Yes, it's sad – or has its sad elements. But it's also so very beautiful. Now, the 1989 Disney adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” is great. It's enchanting and funny and lovely– but the thing is, it seems very much to be its own story, and a different story from the story Hans Christian Andersen told.

Why is the original Little Mermaid so sad?

Hans Christian Andersen's original Little Mermaid story is much darker, featuring painful consequences for the main character's choices. In the original tale, mermaids have no souls and must earn one by getting a human to fall in love with them, leading to a tragic ending.

Did the original Little Mermaid have a happy ending?

Andersen's The Little Mermaid ending is not as happy as the Disney version, as Ariel essentially sacrifices her life without getting with Eric, who never falls in love with her and marries someone else.

Does Little Mermaid have a sad ending?

In the end, when she cannot bring herself to kill the prince with the dagger, she prepares to throw herself into the sea. Neptune himself intervenes and says that for her selfless act, she has earned the right to become a mermaid again and rejoin her family, giving the story a happy ending.

What happens to the original Little Mermaid?

In the Disney movie, Ariel marries Eric and the two live happily ever after. In Andersen's fairy tale, the Little Mermaid takes the knife and agrees to kill the prince. But when she tries to do it, she finds that she can't kill him, and instead, she sacrifices herself to save his life and turns into sea foam.

The Little Mermaid - animated Original Fairy Tale by Hans Christian Andersen

Was the original Little Mermaid a dark story?

The original story behind The Little Mermaid

In Hans Christian Andersen's original story, things don't end so rosily. In fact, the story is tragic throughout, with Ariel's transformation to human causing her constant agonising pain, before her heart is broken when her prince marries someone else.

Was Ariel's mother a human?

Who killed Ursula in the original Little Mermaid?

While the animated battle against Ursula ends with Eric piercing her in the chest with his ship's bow, the live-action remake changes it so that Ariel is the one at the helm. When Ursula grows into a behemoth version of herself, Ariel steers a ship into her to deliver the killing blow.

Was the original Little Mermaid black?

For the animated movie, Disney made the little mermaid white, made her hair red, and gave her a name, Ariel.

What is the mental illness in The Little Mermaid?

In the movie The Little Mermaid (Clements & Musker, 1989), Ariel displays symptoms of disposophobia, which is defined as the fear of getting rid of things.

What color was the original Little Mermaid?

Yes, in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, he describes the mermaid as having a “white skin.”

Why was The Little Mermaid so dark?

And that brings us to the sad justification - it's cheaper. 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.

What is the original version of The Little Mermaid?

First published in 1837, The Little Mermaid was written in Danish and titled Den lille havfrue. The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale. The plot is drawn from Hans Christian Andersen's imagination rather than a specific folktale.

Which Disney princess has the darkest story?

What was inappropriate in The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid has some nudity and sexual activity. For example: Ariel is naked after her transformation into a human, though she is mostly covered by her hair and only her legs are shown.

Why is there a banned version of The Little Mermaid?

Why The Little Mermaid's 1989 VHS Cover Was Banned - IMDb. The original VHS cover of Disney's The Little Mermaid was banned due to suggestive artwork featuring phallic imagery. The controversial cover caused a lot of controversy and Disney recalled and replaced the VHS covers.

Why did Disney make Ariel black?

On the significance of casting a Black actress as Ariel

Sherri Hope Culver: To have a Disney character who is not just a princess but a live-action, real flesh and blood person that children can be inspired by is important. This is because people of color are less likely to see themselves reflected in the media.

What ethnicity is Ariel?

Disney's Ariel is not the same as Anderson's little mermaid. The movie is loosely based on the fairy tale, so Disney has the freedom to give Ariel any skin color they want. In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish.

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.

Why did Ursula hate Ariel?

Ursula's plan was not only to trick Ariel, so she could own her but also to get rid of her, so she could replace King Triton and thus rule over the oceans. However, her reasons to do so, for her resentment towards King Triton and company, and for her banishment and isolation weren't revealed in the movie.

What happened to Ariel's mom?

Ariel's Mother Had a Brutal Disney Death

Athena took too long to try and escape (going back for a music box she'd gotten for her husband as a gift), and she ends up crushed between the pirate ship and the rocks of the cove. Ariel's mother is far from the only material figure in Disney Animation to die.

Why is Ursula so 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.

Was Ariel's mom crushed?

Most of the mermaids and mermen escape safely, but Attina, the oldest princess, gets her tail stuck between two rocks. Athena is able to free her, but she is crushed to death by the ship while trying to save the music box, and the ship sinks after hitting the rocks. Athena's death leaves Triton completely devastated.

Who is Ariel's real mother?

Queen Athena is a minor character in Disney's 2008 animated feature film The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. As ruler of Atlantica alongside her husband, King Triton, Athena is the mother of Ariel and her six older sisters.