In Andersen's fairy tale, the Little Mermaid is described as follows: "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea." And if you're wondering if Andersen's Little Mermaid had that signature bright red hair that has become synonymous with mermaids, the answer is unclear.
In the original, Ariel's character has fire-engine red hair. By contrast, in the live-action version, Ariel's hair appears to be a more muted shade of red.
In 1989, the year the film was released, her character was seen with light orange/strawberry blonde hair. Of course, people loved the movie and Ariel, and viewers expected the dolls and the character actors to match the movie. This is why Ariel was soon represented with the same shade of red hair in every way possible.
What is the original version of The Little Mermaid?
Andersen's The Little Mermaid was first published in 1837. The story was a part of a collection called Fairy Tales Told for Children. As with Disney's iteration of the classic tale, Ariel, who is only referred to by her titular name, wants nothing more than to explore the shore up above.
TLDR The original Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Andersen is much darker and more tragic than the Disney version, exploring themes of the value of a soul, the fear of death, and the consequences of unrequited love.
Film Theory: The DARK Secret of the Little Mermaid (Disney)
How was The Little Mermaid described in the original book?
In Andersen's fairy tale, the Little Mermaid is described as follows: "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea." And if you're wondering if Andersen's Little Mermaid had that signature bright red hair that has become synonymous with mermaids, the answer is unclear.
It was released theatrically on May 26, 2023, in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. A sing-along edition of the film was released in theaters on August 25, 2023.
The Little Mermaid is a fairy tale of Danish origin and was originally conceived by writer Hans Christian Andersen, who was best known for his riveting fairy tales. Andersen lived from 1805 to 1875.
Most of the plot remains the same: a curious, adventurous mermaid princess wants nothing more than to become human and explore the world above. But some mostly minor tweaks do remain: the villain becomes an octopus rather than a squid, a new royal character enters the picture, and a few new musical numbers crop up.
While it is known that her mother perished, there is no story attached to the event. However, much later, in 2008, an animated The Little Mermaid prequel revealed that Ariel's mother was crushed by a pirate ship during an altercation between humans and merpeople.
And while creators of The Little Mermaid originally wanted Ariel to have blonde hair to stay in keeping with the fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, Splash's massive popularity was still too hot to ignore. So, in a bid to stand out from the crowd, an iconic change was given to the underwater princess.
Obviously, modifications are required anytime you adapt animation to live-action, but Bailey and the beauty department had to reimagine Ariel as a woman of color too. Bailey and the team opted to keep her hair red—that was essential—but opted for copper locs to make it her own.
In Anderson's telling and the original Disney film, the mermaid possessed white skin. In Disney's upcoming live action version of the story, Ariel will be portrayed by black actress and singer Halle Bailey.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
Ariel, is a fictional character, with no defined skin color in her original material. She was originally written by a Danish author in the 1800s. She has been portrayed in ballet and movies by Asian, Russian, and mixed-race individuals, her cartoon depictions are typically pale.
“I remember the first thumbnail sketches,” Benson tells EW of the first iterations of Ariel. “She had blonde hair. She looked like one of the exaggerated faces from [the] Peter Pan era. She looked a little bit glamorous and a little bit mature to me.”
Scuttle is not only changed from male to female but is also now a diving bird instead of a seagull. "This was done specifically so that Ariel would only meet Scuttle underwater, because, at the start of our story, Ariel has never dared go above the surface," director Rob Marshall said in production notes.
While lighting itself isn't all that expensive, darkness can be used to hide a lot of things. Halle Bailey is not actually a mermaid, and so having the scenes be darker makes it easier to disguise the CGI work.
Rather, Ursula's appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress. It's possible Ursula is not a mermaid in appearance because she and Triton did not have the same mother or father. If they're half siblings, Ursula's tentacles make more sense.
Ariel was based on the title character of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid", but co-director and writer Ron Clements felt that the mermaid in the original story was too tragic and rewrote the character, resulting in Ariel.
In Disney's 1989 animated adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Ariel is 16 years old. The Disney adaptation makes many changes to Hans Christian Andersen's original fairytale, but Ariel's age is consistent as she's depicted as a teenager in the original tale too.
Even with the hype from Disney fans, there was some backlash regarding some of the movie's changes, such as casting a woman of color as Ariel, since she does not have pale skin and bright red hair like the animated mermaid.
Things like the walking on knives detail would have been way too dark for the film's target audience of kids. On top of that, the dark ending would have gone against the film's lighthearted tone. Disney's The Little Mermaid changes were also required due to Andersen's story structure.
“The Little Mermaid” has bombed with moviegoers in China and South Korea amid racist critiques in some quarters over the casting of Black actress Halle Bailey as main character Ariel. Disney's live-action remake has made only $3.6 million in mainland China since opening there on May 26, according to Box Office Mojo.
While some of Sebastian's features resemble a lobster, Sebastian is definitely a crab, as is stated in The Little Mermaid itself a few times. This includes the scene where the obsessed Chef Louis refers to Sebastian as a crab, and since he's a professional, he really should know.
