This has been a running gag in my family since I was seven, when I said "Why does Disney think that two parents is too complicated?" I loved Frozen, but as soo

This has been a running gag in my family since I was seven, when I said "Why does Disney think that two parents is too complicated?" I loved Frozen, but as soon as they introduced the parents I whispered to my wife "Bet you dinner they're dead within five minutes." "In a Disney movie?" "Three minutes, then." I think that, narrative-wise, this is partly because Disney basically always has a coming of age element to their films (it is a theme almost as common as true love) and the existence of live parents means that parents would be able to resolve the conflict in most cases. You thus have to explain the inability of parents to help ASAP. Killing them is the quickest way to do this. Presumably this is covered in Hero With a Thousand Faces, too.