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The Little Mermaid Comparison Essay

923 Words4 Pages

Under the Sea and Part of Your World are both iconic and well known songs from the popular Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, which also inspired an on Ice adaption and a TV show. But where did the inspiration come from for this amazing 1989 movie? The Little Mermaid was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (who also helped producing and with the story). The music in the film was made by Alan Menken and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Jodi Benson (who also appeared in the live-action film Enchanted and many other Disney and animated films) played as Ariel, the Little Mermaid herself. But the inspiration for this film came about 150 years prior from a Danish Author.
Around 1836 a story was published by the author Hans Christian Anderson. The name of this story was The Little Mermaid, this story followed the tale of a young mermaid who wished to be a human to receive a soul and eventually go to heaven (as in the story mermaids had no soul and couldn’t get into heaven). Which is a drastic change from the Disney version, which Ariel (the Little Mermaid) wishes to become human to meet and marry a prince. …show more content…

As the Little Mermaid approaches the Sea Witch and asks for legs the Witch grants her wish but with a price; her voice. In the original story the Witch cuts off her tongue so she may never speak again, unlike in the movie where Ariel’s voice is magically stored in a shell for Ursula to use against her later in the movie. But there is also another catch, while the Little Mermaid will receive legs every time she walked it would feel as if stepping on knives and if she did not marry the prince she would turn into sea foam on the following morning. Which is pretty bleak to the ending of the movie, where Ariel not only gets to marry the prince, she also gets her voice back, and a magic

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