Why Tolkien Hated Disney

The role of danger in storytelling

In 1937, two landmark works of fantasy appeared within months of each other.

The first was The Hobbit, a children’s book written by an Oxford professor who had spent decades immersed in the legends and languages of Europe. The second was Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world’s first full-length animated film and a commercial triumph that changed cinema forever.

J.R.R. Tolkien viewed the film with his friend C.S. Lewis, but he was far from impressed. In private letters, he called Disney’s studio “hopelessly corrupted,” and later insisted that Disney must never be allowed to adapt his own work.

Tolkien’s dismissal of Disney reflected a deep philosophical divide between the two creatives, one which still influences how stories are told today. In this article, we explore these two conflicting perspectives — and discover why it was that Tolkien hated Disney…