Are Disney characters real?

The answer to this one is a tale as old as time.

Many of the fairy tales that we know and love have been around for a long, long time. Some stories, like Rumpelstiltskin, could be up to 4000 years old! There may be some truth to them, but stories often change over time and in different parts of the world. And folks do have a way of exaggerating the facts!

The most well-known characters were made famous by story collections. Have you heard of Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm? You've probably read their fairy tales. But some of the original versions were very different from the happy, colourful Disney adaptations. For example, Snow White's stepmother had to dance at her wedding in burning hot iron shoes. And Cinderella's stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to fit into the glass slipper. Yikes!

Could fairy tales have elements inspired by true stories? Yes, but most of these don't have happy endings… or beginnings. Snow White might be loosely based on the life of Margarete von Waldeck. She lived in the German state of Bavaria in the 1500s. Her family owned copper mines. It was common for kids to work in mines – a possible origin of the seven dwarves.

Some people think Beauty and the Beast might be about a 16th century couple named Catherine and Petrus Gonsalvus. Petrus had a rare genetic condition called hypertrichosis. It causes hair to grow all over a person's body. There were no dancing teacups or singing clocks involved, as far as we know!

So while Disney characters are not exactly real, not all of them are completely fictional. Be our guest and explore some classic stories with your library card!