But then, I didn't grow up with the Disney version of, say, Little Mermaid.
That might be why XD
I distinctly remember a version (not of the Little Mermaid) where the Little Red Riding Hood and the Grandmother both get eaten, but then get cut out of the Big Bad Wolf's belly - both alive and well - by a Woodsman. And the Wolf doesn't even die from that! (it does die afterwards from rocks-in-the-stomach related problems, though, but no-one cares because it's the Bad Guy). Those (and many all-audiences animated movies for instance, such as the Disneys you mentioned) are the kinds of kid's stories I'm talking about, not the scare-you-so-you-don't-misbehave kinds of fairytales
Of course, a bit of both makes for good stories, but the proportions can vary wildly from one tale to the other. Within a single story (like we've seen here), I don't think it's very often that there's such a big change.
in other news, we're straying a bit far from the "key posts by Minna" topic, may I suggest moving this to a different thread if the discussion goes on longer / once it dies down?