Monday, April 14, 2014

L is for Little Mermaid

We're all familiar with Disney's version of The Little Mermaid, with it's talking crabs and catchy musical numbers. But the original version written by the famous Hans Christian Andersen is infinitely more complex. The two tales begin very similarly . . . Mermaid sees boy, falls instantly in love, mermaid saves boy from drowning. But from there the stories take very different paths.

In the Andersen version, the Little Mermaid tells her grandmother of her love, asking the difference between humans and the sea folk. The difference, she learns, is that while humans have a shorter lifespan than mermaids, they posses eternal souls that ascend to Heaven. Mermaids, on the other hand, do not posses souls and become nothing more than foam on the water when they die.

Much like her Disney counterpart, Andersen's Little Mermaid, longing to be with her prince, goes to the Sea Witch and gets transformed into a human. But when the prince marries a neighboring princess, the Little Mermaid's sisters raise to the ocean's surface and tell her that if she kills the prince and lets his blood drip onto her feet, the spell will be broken and she can return to her original form. Instead of murdering her true love on his wedding night, she throws herself into the sea and end her life. However, rather than becoming foam on the water like the other mermaids who have died, her sacrifice allows her to become one of the "Daughters of the Air" with the chance of one day earning a soul. 

Thus the Andersen version becomes so much more than a "romance" story where a beautiful sea maiden must give up all she has ever known in the name of love. Instead, the story becomes one of transformation, of a soulless sea creature sacrificing everything  her body, her love, and even her life  to reach a higher state and earn an immortal soul. It's definitely one of the more complex of the fairy tales, and one which I think modern audiences are more willing to butcher in favor of the far simpler love story. 

My favorite version:
Despite it's lack of complexity and my love of the original Andersen version (for which I hope they make a good movie of someday), I still enjoy Disney's The Little Mermaid (you've just gotta love "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl").
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This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is Fairy Tales. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you'd like to check out the other participants, simply click here.

20 comments:

  1. I am always intrigued by the different variations in the Little Mermaid, I remember reading one where to use her legs it felt as if she were walking on glass, and her sisters had to sacrifice their beautiful hair to get the solution from the sea witch. A little darker but still a powerfully turning love story :)

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  2. I have never seen the Disney version because I just knew that a Disney film wouldn't be the same as Hans Christian Andersen. I once saw a Russian film version and I think that was even sadder than the fairy tale.
    Tasha
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    1. I think I saw that Russian version too. Where the "witch" was on land and there was the guy who was in love with mermaid who kept trying to help her?

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  3. I don't think I ever saw the Disney version, but now I want to read the story.

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  4. can't believe i dont already follow you - your fantasy posts are epic! (hee)
    i love the kingdoms! reminds me of the sat night live when they did the disney princess like "housewives" - housewives of fairy tales? hilarious!
    little mermaid is an all time fave disney movie - different from tale, but splendidly so!
    happy l day!

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  5. Her sacrifice gave her something she never would've had otherwise.
    Would you believe I've never watched the Disney version?

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  6. I always felt this was so sad and the man was an ass for not seeing how wonderful the mermaid was. I felt bad for her and didn't want her to die even though she was able to get her soul.

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  7. The original version wouldn't have made for a good Disney movie, but something about the original makes me like it more. :)

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  8. (That picture looks almost like a Rackham?) I remember seeing the Disney movie and how astounding it seemed; they say it revitalized their animation studio. Then I went and read the original story and was utterly heartbroken.

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  9. This was one of my favorite stories as a kid and the movie (while different) captures a lot of the magic. "Kiss the Girl" is one of Disney's best. Thanks for the insight S.L.!

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  10. I LOVE the music in the Disney film but I still prefer the Anderson version. It's sad but it's also sweet and beautiful and --to me --more innocent because the little mermaid is so self less even when the prince fall legitimately in love with someone else. (I don't think it makes him a jerk to not be in love with someone who is in love with him. Expecting love in return for love as if it were some kind of currency is a very possessive way to look at it.)

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  11. i rather like ursula. and flotsam and jetsam. poor, unfortunate soul is one of my favorites.

    faerie tale theater from the 80s did the h.c.a. version of the tale. i used to watch it as a kid. loved it.

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  12. And, of course, the Disney also had the penis castle poster for a while.

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  13. I love the original tale, it just seems so much more meaningful.

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  14. The original tale is fascinating. I never read it. I bet if done right it would make a great film maybe even series.

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  15. I'm torn. I've always loved the original version, with her many sacrifices. (Dancing for the prince and exploring with him even though every step feels like knives are cutting her feet.) I have a treasured copy of a Golden Book version with the 3D cover of the original story.

    But the music in the disney one is awesome. :D

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  16. Many of the old children's stories/fables were macabre, violent, and terrifying. Gotta love the days before the censors got in the act! Hahaha!

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  17. So many of the faerie tales written in the past had a specific meaning behind them. They were tales to frighten children into behaving, or to teach them the evils of the world. But they were also designed to give hope to them as well of a better world. That's why The Little Mermaid (the original version) has been such a favorite tale of mine. (Of course, the music of Disney's movie is so much fun that I like it too.)

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  18. yup, love the complexity of the original, and the music of the disney...great post

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  19. I grew up on Disney's version and it remained my favorite Disney film for my entire childhood. Then at some point a few years later my friend showed me an animated version of the original tale. I was beyond traumatized. To see my favorite Disney princess sans strategically placed shells ultimately giving up her life absolutely ruined me. So much so, in fact, that I completely missed (or perhaps the animated tale I saw changed the ending) her turning into a daughter of the air because in my memory she ended up as sea foam.

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