Compare And Contrast The Little Mermaid Original Story

The original tale is written by Hans Christian Anderson. Disney’s version could be called a complete 180 from the original. There are some small parts that align, like her saving the prince and falling for him and visiting the sea witch who takes her tongue (voice) for her legs. The deal remains the same: the mermaid can only stay human if the prince falls in love with her and marries her. However, the penalty is far more severe, she will die if she fails. There is also an unfortunate penalty to have legs: every single step she takes on land will feel like she is walking on sharp glass. On the other hand in the Disney movie the prince ends up with another girl (in the story, they do get married and it’s not the sea witch). She is given one option left to return to the sea. If she kills the prince, she can keep her life and gets to be a mermaid again. I’d say that’s a win-win. Of course, it isn’t for her, she loves the prince so much that she can’t go through with it. The mermaid throws herself in the sea and turns into sea foam. At least she was faithful till the

Ponyo and The Little Mermaid have reflected important societal views on the individuality and standards for women during their time period. Both Ponyo and Ariel display promising female characters within a society where they did not value the individuality of women. The Little Mermaid (by Disney), and Ponyo (by Hayao Miyazaki), share similar storylines. They are both about women trying to become a part of the human world in order to be with the men they love. In order to do so, they make some mischievous and dangerous decisions.

Throughout the years there have been many versions of the classic tale, “Cinderella.” From European style all the way to Disney. However, they are all based on the same ancient story. Step mother, step sisters, Cinderella marries the love of her life, you get the idea. Yet, each individual story has its own unique touch to make it stand out just a little bit more than the previous story. The two Cinderella stories that I’m going to be comparing are two Disney films. The first one I am going to discuss was released in early spring of 1950, called “Cinderella”. The second story is a remake called, “Another Cinderella Story” released in 2008. Both films based on the same story line, yet completely different.

There are many different versions of the classic story, Cinderella. Grimm’s version was just as wonderful, but had more twisted moments than Disney’s story. Both stories are about a girl who overcomes the cruelty of her evil stepmother and stepsisters and ends up living happily ever after. Although, there are many differences, there are three that stand out. The three main differences are, the father died in disney's version but did not die in Gimms version, there was no fairy godmother in Grimm's version but there was in Disney's, and in the original version the stepsisters cut their heels and toes off so it would fit in the slipper but in the Disney version they did not.

story. With out going into too much detail it is safe to say that the Disney version was very much

The imagery used to describe how lovely the mermaid is portrays what the prince wanted as a wife. When the prince found her on the shore and took her in as one of his own people, he took care of and adored her, but he would not marry her because she could not

Everyone loves a good fairytale, and nothing is quite as magical and heartwarming as a Disney fairytale. The themes of love, comedy, and morality deem them as more than just little kids' stories, but suitable and entertaining tales for the entire family. This is known by a majority of the stories' readers. However, what one may not be so familiar with is the origin of these tales. Where did the stories of Cinderella, Ariel, and Rapunzel come from? The Disney writers certainly did not create them themselves. The differences in the originals will shock anyone familiar with Disney. And what about Snow White? There are differences between the original Brothers Grimm version of the ebony-haired, white-skinned princess and the Disney movie, believe it or not. Some major differences between both versions are the multiple ways the evil queen tries murdering her stepdaughter, the cause of Snow White's revival, as well as how the evil queen died. Why the story was altered is obvious:

The three versions of Cinderella that I am going to compare, and contrast is the Perrault, Grimm, and Lee’s. All the stories are similar, but they also have many differences as well. Many of the Cinderella stories were written in different time periods and all the stories fall back to the original version of Cinderella, where Cinderella has an evil stepmother, marries a wealthy man, and has two stepsisters.

She would only be granted a human soul if a human loved her with all his heart and married her. “The Prince married someone else, the Little Mermaid would not get a human soul, and she would turn to foam of the sea”(Anderesens 185). Everything the Little Mermaid had could be lost in a blink of an eye, but she did not think about the consequences. She thought only of what could possibly come out of this journey she has embarked on. The Prince married who he thought saved him, which was not the Little Mermaid. The only option she had left was to kill the Prince. Being too in love with the Prince, she could not do such a thing. “They told her that she loved the Prince so deeply that she gave her life to save his, and her soul would live forever” (Anderesend 185). Instead of turning into sea foam, the Little Mermaid rose up in the air and her soul lived forever. The Little Mermaid’s desire for knowledge and exploration made her a perfect heroine for this story. It takes courage to do what the Little Mermaid has done. Even though she was timid, she achieved more than expected.

On the surface the films Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid have little in common.

In the film The Little Mermaid by John Musker and Ron Clements, a theme that continually portrays itself is how woman are seen in society. In this film, women are defined by their appearance instead of their inner-self or personality by men and women. It also displays that woman are not treated fair. This is expressed in the film through multiple song lyrics and scenes. Ariel, the little mermaid, experiences many occasions where woman in a society are seen differently than men. In the film, Ariel was given an option to live under the sea and live life under the rule of her father, or be on land with her Prince Eric. Although this is clearly not laid out, a man figure is always above Ariel and could convey an idea that

Growing up watching Disney movies you never notice how sexist they really are. I always watched The Little Mermaid, but watching it now is very different. When you are younger you just watch things because you like them, you do not necessarily understand them. As you get older you realize what you were really being taught. Walt Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid displays a lot of sexism and displays how society should see women and how women should act.

When first reading “The Little Mermaid”, the reader is sure to notice the imagery painted by Anderson. He finds a way to make a place we see as dark and abysmal, the sea floor, seem bright, vibrant, and full of joy. One sentence Hans Christian Andersen writes, “The most wonderful trees and plants are growing down there, with stalks and leaves that bend so easily that they stir at the very slightest movement of the water, just as though they were alive” (216), perfectly exemplifies this imagery. It is also important to take note of how the imagery changes by location. In the part of the sea where the witch lives, the imagery evokes the feeling of gloom and loneliness that one would naturally expect from the sea floor. Above the surface of the ocean, in the human world, the author uses imagery that quite frankly blows the beauty of our world out of proportion. Andersen writes, “The whole sky had looked like gold, she said, and the clouds—well, she just couldn’t describe how beautiful they were as they sailed, all crimson and violet, over her head.” (218) This makes something we find trivial seem like something everyone must see before they die. While some may view this as odd, it is important to consider that the story centers around a mermaid who has never seen these things before.

In conclusion the different versions of each Sleeping Beauty story do not differ a whole lot from the original, my favorite is the movie version, the other stories of Sleeping Beauty just seem kind of forgettable and easy to mix around different plot points into different stories. For Beauty and the Beast, they differ quite a bit from those original stories, mainly to add suspense. The Beastly version I almost forgot that it was based on Beauty and the Beast, because it is that different. In my opinion, fairy tale adaptations work better when they stick more to the source

Cinderella by Grimm and its Disney version has the same plot and same main characters. Minor details are changed in the written fairy tale and its popular adaption but these changes can help to judge about the tendencies of the contemporary pop culture.