Once upon a time, fairy tales written by the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen really were terrifying. Hansel and Gretel et al were written as precautionary tales designed to scare children into behaving; in the original fable, the Little Mermaid dies instead of marrying her handsome prince.
But thanks to Disney, this changed. Later generations of youngsters grew up believing in happily ever afters. Characters were saved from certain death in the nick of time, princesses made a habit of singing and the baddies always get their comeuppance.
