ipl-logo

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

Show More
Related

Informative Essay: The Clown Loach Mermaid

296 Words | 2 Pages

The Clown Loach fish (not to be confused with the Clown Fish in Finding Nemo) is one of the most popular aquarium fish around. The reason is probably their peaceful demeanor and entertaining personality. If you set up your aquarium incorrectly the clown loach will be shy and spend most of its time in hiding. However, if you set the aquarium up properly the clown's personality will begin to emerge. Clown loaches are community fish and thrive when they have at least 4 other clown loaches to hang out with.

Read More

Mulan And Little Mermaid Comparison Essay

1066 Words | 5 Pages

Mulan, who just got rejected by the matchmaker because she had set her on fire, decides to prove that she is worth something and she took her father 's place in the Chinese army. Mulan and the other troopers have survived the training camp and are on the way north to stop the Huns. She decides to risk everything in order to save China. Little Mermaid is a film produced by Walt Disney, it came out it 1989. The movie Little Mermaid is based on a girl named Ariel, who dreams of going on land.

Read More

Racism In The Princess And The Frog

971 Words | 4 Pages

In recent years, there has been a movement for Disney animations to reach out to previously underrepresented audiences (e.g. Moana, Pocahontas). However, the films were not always received how the producers had originally intended. The Princess and the Frog was a Disney princess animation released in 2009, based off The Frog Princess. The story is a young African American waitress living with meager funds, working towards her dreams of opening a restaurant. When Prince Naveen who has been turned into a frog kisses her, thinking her a princess, turns her also into a frog.

Read More

Comparing Cinderella And Grimm's Cinderella

680 Words | 3 Pages

She longs for love and affection. She finds it when at the ball, but when she has to leave, she leaves in a hurry and one of the slippers that she is wearing gets left behind at the ball and the Prince finds and starts to look for her. Even though they were separated for short periods of time they still find each other in the end. The Prince takes her to his palace and they get married. This general plot stays the same for all versions of the story, but the differences between Disney’s Cinderella and Grimm’s Cinderella are striking, and they deserve through examination.

Read More

Analysis Of What's Wrong With Cinderella

1343 Words | 6 Pages

From its onset with its first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Disney has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon today. But over the years, various parent groups, scholars and film critics have accused Disney for creating shallow, stereotypical princesses whose ultimate aim was to find her 'prince charming ' and live happily ever after. In her article, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?” in the New York Times, Peggy Orenstein expresses her concern over the effect of princess figures like Cinderella on young girls ' perceptions of themselves and how they should behave (“What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”).

Read More

Examples Of Hegemonic Femininity In The Little Mermaid

1393 Words | 6 Pages

The Little Mermaid: Hegemonic Femininity The transition from a girl to a woman is created by the socially constructed ideals of femininity often depicted in commercials, books, and mainly films. One of the famous animated princess Disney films, The Little Mermaid can be easily added to yet another Disney film portraying hegemonic femininity. In the 1989 film The Little Mermaid, (Ron Clements, John Musker) a beautiful, young mermaid is willing to make a risky deal with an evil sea-witch because she yearns to walk on land and fall in love with a Prince, while secretly the sea-witch wishes for the mermaid to lose the deal. Ultimately, mermaid ends up achieving her dream of marrying the Prince, although the evil sea-witch tries to destroy the plan.

Read More

Interactionism In The Little Mermaid

569 Words | 3 Pages

The central idea of Symbolic interactionism is symbols are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another (page 13). In The Little Mermaid, the human artifacts that Ariel collects are symbols of how she views their world. Scuttle is symbol of how she communicates with the world above her. The Disney movie also helps children establish an explanation about relationships. This guides kids to discover how society defines relationships.

Read More

The Little Mermaid Compare And Contrast

1512 Words | 7 Pages

Across cultures and civilizations, the sea has always been an important figure both in the benefits it provides in daily life and its presence in storytelling. In consequence, sea monsters have been important figures in myths and stories whether it be in 1000 BCE Babylonian culture, or in 20th century America. The Babylonian Enuma Elish and Disney’s 1989 The Little Mermaid both feature a powerful female antagonist, Tiamat and Ursula, respectively, and these two figures bear many similarities. In both stories, the female antagonist holds strong relationship to the sea, and has supernatural abilities that aid her in her quest to defeat the heroic characters in the story.

