Better than Disney?

No exactly, in the original telling of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty(Belle) had two older sisters who were mean and spoiled as can be and their family was wealthy until their wealth was lost. So, when their father was about to go into town to pay his debt, they asked for expensive gifts. The importance of the rose was shorter than it was in the film because Belle's father had picked it for her after the Beast kindly offered him shelter and the Beast thought of that a sign of disrepect, unlike when the Beast thought Maruice was traspassing in the film. There was no magic mirror in the original, and the Beast would only die if Belle didn't return from her family reunion within a certain time frame (a week or a month depending on the version) by using a magic ring. No narscasstic suitors in the original either, or any enchanted servants as household items, the servants were invisible who obeyed Belle's command. Also, she dreamed of the Prince and was convinced he was a prisoner in the castle until the curse was broken. How do I know all this? I did this story for a project in my Speech class last year.

 

Not to mention that in real life Pocahontas was about 7 and John Smith...wait for it...had a BIG FAT BEARD. I know right. Except they didn't fancy each other they were just like Farther/Daughter.
Hercules REALLY disturbed me when I found out the real story though. Hera (the nice pink goddess in the film) is jealous of her husband Zues's illegitimate lovechild (Hercules) with another woman. In revenge she sends him insane and makes him kill his wife and kids. Lovely Jubbly.

 

once upon a time, fairy tales were normal stories, we call them "horror movies" in modern times.

 

I'm guessing that a number of fairy tales that we were told when we were younger were basically morality tales. If you do good in life, then good things will happen to you. However, if you're bad or is just a little bit of an ass, then bad stuff is going to happen to you. Yeah, sometimes, it goes too far, but it basically personifies those meanings.

Like, I was surprised when I was watching a documentary on Sweeney Todd (the musical). They were talking about the character and how he had originated back in penny dreadfuls and such. Turns out that they told his story to little kids as a cautionary tale in England.

It's like how little kids from where I'm from (Southwestern United States) with the story of La Llorna, the story of the woman who drowned her kids. We're told that story when we're little, partially to teach us about obsession, jealousy and such, but also not to trust strangers and be careful around rivers.