The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in association with Silver Screen Partners IV and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
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.
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.
The Disney film is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, which is inspired by an earlier novella. Even that novella, 'Undine' is thought to have been inspired by the French legend of the mermaid, Melusine. Traditionally these stories would have been told orally, being passed on and changing with each telling.
The Little Mermaid is an American media franchise created by The Walt Disney Company and it is based on The Little Mermaid created and written by Danish poet Hans Christian Andersen.
The Little Mermaid - animated Original Fairy Tale by Hans Christian Andersen
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.
Ariel is loosely based on the nameless protagonist of the Danish fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, but unlike the Andersen fairy tale in which the mermaid loses her prince, dies, and gains an immortal soul, the Disney adaptation has a happy ending.
Although The Hunchback of Notre Dame is already considered Disney's darkest animation for its themes of sin and lust, the original novel by Victor Hugo looms with despair persistently.
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. The sea witch's home in Andersen's story is even more sinister, filled with hybrid creatures and made of human bones, adding to the darkness.
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.
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.
Animated by Ruben A. Aquino, Ursula's original design was inspired by several different sea creatures, including manta rays and scorpion fish, before Clements finally decided to base the character on an octopus; her number of tentacles was reduced from eight to six for financial reasons.
It is never stated in the movie what exactly is the country of origin for Prince Eric. The creators of the movie stated that they got ideas for his castle from Italian, France, and Algerian architecture, so there is a combination of Mediterranean cultures. I always assumed that he was the Prince of Denmark.
Why did they make Ariel black in The Little Mermaid?
Even if we get nothing else out of these remakes, being racially nimble with how they are cast helps both old and young audiences reimagine what our cultural icons look like. Representation is important, but we also need to separate canon from whiteness and decolonize society's sense of who children should look up to.
In the 1989 animation, Ariel gives up her voice to Ursula the sea witch in exchange for legs. While Ariel is hesitant, Ursula reminds her that she will have no need for her voice above water. I was curious to see how the live action adaptation would navigate this complex plot line.
The character is based on the title character of Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" but was developed into a different personality for the 1989 animated film adaptation.
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.
Betrayed and developing great hate against the human and her father, Ursula decided she no longer wanted to be a mermaid and used her father's trident to transform her fishtail into tentacles, becoming the Sea Witch.
In Andersen's story, the mermaid is motivated by her desire for an immortal soul, not a desire for love and life on land. When the mermaid saves a drowning human prince, she learns that the love of a human might allow her an immortal soul. The mermaid decides to venture onto land, but her legs come at a price.
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.
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.
In the animated film, Ursula was a villain who enjoyed messing with people and getting what she wanted. In The Little Mermaid live-action, however, Ursula's backstory gets an adjustment — she is upgraded to Triton's sister and Ariel's aunt, making her revenge and motivations all the more sinister.
