"The Little Mermaid" was written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1836 and first published by C.A. Reitzel in Copenhagen on 7 April 1837 in Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. (Danish: Eventyr, fortalte for Børn.
What is the original version of The Little Mermaid?
Andersen's The Little Mermaid was first published in 1837. The story was a part of a collection called Fairy Tales Told for Children. As with Disney's iteration of the classic tale, Ariel, who is only referred to by her titular name, wants nothing more than to explore the shore up above.
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.
The Little Mermaid is the original film of the franchise. It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and was released to theaters on November 17, 1989, by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman.
What was the original Little mermaid before Disney?
Long before Walt Disney's studio became famous, Hans Christian Andersen first wrote about a mermaid who fell in love with a human prince. Published in 1837, along with a collection of other fairytales, this story was called The Little Mermaid.
The VERY Messed Up Origins of The Little Mermaid (REVISITED!) | Disney Explained - Jon Solo
Was the original Little Mermaid a dark story?
The Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is a very grim story, featuring all kinds of gruesome elements that wouldn't fit well into a family-friendly animated film. Disney's version of the tale is now more well-known than Andersen's, with the darker details being stuck in the original story.
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.
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.
Ultimately cut from the film, the original script revealed Ursula to be King Triton's banished sister and Ariel's aunt, according to DVD commentary. 9.
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.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
The Little Mermaid is a fairy tale of Danish origin and was originally conceived by writer Hans Christian Andersen, who was best known for his riveting fairy tales. Andersen lived from 1805 to 1875.
In this novel, Ursula is King Triton's younger sister who was betrayed by him as a child for choosing a tentacled form instead of a mermaid's tail, and grew up as a human in the town of Ipswich with an adoptive human father.
While some of Sebastian's features resemble a lobster, Sebastian is definitely a crab, as is stated in The Little Mermaid itself a few times. This includes the scene where the obsessed Chef Louis refers to Sebastian as a crab, and since he's a professional, he really should know.
How many versions of The Little Mermaid are there?
There have been many movie incarnations of The Little Mermaid that's been told over the years, each taking a crack at bringing the fairy tale to life. Here are all 12 movie incarnations, both shorts and full-length features, about The Little Mermaid, ranked.
Ariel is the first Disney Princess to have Red Hair. Back in 1989, red head were very rarely seen. But Ariel made many red headed girls who otherwise didn't see themselves in movies had a red headed princess!
In The Little Mermaid remake, Scuttle plays a bigger role than in the original. Instead of Scuttle being a male seagull, Scuttle is a northern gannet which is a female seabird. This allowed Scuttle to be included in the underwater scenes which ends up being an important change from the original movie.
Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid and appeared in CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, ABC's Laverne & Shirley, and NBC's ER. Carroll was an Emmy, Drama Desk, and Grammy Award winner, as well as a Tony Award nominee.
But in a desire to re-market these ladies to a chic clientele, it appears that they decided to shave more than a few pounds off of Ursula the Sea Witch and Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Because in order to be fashionable, you must be thin. The fact is, Ursula was fashionable.
Ariel makes this deal because she falls in love with Prince Eric and desires to be with him. Ursula specifically targets Ariel because she sees an opportunity to exploit her curiosity about the human world and her fascination with Prince Eric.
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.
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.
“[Ariel still] has red hair, because that's a very iconic part of her, but I really did admire the fact that because I'm a Black woman and I have locs, [the producers] wanted to incorporate that into Ariel's look,” she told the outlet.
