"What did Disney have against Step-mothers?" is the theme of the first Congress of Stepmothers, Stepfathers and Stepchildren due to begin in Lisbon on Saturday, which will discuss the negative image of the relationship between step-parents and step-children, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported.

The congress is the brainchild of Portuguese comedian and radio presenter Fernando Alvim, but has a serious theme at its heart: discussing the reasons why stepparents have such an image problem.

"Disney has to take some responsibility for how badly step-mothers are seen in the world," Alvim told Lusa, adding that this would be the theme of the first panel at the congress, which will be discussed by psychologists Antonio Alvim and Joana Amaral Dias. "It's a very informal theme, but one which I hope will have a lot of content."

Alvim noted that several Disney princesses, including Cinderella and Snow White, had "wicked stepmothers," and that they are always portrayed as "bad people" in Disney films, an idea that society has taken on.