For my research paper, I’m writing about The Little Mermaid.
I knew it was going to be very different from the Disney version that I grew up
with and loved, but I didn’t realize that the ending would be completely different.
I think it’s really interesting how Disney has taken classic
stories and changed them. I know that the story behind Frozen had the Elsa
character as evil, and she wasn’t portrayed as evil at all. Misunderstood, yes.
It happens with them all. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, all of them.
The idea that Disney has to change Hans Christian Andersen’s
stories so much. These were stories for children, but now they’re not “Disney-appropriate.”
The little mermaid’s reason for making the prince fall in
love with her was not just because she was in love with him, but because she
wanted an immortal soul, which she could only get by making a human fall
completely in love with her. In Disney’s adaptation, it was similar. She wanted
to become a human. In the story, she also had permission to go to the surface
and see humans interact, while in Disney’s adaptation she could not because her
mother died by humans (That’s in The Little Mermaid III: Ariel’s Beginnings).
It is definitely darker than the Disney movie in some aspects. The sea witch is
about the same. I think I was actually more surprised by the similarities of
the two stories than the differences.
I’m only focusing on The Little Mermaid for my paper, but I
will definitely be reading other stories for myself, and possibly for reference
in the paper. I highly recommend that everyone reads at least one original
story and thinks about how it’s different from Disney and why they’ve been changed
over time.
I love Disney, and I LOVE the Little Mermaid. But, the
original story was so different and, after I read it, I continued thinking about
it for the rest of the night and the next day, and OMG it was just really cool.
The Little Mermaid was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and to read the
original story now is just so weird, but really great.
