The prince literally localize up a pillow outside his way for her to catch some Z’s on , so that she ’d never be too far away … then tie someone else .
On Friday, Disney’s live-action adaptation ofThe Little Mermaidis hitting the big screen, and I could not be more excited. As someone whose favoriteDisney princesshas always been Ariel, I know the independence-seeking fish’s story backward and forward…but I only vaguely recounted details from theoriginal storypenned by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837.
So, ahead of the premiere, I read the Danish author’s fairy taleDen lille Havfrueand was shocked to find the story has been completely transformed since its inception. Here are 23 details from the literary work that you probably didn’t know:
1.Besides the merfolk, maritime creatures in the original story were not given personalities or human-like traits. Unlike theDisneyadaptation, where characters Sebastian the sea crab and Flounder play a major role and have outspoken opinions, other fish are more like pets in Hans' story.
2.“Part of Your World” is one ofThe Little Mermaid’s most recognizable songs, and features Ariel swimming around her cave of hoarded human knickknacks. This is all much to the dismay of her father, the king, who hates anything that has to do with humans. But this can’t be further from the original telling. In fact, each of the king’s daughters tend to their own personal gardens, which they’ve all decorated with sunken treasures.
Well , everyone except for the youngest princess , our translation of Ariel , who remains unknown throughout the text and loathe the idea of having useless trinkets in her garden . or else , she keep a neat array of cherry-red flowers and a single marble statue .
3.Furthermore, the little mermaid’s grandmother — who does not make an appearance in theDisney movies— loved visiting the surface in her youth and shares stories about her adventures up there with her grandchildren.
None of this would have been OK with Disney ’s King Triton , who distance his land from individual after his wife die due to an encounter with a literary pirate ship .
4.The little mermaid doesn’t only have to live off her grandmother’s stories, though. At age 15, all mermaids are allowed to visit the surface at night to watch birds, ships, and towns. It’s a coming-of-age celebration, complete with royal adornments that include pearls and lilies in their hair, as well as oysters clamped to their tails.
When the narration begins , the small mermaid ’s oldest sister is turn 15 soon . Eventually , each of her four older sisters grows old enough to visit the Earth’s surface , but after a few flavor around , they each find as though the deep sea is practiced and the excitement wears off , becoming " indifferent " to the world above .
5.Speaking of ages, our little mermaid is 10 years old when we first meet her, and she ages to 15 after a time jump. The prince, who also goes unnamed, is estimated to be around 16 years old.
In the Disney adaptation , Prince Eric is 18 and Ariel is 16 .
6.In the movie, Ariel’s first trip to the surface is a secret and she’s careful about being seen. But in Hans' original telling, the little mermaid openly watches ships go by and is kind of giddy to be seen by fishermen, who are startled by her existence.
7.These two aren’t the only ones who enjoy taunting humans. The little mermaid’s older sisters make a game out of spotting ships they suspect might sink in storms and singing to the sailors on board about how they’ll soon learn how beautiful the deep ocean can be.
These sailors will never have sex , though , because , as Hans so graciously words it , " When their ship went down they were drown , and it was as bushed valet de chambre that they get to the ocean king ’s palace . "
8.On the little mermaid’s 15th birthday, she rises from the sea and sees a birthday party on a ship. It’s for a prince, who she finds to be gorgeous. However, things take a turn when the ship starts going down.
At first , the mermaid is excited by the idea of the prince coming to live in the sea , but then remembers humans ca n’t survive underwater and brings him to land instead . He ’s unconscious and when aurora cockcrow , a group of girls begin filing out of a nearby church . The little mermaid take this as a cue to leave and watch from the H2O as one of the untested women wake the prince , who is lie on the backbone .
9.For days following the rescue, the little mermaid visits the spot where she left the prince, hoping to see him again, but he’s not there. Eventually, she tells her sisters about the incident and gossip floods their community. Another mermaid hears of the tale and says they know where the prince’s palace is. So the little mermaid goes there and spends days and nights watching over him while he thinks he’s alone.
She also listen in on conversations between castle workers and passersby , and she realizes she may enjoy being above the Earth’s surface more than below .
10.In Hans' version, mermaids have a longer lifespan than humans, but when they die, they turn into sea foam. Humans, on the other hand, have a soul and are said to live on after death. Learning this, the little mermaid grows jealous and wishes for the possibility of growing old with the prince and staying together after death.
