In the original story, The Little Mermaid is motivated by a fear of death and desires a soul and an afterlife in addition to love. The original Little Mermaid story is much darker and violent than Disney's version, with the sea witch brutally cutting out the mermaid's tongue in exchange for legs.
The theory becomes darker with the suggestion that Captain Hook killed Ariel's mother, Athena. In The Little Mermaid II, Ariel has a flashback to her mother's death, when Ariel and her sisters were just children.
While the original tale was likely influenced by folklore about mermaids and sirens, scholars have speculated that "The Little Mermaid" was also inspired by the author's own life, as some events in the story parallel his experiences with navigating family pressures, discovering his true identity, and pursuing love.
Why the latest "Little Mermaid," played by Halle Bailey, is just one in a long line of Black mermaids. When Halle Bailey was cast in the live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” some critics blasted the decision, proclaiming Princess Ariel could not possibly be Black.
She chooses to die instead. Andersen's original The Little Mermaid ending is so much darker than Disney's as a result. While she makes an incredibly selfless decision and becomes a spirit of the air, it's still a tragic ending for the character who doesn't find love or a welcoming life above the water.
Film Theory: The DARK Secret of the Little Mermaid (Disney)
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.
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.
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.
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.
1. The little mermaid in the book was white. Here is how Hans Christian Andersen described the little mermaid: “They were six lovely girls, but the youngest was the most beautiful of them all.
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.
The lengths she goes to achieve that is nothing like Walt Disney's fairytale. The original story is dark that included a murder and suicide. When Little Mermaid visits Ursula, the Sea Witch she strikes a deal, swapping her voice and tongue for legs. She will only survive if she wins over the affections of the Prince.
There's long since been a fan theory that Ariel and her sisters represent bodies of water from each of the Seven Seas. While the sisters mostly stay in their palace, it makes more sense to have them frequently travel to, if not live in, the oceans they represent.
So according to a theory, Ariel is actually not a mermaid, but a Siren. And sirens have the ability to enchant people. and risk their lives for them. And Eric is definitely willing to risk a lot.
Melissa McCarthy knew she had big tentacles to fill portraying villainous Ursula for the live-action “The Little Mermaid.” McCarthy fell hard for the outrageously coiffed, half-octopus sea witch of the 1989 Disney animated original while working as a nanny for two VHS-obsessed children.
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.
In July of 2019, the live action remake of the classic Disney movie Little Mermaid was announced, with young Black actress and singer Halle Bailey cast as the lead Ariel. After Covid delays, the official premiere date for the Little Mermaid is now May 26, 2023.
Academy Award-winner Ariana DeBose will portray the first Afro-Latina princess. The trailer for Disney's latest animation film, Wish, is here, and we're already in love with the leading princess, voiced by West Side Story Academy Award-winning actress Ariana DeBose.
The reason studios make beloved characters black in the live action adaptations is so they don't have to go to the trouble of actually giving special, brand new unique characters made from scratch to black people.
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.
Diversity. Ariel had 3 male animal friends, so they needed to make one a girl. Same reason they made Jock a girl (Jacqueline aka Jacque) in the Lady & The Tramp live-action remake.
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.
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.
