Could you elaborate on the 'financial thing' of Toy Story?

Obviously, some more recent movies like "Frozen" include the parents and then they die, which is why I feel that there is something more to this than just the money.

Aladdin, Cinderella, Jungle Book and Bambi are not genuine Disney stories - the stories themselves existed long before the movies.

Could be so that the story more naturally centers around the young main character, instead of his parents.

This link, and everything linked from it, might be of interest to you. Allocate a lot of time; this site is addictive. tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConvenientlyAnOrphan

The same pattern is even more pervasive among Comic Book heroes, particularly the earlier ones. Not sure who started it first though...

Character growth is much easier (and probably faster) without parents around.

@a_horse_with_no_name, Several other examples in the OP's list fall under that category as well (Beauty and the Beast, f.e.). The Lion King v. Kimba the White Lion is also of note, particularly considering the connection between Walt and Tezuka.

@a_horse_with_no_name -- Disney presumably knew the stories before they decided to film them. It wasn't like they were halfway-through and went, "Wha? Another orphan?"

@Malvolio That's true. And I understand some of them were previously written stories too...of course, with a LOT of creative liberties taken hahaha

@EricLippert that article was super interesting. It brings up a great point that others have mentioned that the lack of parents really helps bring together plots

@a_horse_with_no_name, yes the stories pre-existed, but Disney does tend to make large changes when they adapt classic tales. The original Aladdin was Chinese; Bambi doesn't get shot in the film (he does in the book). Disney are not above introducing characters, removing characters, merging characters, and splitting characters if it helps for the plot. (And it's a good thing too; most pre-20th century children's books are some combination of boring, preachy, scary, and confusing.) If a Disney character is an orphan, it's because Disney wanted it that way; it's not because of the original plot.

I would like to call it the Batman complex. The death of a parent/parents leads to a huge character builup