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 climax of the remake closely follows the original 1989 animated film, with Ariel ultimately defeating Ursula. The film ends with Ariel and Eric getting married and embarking on a new adventure together, exploring uncharted waters on their own ship.
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.
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.
Crucially, King Triton had seen the error of his ways by the end of The Little Mermaid, granting his daughter the gift of becoming human permanently. Ariel became human because she wanted to satisfy her curiosity, learning and growing in a way life in the sea couldn't provide.
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Was the original Little Mermaid dark?
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.
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.
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.
Triton confronts Ursula and agrees to give up himself and his magical trident in return for Ariel's freedom. Ursula then uses the trident to expand into monstrous proportions and attempts to kill Ariel and Eric, but Eric manages to impale Ursula with the splintered bowsprit of a wrecked ship, and she dies.
The new movie also gives Ariel more control over her own narrative. Rather than have Eric save the day by finishing off Ursula, it's Ariel who takes control of her own story and tries to undo the mistakes she made bargaining with the sea witch. Moreover, it reinforces Ariel's most precious trait: her curiosity.
There are no post-credit scenes in The Little Mermaid. While having a mid- or post-credit scene has become more and more popular in pop-culture content thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's influence, producers opted not to insert any in The Little Mermaid, which is under the same banner as the MCU, Disney.
How does The Little Mermaid 2023 end? After defeating Ursula, Ariel is transformed into a human being by the magic power of King Triton's trident to enjoy her life with Eric. Unlike in the Disney classic, there is no wedding scene in the live-action adaptation, offering a modern take on Ariel and Eric's relationship.
What is the overall message or moral of The Little Mermaid?
Disney's version portrays a more censored moral: one is able to achieve true happiness and acceptance by undergoing extreme change for the one they love. Through minor sacrifice and patience during said change, eventually they will gain the love and respect of those they changed for.
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.
As Ariel is half fish, she cannot be categorized by our ethnicities and races. The animated “Little Mermaid” movie only portrayed her with light skin and red hair because that was the American interpretation at the time.
The reported box office result of The Little Mermaid 2023 remake is about $560 million. On paper, these numbers look good. The film grossed over $298 million domestically and more than $263 million internationally.
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.
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.
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.
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.
