Reaction to Origin of The Little Mermaid

Me gusta.

Well, me gusta minus some of the more gory details such as the little mermaid actually having her tongue cut off. (Sidenote: almost wrote "the princess" instead of the little mermaid, the power of Disney is strong. Yes, I know she is actually a princess but that was like unimportant in this story. It's in the Disney version where I personally think her being a princess is a bigger deal.)

While reading it, I definitely found myself comparing it to the movie which I haven't seen in almost a year so I'd say 85% of the details are pretty murky in my head. I tried to compare some of the bigger details, like the fact that technically she was allowed to go up to the surface and it was not a forbidden thing like in the movie. However, the original story might have been more traumatic what with the little mermaid seeing the ship sink and everyone but her prince die on her first visit to the surface. But I mean hey, you do you Hans Christian Andersen. You do you. I really enjoyed his description of the palace, gardens, and the general view of life under the sea. It sounded so pretty, I don't think Disney did it justice. (haha Justise, like Justise Winslow. GO DUKE! and gtcc.)

I also liked the meaning of this story better. Sure, the mermaid lost her voice and tail for like forever and ever and left her family like it was nothing just for this prince, but the fact that she did not end up with him kind of shows that "true love" was not her sole purpose in life. Instead, her story seemed to focus on her obtaining a soul so that she could enjoy life after death(?) in that wondrous place in the sky (so I guess heaven). Since she didn't kill her Prince, it showed that she valued life over romance. Once she became a daughter of the air and Andersen went on to describe how she could still gain a soul by finding good children, it felt like he brought a new moral to the story. It was sort of a push to get children to be good because if they were, they could help mermaids gain souls and reach heaven which I'm assuming might have been wanted during this time period (not sure though).

This story definitely had enough details to become a movie that wasn't focused on a teenager girl being a rebel for a boy that did not even remember her. However, Disney has to make its money and when true love becomes Disney's tag, that's what they're going to go with. I think a remake of this story could be good if done by the right people though so maybe that'll be an upcoming project. If only.