After the Little Mermaid sacrifices herself to save the prince, the daughters of the air save her life and turn her into an ethereal spirit like them. They explain that because of her selflessness, they are giving her an opportunity to earn her very own soul and ascend to heaven.

What is the real story behind The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale. The plot is drawn from Hans Christian Andersen's imagination rather than a specific folktale. However, Andersen's writing was influenced by traditional folklore about merfolk and water nymphs.

Is The Little Mermaid a dark story?

Mermaids Have No Souls In The Fairy Tale

One of the ways that The Little Mermaid's original story is dark compared to the Disney adaptation is that Hans Christian Andersen's story pays particular attention to the souls and the potential afterlife of the individuals in the story.

Is The Little Mermaid immortal?

Additionally, the Little Mermaid will not gain an immortal soul unless she marries the Prince. If she fails to marry the prince she will die and subsequently turn into seafoam.

What does mermaid become at the end?

The Little Mermaid becomes melancholic and asks her grandmother if humans can live forever. Her grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than mermaids (300 years), but that they have an eternal soul that lives on in heaven, while mermaids turn to sea foam at death and cease to exist.

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What happens to The Little Mermaid when she dies?

After the Little Mermaid sacrifices herself to save the prince, the daughters of the air save her life and turn her into an ethereal spirit like them. They explain that because of her selflessness, they are giving her an opportunity to earn her very own soul and ascend to heaven.

What happened to Ariel's mom?

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.

Was the original Little Mermaid black?

Since the animated feature film had a white mermaid as Ariel, some people are angry that Disney has gone with a black actress in the live-action. Some people also believe that Hans Christian Andersen described the Little mermaid as a white mermaid in his book. Therefore, Disney should have cast a white actress instead.

How old is Ariel?

While Ariel is 16 years old in Disney animated The Little Mermaid film, her love interest is not the same age. The character's voice actor, Christopher Daniel Barnes, was just 16 years old at the time of recording the film, leading to the assumption that the character was intended to be the same age.

What is the lifespan of a mermaid?

Life Cycle

Mermaids live for hundreds of years, much longer than humans but they do eventually face a natural death.

Is Ariel The Black Little Mermaid?

The new version stars Halle Bailey, most known for her role in the Grammy-nominated Chloe x Halle R&B duo, as Ariel in the actress's first starring feature film role. This casting of a Black woman as the iconic mermaid has made waves.

Why is the Little Mermaid 2023 so dark?

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.

Is The Little Mermaid Golden Age?

Disney's telling of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale was a triumph, not least because of its classic soundtrack.

What race is Ariel in the original Little Mermaid?

In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish. As Ariel is half fish, she cannot be categorized by our ethnicities and races.

What time period is The Little Mermaid set in?

The story of "The Little Mermaid" takes in the mid-1800s, predominantly, in three different locations: the underwater kingdom, the Prince's palace, and the sea witch's dwelling. The little mermaid travels between these three places throughout the story.

What does The Little Mermaid symbolize?

What does The Little Mermaid symbolize? The little mermaid symbolizes of loneliness and not having a place in society. She feels like she does not belong in the sea, but when she arrives on land, she discovers that she does not have a real place there either.

Is Ariel 15 or 16?

Ariel is 16 years old in the animated film, which certainly lends to her willfully young behavior, but makes her quick marriage to Eric a little worrying. The live-action remake ages the mermaid by two years, noting the change in the production notes by pointing out that Ariel's a "spirited 18-year-old."

Is Ariel permanently a human?

Ariel returns home, where she is unhappy without Eric. On Sebastian's advice, Triton transforms Ariel into a human permanently, and she marries Eric.

How old is Eric if Ariel is 16?

Ariel and Eric

Ariel was just 16 in The Little Mermaid when she made a deal with the sea witch Ursula so she could pursue Prince Eric, who was 18, on the land!

Is Ariel's dad white?

The casting is beautifully “colour blind”, with the prince being white and his mother being Black (he is adopted). At the same time, the Little Mermaid's father is white, while her mermaid sisters are of various different races and ethnicities.

Why is Prince Eric's mom black?

There are several instances when Eric's mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni), who is Black and adopted him as a child when he washed up from the ocean, chastises him for his obvious love for beings that are considered other.

Which Disney Princess is black?

In Disney's nearly 100-year history, there has been only one Black Disney princess — Princess Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog,” a 2009 animated feature starring Anika Noni Rose.

Why is Ursula evil?

Triton received the trident while Ursula received the magic Nautilus shell. Though the two were meant to rule the seas together, Ursula's greed and use of dark magic to usurp Triton led to her being banished. The desire for revenge and power is her motivation for the show.

Why do Ariel's sisters look different?

One theory is that each of Ariel's sisters represents different oceans that are home to various cultures and ethnicities. It's pretty problematic to have mermaids who all look the same representing such an expansive underwater world.

Why is Ursula not a mermaid?

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.