The Little Mermaid
"How much rather would I see wicked stepmothers boiled in oil- all over in half a second- than bear the agony of the Little Mermaid or the girl who wore the Red Shoes. There, if you like, is cruelty, sustained, deliberate, contrived. Hans Anderson lets no blood. But his tortures, disguised as piety, are subtle, often demoralizing."
- P.L. Travers
Fans of the spunky, fire-haried beauty portrayed in Disney's 1989 classic would be shocked and possibly sickened by the original tale published by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1800s. Below are the most important changes made to the movie. These changes completely transformed this tale into one of love, bravery, and the dominant force of good over evil. They also made it much more fun, because frankly, the original was a tad depressing.
- P.L. Travers
Fans of the spunky, fire-haried beauty portrayed in Disney's 1989 classic would be shocked and possibly sickened by the original tale published by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1800s. Below are the most important changes made to the movie. These changes completely transformed this tale into one of love, bravery, and the dominant force of good over evil. They also made it much more fun, because frankly, the original was a tad depressing.
- Ariel is painted as rebellious, curious, and adventurous in the Disney adaptation. In the Hans Christian Andersen version, Ariel is painted as quite and thoughtful.
- In Disney's adaptation, the magic used to transform Ariel into a human is quick and painless, so there is no real cost other than her gorgeous voice...which is also taken painlessly.
- If she fails to get the prince to marry her, she dies in the Hans Christian Andersen version; however, in the Disney version she just "belongs" to Ursula, to be used in a plot against her father (Ariel does not know the second part, she just knows that she will be under Ursula's control should she fail at her task).
- Disney gives Ariel a happily every after, with her family surrounding her and a perfect life. In the Hans Christian Andersen version, her family is saddened and suffers from her behavior. In the end, her sisters all make sacrifices to the sea witch in order to help Ariel; she ignores this sacrifice because it would require her to kill the Prince, and chooses to do the noble thing and die.
- In the original version, because she did the right thing and refused to kill the prince in order to gain her freedom, Ariel dies and turns into a Sister of the Air, needing to go around and do good deeds for 300 years in order to earn her way into heaven. If she had behaved less nobly she would have just turned into sea foam, because mermaids do not have souls.
- In the original, the Little Mermaid is not interested in material things like Ariel is in the Disney adaptation. In fact it is the sisters that are fascinated by human possessions and use them in their gardens. The only thing the Little Mermaid loves from the human world is the statue of a prince. Ariel also has a statue, but it is kept in an entire cavern filled with miscellaneous human artifacts.
- The Prince truly loves someone else in the original version, he sees Ariel more like a pet or a friend. In Disney version, he does almost marry another woman, but this turns out to be Ursula trying to sabotage the Ariel.
- The sea witch is a neutral character in Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. She is not trying to trick Ariel for her own personal gain. She gains nothing but the Little Mermaid's beautiful voice from the trade. She explains all of the consequences to the Little Mermaid who readily accepts them. By contrast, in the Disney adaptation, Ursula tricks and coaxes Ariel into accepting the deal after seeking her out. In the movie, Ursula is truly wicked and does all of this plotting in order to gain control of the seas.
- Like many of the original versions of folktales, the fish do not talk to the Little Mermaid in the Hans Christian Andersen version. This also means that she does not have two talking friends that go with her to the main land to help her out like Ariel has in Disney's classic.
- The legs that she gets in the Hans Christian Andersen version are extremely painful to the Little Mermaid, it is like walking on knives with every step she takes. She trades her beautiful, painless fin to endure pain every day so she can gain the Prince and an immortal soul.
- Another major difference is that in the Disney version, Ariel's father has the power to grant her legs. After seeing that she would be happier on land with Prince Eric, he gifts his daughter with legs. In the Hans Christian Andersen version, the sea witch is the only character with any magical ability.
- Like in Cinderella, Disney totally changes the original lesson of the story. In original The Little Mermaid, it is the story about a girl who has all she could dream of, she is literally a princess, but is unhappy with every thing she has. She decides to go against her family, and endure pain for her own vanity and to gain the love of a man she had never actually met. This turns out bad, she doesn't get the prince, and she is doomed to spend eternity as sea foam. It is truly a tale that shows the grass is not always greener on the other side, and to be happy with what you have been given. The Disney version, by contrast, is a tale that paints the sacrifices Ariel makes as not that big of a deal (and all worth it for love) and the grass is greener on the other side.
Click button above to open a new window containing the original text of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid"
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