Read More

Comparison Of Cinderella And The Grimm Brothers

786 Words | 4 Pages

Once the prince is finished with the two evil sisters, Cinderella comes out and while taking off her dirty shoe, her foot fits perfectly into the shoe. The prince and Cinderella are finally together, the prince knows Cinderella was the mystery women he had been searching for all along since her foot fit into the shoe. Cinderella and the prince return to his kingdom and live happily ever after. While the Disney story and the fairy tale version of the stories both end with happy endings the fairy tale is written with much more graphic images than the Disney

Read More

Masculinity In King Triton's The Little Mermaid

1427 Words | 6 Pages

These songs include “Part of Your World,” “Under the Sea,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” and “Kiss the Girl.” “Part of Your World” is sung by Ariel to express her desire to change from a mermaid to a human, and despite the fact that “she’s got everything” her mermaid “world” and all its materialistic “treasures” is not as fulfilling as the humans’ appears to be. The song explicitly describes of a longing for female independence and proof that their degradation by the males is detrimentally affecting their happiness. “Betcha' on land, they'd understand, bet they don't reprimand their daughters, bright young women, sick of swimming ready to stand,” Ariel sings of the unfair and unjust treatment she and the other women of the sea experience and their need to stand against their suppressive dictators and “explore the shore above” to seek a better life. She sings this song in a secret cove that contains all her treasures, emphasizing the need for women to be private with the part of their lives that society deems as “unacceptable” and that does not align with their gender roles and expectations.

Read More

Coming Of Age In Ariel's The Little Mermaid

327 Words | 2 Pages

The Little Mermaid is all about coming of age. In other words Ariel the main character of the story believes that she is old enough to do as she pleases. Ariel loves going to the surface. On the other hand her dad didn’t want any humans to lay eyes on her, as a result of him thinking that they are barbarians. All Ariel wants is to do what she wants when she wants.

Read More

Sleeping Beauty Good Vs Evil

502 Words | 3 Pages

Ursula was banished by King Triton and decides to seek revenge on him by becoming Queen of Atlantic. Ursula is bad because she uses other mermaid folk to achieve her own goals, and one of them is Ariel, King Triton 's daughter. Ursula’s plan is to take Ariel’s voice and for her dad to come in and save her. When King Triton signs a contract stating that she will be the Queen of Atlantic. Ursula now has become Queen of Atlantic, but Prince Eric defeats Ursula when she tries to kill Ariel.

Read More

The Little Mermaid Gender Stereotypes

1690 Words | 7 Pages

The Little Mermaid which was produced in 1989, was the first Disney movie to challenge the traditional gender roles, for the fact that Ariel wanted to explore, and was more independent and assertive in her desires than the earlier princesses of the 1930’s and 50s films. Also the prince in The Little Mermaid went against traditional gender roles as well, simply because he was more affectionate and loving than his prince counterparts in other Disney films. “Both the male and female roles have changed over time, but overall the male characters evinced less change then the female characters and were more androgynous throughout.” (Descartes & England, pg.566). Disney movies have been for a long time a strong media target for children, and can serve as a way to address stereotypical gender roles (Leaper, 2000).

Read More

The Cultural Significance Of Hans Christian Andersen, A Fairy Tale Hero

1785 Words | 8 Pages

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author who is considered one of the best and most culturally important fairy tale writers in history. His stories have been translated into over one hundred and twenty-five languages. The cultural significance of Andersen is an interesting topic to analyze. Hans Christian Andersen’s stories, “The Little Mermaid” and “The Shadow”, are culturally significant for many different reasons. “The Little Mermaid” tells a story of a young unnamed mermaid who decides to take control over her own life and destiny.

Read More

Marxism In The Little Mermaid

881 Words | 4 Pages

Taking into consideration the first and main version of The Little Mermaid, author Han Christian Andersen’s, Little Mermaid, written in 1837, has different characters than the 2006 interpretation of the short story, Aquamarine. From an addition of two new female characters to the subtraction of the royal titles that each character possessed, Aquamarine is based on a twenty first century setting. The plots between the two also greatly differ and even lead up to different endings. Similarly, both mermaids are searching for love and both mermaids asked to be human. Both mermaids have a due date that forces them back into the ocean if they do not find love.

Read More

More about The Little Mermaid Comparison Essay

Related Topics

Open Document