Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Disney little mermaid vs han christian andersen
The little mermaid by christian andersen analysis
The little mermaid by christian andersen analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Disney little mermaid vs han christian andersen
Which Tail is Best?
Many people ranging from young children all the way up to adults are familiar with the famous 1989 Disney production of the Little Mermaid directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. Most people are unaware that the movie is based on the short story. This short is called “The Little Mermaid” written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. When comparing the film to the short story, the film is the best version of the fairy tale. The short story has a darker theme and impractical decision making which contributes to the film’s superiority to the short story. The Disney studios helped make the movie more memorable by adding musical numbers. By doing this, it gave the movie opportunities to become musicals and plays. Not only is the film better suited for kids, but it has a more intriguing plot, fun and lovable characters, has a villain with clearer motives, and, like all Disney princess movies have, a happily ever after.
In Andersen’s interpretation, the little mermaid’s desires are very selfish and
The song “Part of Your World” is one of the most memorable songs in Disney history. By doing this, the movie is much more appealing to children which would most likely bring in better reviews from the adults. In the film, the plot is very intriguing while still keeping a lovable, high spirited energy. Even though there are hardships and conflicts, it makes up for it in the end with a happily ever after. Even though the movie has a happy ending, there is still a big lesson that portrayed throughout the film. The lesson is even though your parents want something for you that you don’t think is necessary, it is your job to expand your horizons and not get stuck with what others think is best for you. Even if they mean well and you end up to be wrong in the end, the only regrets that you would’ve had were the things you didn’t
Most big ideas or changes in “The Princess and the Frog” occur within a song. For example, when Tiana sings “Almost There,” viewers are introduced to her lifelong dream of owning a restaurant. Extravagant instrumentation and artist Anika Noni Rose’s powerful voice creates a beautiful text painting. The music reflects Tiana’s determination to overcome the odds and live out her father’s ambitions. Seeing Tiana’s goal come to life through the song moves along the plot.
Anderson, Hans Christian. “The Little Mermaid.” Folk and Fairy Tales. 3rd ed. Eds. Martin Hallett and Barbara Karasek. Toronto: Broadview, 2002.
According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. The women in Disney movies are always beautiful, which help them to obtain a man. They are often encouraged to use their looks and their body to capture a man’s attention, and having a curvy, petite body is required in all good Disney women. The Little Mermaid is a 1989 movie directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, where “A mermaid princess makes a faustian...
Trites, Roberta. "Disney's Sub / Version of Andersen's The Little Mermaid." Journal of Popular Film and Television 18.4 (1991): 145-52. Print.
Disney Princess movies target children and are none other than a transfigured fairytale story in which innocence and moral virtue are questioned. In pursuit of romance and having the mindset of doing whatever it takes for love, Disney creates this magical world and targets the youth, especially young girls. Walt Disney was a creative and “radical filmmaker who changed [one’s] ...
Advertisements use celebrities and Disney characters to give young girls the idea of being able to imitate their lifestyle. By buying the merchandise of these princesses young girls are buying this mentality and promoting the message. Playboy bunny and Disney princesses are different yet similar in the way that they exploit female bodies. For instance, in the film Mulan her mother and aunts state, “good breeding and a tiny waist will bring honor to them all,” as in her family name (“Disney and Sexism – You-Tube”). This implies that having a tiny waist is more attractive than a usual figure. This leads young girls to believe that the only way their body would be appreciated is if they have the same frame as Mulan. Mulan’s figure seemed average and the females in her family who were helping her get dressed in order to be presentable they used a fabric ribbon lace material to tighten her waist. This extremely emphasized in the movie giving the message that the only way your family will accept you is if you are thin. This Disney princess is over-sexualized because she uses her appearance to attain luxuries. Her family wants her to go on a date against her will in order to marry a man who she does not love. She struggles with her inner self. The producers show that even when a woman is strong she must please others.
Once upon a time, there was a 16 year old mermaid princess named Ariel who gave up her voice, an important part of her identity, in order to be with a man who she became infatuated with at just one glance. Ariel has a very traditional gender-stereotypical role in the film, as the helpless, clueless, naive, physically weak, submissive, and attractive female protagonist that Disney films, especially the classics, portray so often (England). There is a lot of controversy surrounding this film in regards to its patriarchal ideals. The Little Mermaid, like most media, is build for the ‘male gaze’, a term coined by Laura Mulvey that suggests that visual entertainment, such as movies, are structured to be viewed by a masculine consumer. I will argue that the male gaze perpetuates harmful gender-stereotypes in The Little Mermaid.
When the word “fairytale” is mentioned, nearly everyone thinks of light-hearted stories with friendly characters and happy endings. However, these are not the ideas that classic fairytales originally sparked. In fact, numerous modern Disney movies were based off stories that were not so sugar coated. In the 19th century, the Brothers Grimm were responsible for multiple of these popular children’s tales. The Disney remakes of classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Tangled, and Snow White exclude the dark, twisted themes that are significant in the Brothers Grimm fairytales, because society tendencies continue to evolve toward sheltering and overprotecting young children.
In both Hans Christian Andersons “The Little Mermaid,” and Disney’s version of the story, the main character— a young and beautiful mermaid— waits anxiously for her fifteenth birthday to venture from her father’s underwater castle to the world above the water. As the story carries on the mermaids priorities change; her modest and selfless nature is revealed towards the end in Andersen’s version. However, Disney’s version encompasses a rather shallow ending and plot throughout. The theme found in comparing the two versions reveal that Andersen’s substance trumps Disney’s entertainment factor in fairy tales.
Although the film received rave reviews and substantial profit, I argue that the Disney adaptation loses the fundamental elements of Andersen’s original story and presents a new narrative laced with negative values and inferior moral lessons. The changes in the Disney remake are closely connected to cultural and social aspects of America in the late 1980’s, making it arguably more relatable and successful for current audiences of the time. However, Disney’s adaptation of The Little Mermaid perpetuates negative American ideals and incorporates classic Disney fairytale elements, ultimately erasing the positive moral overarching theme of Hans Christian Andersen’s original story. The historical, cultural, and social setting of both the original fairytale and the Disney adaptation of The Little Mermaid are incredibly important when analyzing the differences between the two. Hans Christian Andersen wrote The Little Mermaid in 1837 in Denmark.
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
The text I will be deconstructing is the Walt Disney Feature Animation film The Little Mermaid released in 1989. The film was directed by Ron Clements and produced by John Musker. The Little Mermaid (1989) is the story of a young mermaid who gives up her voice in order to become human and find her one true love Prince Eric. I find the film to be incredibly significant, not only in its portrayal of feminine roles, the human body, and the willingness to sacrifice for true love, but in the film's vast audience and popularity. I will be using the feminist framework, as described in Critical Media Studies: An Introduction by Ott and Mack (2010), to deconstruct The Little Mermaid (1989).
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.
The mermaid is faced with a dilemma of having to kill the prince to get her tail back or be stuck as a human forever. The mermaid decides that she cannot bring herself to kill the prince and turns to seafoam as a result. Andersen’s The Little Mermaid is better than Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid because it has more of a mythical feel to the story, has a better life lesson, and isn’t as child-like as Disney.
“The mermaid swam with her prince toward the beach. She laid him in the fine white sand, taking care to place his head in the warm sunshine, far from the water. She also had to give up her voice, which she had done so willingly, endure tremendous amounts of pain to have the legs of a human, and give up her life as a mermaid as well as never be able to be with her sisters at the bottom of the ocean again. The little mermaid passed all of the tests that the universe threw at her, but in the end, she did not get to marry the prince and this is a great example of a message from the author that life can be unfair sometimes.