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- A major theme of all fairy tales is hope: the desire for "happily ever after." According to the Catechism, "Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit" (1818). Indeed, the attraction of fairy tales may largely be attributed to the voice of hope they offer.Purified by the test of sacrifice (CCC 1819)
- Valiant heroes of old are not handed happy endings. Often, they come at an unexpected price. The original story of The Little Mermaid involves her sacrifice of walking with pain, living in silence, and giving up her beloved on her quest for an immortal soul.
- Suffering is not worthless; on the contrary, it should help the character attain virtue. Disney's The Little Mermaid does include Ariel losing her voice, but the story of sacrifice for immortal life is compromised with one of human happiness.
- Beatitude (CCC 1820)
- The ultimate "happily ever after" is heaven, and someday our prince will come to take His Bride there. This is a return to paradise once lost, our true and everlasting home. The original Beauty and the Beast concludes with a return to the prince's kingdom.
- The princess ought to realize that there is a life better than the one she now lives, not simply because a man will be part of it, but because then she will "know even as she is known" (1 Cor. 13:12). Though its ending is not in the foreseeable future, the show Once Upon a Time depicts characters whose happily ever after lies in the land they left or the locale in which they now live, neither of which move the person forward on the journey to "happiness and rapture that can never end" (CCC 1821).
- Nourished by Prayer (CCC 1820)
- Faith, "belief in things not seen" (Heb. 11:1), sustains those who desire a happy ending. In Andersen's "The Travelling Companion," John confidently believes that "God will help him" in his difficulties and pursues good to the end.
- Prayer is often reserved for desperate situations in today's world, but it is not always accompanied by a trusting confidence in the Father's Will. In Snow White and the Huntsman, Snow White prays the Our Father while kept prisoner by her stepmother, but she never demonstrates confidence in this prayer as the movie progresses.
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