" Why were n’t we given an immortal someone ? " she asks her nan . " I would fain give up my three hundred class if I could be a human being only for a day , and subsequently share in that heavenly realm . "
11.But her grandma says there’s only one chance of that ever happening. Apparently, the only way to gain a soul is by having a human fall in love with and marry you. Then, their soul is said to be partially passed on to the mermaid, and the two can thenceforth live happily together.
12.Obviously, our determined little mermaid is looking for another way to secure her spot next to the prince, so she visits the sea witch’s dwelling. And let me tell you, it’s far more foreboding than the Disney version.
Outside of the ocean beldame ’s realm and among the shrubs and plants live polyps — fix by Hans as half plant , half human — that strain for and get anything they can get their hired hand on .
As the fiddling mermaid come near the witch ’s place , she dodges progress to weaponry and fancy the pearl of hang Elizabeth Seaman , as well as other little mermaids " whom they had caught and suffocate " in their traction .
YET SHE STILL pass .
To double down on the red flag , the witch ’s home is also made of human bone .
13.To turn into a human, the little mermaid is given a potion of sorts, which she’s instructed to bring to the surface and drink while sitting on a rock. After swallowing all of it, her tail is meant to shrink and separate into two legs. However, “It will hurt; it will feel as if a sharp sword slashed through you,” the sea witch says. “Every step you take will feel as if you were treading upon knife blades so sharp that blood must flow.”
And once again , our little mermaid is wholly down for this .
14.Oh, and another caveat? Once she becomes human, she can never again be a mermaid. So her only choice is to make the prince fall in love with her. Or else she’ll die without a soul. And if the prince marries someone else? She’ll die of a broken heart the following morning and turn into sea foam instead.
15.Like the Disney adaptation, the sea witch does indeed take the mermaid’s voice as payment for her potion, but unlike in the movie where it’s a swirling spell that lifts the notes from her mouth, the witch cuts out her tongue.
16.The prince’s palace is attended by enslaved people.
Having drunk the potion and risen from the water , the little mermaid comes face to side with the prince , who precede her to his palace for help . Hans then detail how enslaved people in the palace are made to dress the former mermaid in the okay framework before blab out and dancing for her and the prince ’s amusement .
17.Prince Eric grows very fond of the little mermaid and decides he wants her to always be with him. So, he has attendants set up a velvet pillow outside of his room for the mermaid to sleep on at night, so she won’t be too far away.
Yes , like a heel .
18.Every night, the mermaid goes to the beach to cool her burning feet in the sand and water. And her sisters, grandmother, and father pop their heads above the surface to visit from afar. They’re all sad that she left without warning and that they can never be with her again.
19.Though the prince is fond of her, he says the only person he could ever love is the young woman from the church who “saved his life.” AKA, the girl he saw when he regained consciousness.
Hearing this , the little mermaid recognize that they will likely never be conjoin , but settee for knowing that she can at least endure out her days by his side .
20.That thought quickly disappears when the prince’s father sets up a meeting between him and the neighboring kingdom’s princess, who turns out to be the young woman from the church. They are arranged to be married at once.
And to throw salt in the wound , the little mermaid ends up attend to to the St. Bride on the day of the nuptials — even make her train as she walks down the gangway — all live she ’ll become flat the next morning .
21.As day starts to break after the night of the wedding, the little mermaid looks out from the ship the nuptials took place on and is surprised to see her sisters pop their heads above the water. All of them have cropped hair, and they explain that they sold their locks to the sea witch, who has given them a dagger in return.
They say that the little mermaid must strike the prince in the heart and pour down him . When his blood touches her feet , they will meld back into a tail and she can once again hold out with her sisters in the sea .
22.The mermaid goes to kill the prince, but sees him and his new bride asleep in bed. He’s muttering his wife’s name in his sleep, and she decides to let them be happy instead.
She ’s better than me ' CUZ .
23.As the sun rises, the little mermaid doesn’t turn into sea foam, but a weightless form instead. A similar form nearby explains that she’s now a Daughter of the Air — non-physical beings who have done good deeds in their life and will continue doing such deeds in the afterlife.
After about 300 years of service via good works , the little mermaid will be awarded a soul .
Yay ?
Which detail were you most shocked by? ‘Cause if I had to go bald because my sister had her tongue chopped off over a man, I’d never forgive her.
