimm’s Tales](http://www.indiana.edu/~jfr/review.php?id=1825), for example, feature dozens of disabled characters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-mainstream-disabled-disney-characters/739281.md?page=3)