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Disney's The Little Mermaid is set to premiere on May 26, 2023, and fans have highly anticipated the arrival of the live-action remake of the original 1989 animated version of the film.
Viewers finally get to see their favorite characters come to life from the classic film and the anticipation for the film has already given birth to an all-new social media trend where fans revisit the original 1989 animated film and share their favorite moments from it.
The original film not only provided a nostalgic experience for fans but also reminded them how much of an important influence it was on the Disney we know today. However, not many realize that the film wasn't a Disney storyline to begin with as it was adapted from Hans Christian Anderson's 1837 novel titled The Little Mermaid, which was a much darker story than the one we know today.
Disney's decision to convert the dark coming-of-age story into something more of a fantasy love story was due to the kids-oriented viewership that the studio was known for. There remain many major differences between the film adaptation and the novel that fans are unaware of and so, without further ado, let's look at some of them.
The Little Mermaid: 5 ways the Disney film differs from the original story
1) Ariel's primary goal wasn't to win the heart of Prince Eric
While the crux of The Little Mermaid film adaptation is Ariel's quest to become a human and win the heart of her one true love Prince Eric, the original story by Hans Christian Anderson entails something entirely different.
The original story was a coming-of-age tale. It followed Ariel as she came to a deep realization that the difference in the lifespan between mermaids and humans was concerning. While mermaids lived up to 300 years and then turned into sea foam, humans, on the other hand, died, and their souls then went on to heaven. Wanting to live a normal life and explore the world above the sea, Ariel's main objective was to gain an eternal soul.
2) Ursula wasn't the antagonist of the story
Disney is known for inventing classic protagonist-antagonist storylines, and the majority of the films the studio has churned out have the same trope. With The Little Mermaid, the studio wanted to do exactly the same, and for the antagonist role chose Pat Caroll to voice the character of Ursula from the novel.
However, fans may be unaware, that Ursula's role in the novel wasn't evil at all, in fact, the character appeared very briefly in the novel. While Ursula's character in the film saw her make a deal with Ariel and work on her true intentions of enslaving her, the book saw the character making a deal with Ariel and then warning her about the consequences of becoming human. The character doesn't once appear in the book after. However, the film adaptation took this character and created another storyline altogether.
3) Prince Eric and Ariel do not end up together in the novel
While Prince Eric and Ariel's relationship was the central story in the film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, the novel's storyline focused on Ariel and her adventures as she explored the world, met new people, and worked on her objective of gaining an eternal soul by becoming a human.
While she embarked on her journey to become a human, she just happened to fall in love with Prince Eric who, unlike the film adaptation, was not the main character of the tale. On her path to gaining an eternal soul, she decided that she wanted to do so with her one true love. However, as the character grew up and matured, she realized that, to gain happiness in life, she didn't need someone else because she'd find happiness in her own actions.
While Ariel first encountered Prince Eric when she rescued him from drowning, unlike the film, the novel saw the former leave the sight. Upon waking up the prince discovered another woman passing by the scene and fell in love with her. Ariel, on the other hand, made a deal with Ursula and turned into a human. Despite her numerous attempts to make the prince fall in love with her, he chose to marry the woman whom he believed saved him from drowning.
4) Being human did not guarantee happiness for Ariel
The Little Mermaid film's premise was based on Ariel's wish to turn into a human and fall in love with Prince Eric; however, the only thing that the film told us about the process of turning into a human was that Ariel would have to exchange her voice for her legs and get her 'one true love's kiss' in a deal she made with the story's antagonist Ursula.
However, the consequences of becoming a human were much more dangerous than the movie let on. In addition to losing her voice after becoming a human, Ariel would have completely lost the ability to become a mermaid again, she would feel stabbing pain with every step she took, and if she failed to secure the prince's love, she would turn into sea foam.
5) The Little Mermaid novel had a tragic ending
As mentioned above, both the novel and film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, while centered around the character of Ariel, feature entirely different conclusions. While the film adaptation of the story saw Ariel eventually fail in her quest to secure Prince Eric's kiss and her father takes her place to become Ursula's servant, Eric stepped in to kill Ursula before it happened.
The movie, in a typical Disney fashion, ended with Eric receiving Triton's blessing to marry Ariel, and the lovers get together and proceed to live happily ever after. However, the novel, as mentioned above, saw Ariel fail to get Eric to love her as he marries another woman, and according to the deal she made with Ursula, she would have to die if she failed to get the prince to fall in love with her.
The novel's storyline saw Ariel wait for her death at sunrise while her sisters came up to the sea to bid her farewell, the only way out of the deal was if Ariel killed the prince. However, seeing the prince had found true happiness, she refused to do so. Her selfless nature was appreciated by the daughters of the air, and she was allowed to continue living as a mermaid for 300 years as long as she promised to perform good deeds throughout this life span.
The Little Mermaid is all set for its arrival in theaters on May 26, 2023.
