Differences Between Han Christian Andersen And The Little Mermaid

1435 Words6 Pages
The Difference Between Two Tails Often times people forget that Walt Disney got many of his ideas for movies from previous fairy-tales and folklore. Since I was young my personal favorite Disney movie has been The Little Mermaid.. However, it scarcely crossed my mind as I grew older that there was a different story contradicting almost everything in the film. Despite bearing some similarities, the striking differences between Hans Christian Andersen’s and Walt Disney’s tales of The Little Mermaid have just furthered my love for Disney’s version. Andersen’s tale of “The Little Mermaid”, originally published in 1837, features a nameless mermaid who is referred to, simply, as the Little Mermaid. She is ten years old at the beginning of the story…show more content…
In this adaptation, she is sixteen years old at the start of the film and the youngest of King Triton’s (The Sea King) seven daughters. In this film, Ariel is portrayed much different from how Andersen described his Little Mermaid. Ariel is a very joyful character who has an adventurous and vibrant personality. She has a mind of her own and does much of what she wants to, whether it’s against her father’s rules or not. Showing her independence, Ariel often says things along the lines of “I 'm not a child anymore!” to her father, the Sea King, and her mentor figure, Sebastian the…show more content…
Readers know that he is sixteen years old and that the mermaid is infatuated with him (and much of humankind in general). The Prince does not know that he had been saved by the Little Mermaid, but instead thinks that the person who saved his life is the girl at the convent who found him on the shoreline. After finding the Little Mermaid he treats her much like a little girl. He says to the Little Mermaid “Yes, you are dear to me… for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me… [but] she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like her, and you have driven her image out of my mind.” (Andersen 10) By saying this to her, the Prince is expressing to the Little Mermaid that he has busied himself with her so much, since she is devoted to him, that he has nearly forgotten the girl he saw outside the convent. In this light, the Prince very much seems like he is just using the
Show More
Related

  • Differences Between Han Gristian Andersen And The Little Mermaid

    1945 Words  | 8 Pages

    A fundamental element of any childhood is watching a classic Disney movie on the couch and singing along to the catchy musical numbers while simultaneously falling in love with the characters. What many people do not know, is that most Disney movies are adaptations of classic fairytales. One of Disney’s most famous movies, The Little Mermaid, is an adaption of a fairytale written by dutch writer Hans Christian Andersen in 1876, Den lille havfrue. While the two texts share a title, they differ in

    Read More

  • History and Critique of Fairy Tales

    1504 Words  | 7 Pages

    fairytale in English. She was one of “the most prolific and influential author [of the genre]… She published four volumes of fairy tales [which] were translated into English in 1699. Her most famous tale today is The White Cat”(Heiner). There were plenty other authors who’s work is still praised today like Charles Perrault and the Grimm Brothers; between the three they composed Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Snow White. The most widely accepted definition

    Read More

More about Differences Between Han Christian Andersen And The Little Mermaid

Open Document