Post by veu on Aug 6, 2023 5:31:34 GMT -5
Source: movieweb.com/the-little-mermaid-movies-ranked/#the-asylum-39-s-the-little-mermaid-2023
All the Movie Incarnations of The Little Mermaid, Ranked
BY
ANTONIA RAINEY
PUBLISHED 23 HOURS AGO
There have been many movie incarnations of The Little Mermaid that’s been told over the years, each taking a crack at bringing the fairy tale to life.
The Little Mermaid 1989 Ariel poster sitting rock ocean moonBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales are one of the most well-known stories told in the world. These timeless whimsical and often dark tales have been adapted through many different mediums and even cited as a source of inspiration for others’ works with The Little Mermaid being the biggest example. Some might be familiar with The Little Mermaid through Disney’s animated and 2023 live-action retelling of the story, however, the original tale was much darker. In Andersen’s version, the Little Mermaid gives up her voice, so she can go on land to meet a human prince that she saved only for her love to go unrequited, causing her to turn into sea foam.
While Disney’s adaptations have been the most widely known retelling of Andersen’s fairytale, they aren’t the only ones. There have been many movie incarnations of The Little Mermaid that’s been told over the years, each taking a crack at bringing the fairy tale to life. Here are all 12 movie incarnations, both shorts and full-length features, about The Little Mermaid, ranked.
12
The Asylum's The Little Mermaid (2023)
asylum mermaid The Asylum
The Asylum is known for being a mockbuster, often releasing low-budget movies around the same time as other blockbusters and popular shows in hopes of gaining new viewers. When Disney released their remake of The Little Mermaid in May 2023, it wasn’t long until The Asylum released their own take of the fairy tale that following month.
For the most part, The Ayslum's The Little Mermaid follows the core premise of the original Andersen tale with the little mermaid, named Princess Sereia in this version, making a deal with the sea witch, so she can go up on land. The movie does play out certain parts of the story differently, especially in the end. Instead of the mermaid succumbing to a tragic fate, the Prince becomes a merman allowing the two to live and explore together. While The Asylum adaptation did try to differentiate itself from the Disney version through its story beats and art style the movie didn’t go without controversy; according to The Chainsaw, the art on their official poster was criticized for allegedly using A.I.
11
Burbank Animation’s The Little Mermaid (1998)
Burbank Animation The Little Mermaid 1998 Burbank Animation Studio
Burbank Animation has done their own takes on many classic fairy tales and children’s literature before, and The Little Mermaid is no exception. The angle of Burbank Animation's The Little Mermaid has an environmental lens as the nearby kingdom is shown to have been dumping trash into the ocean affecting the aquatic life down there. The youngest of the mermaid princesses, Miranda wants to put a stop to this by going up and giving the people on land a piece of her mind. As such, this also serves as an additional motivation for Miranda to go up on the surface besides falling in love with Prince William.
Unlike the original fairy tale, the deal Miranda makes with the Sea Witch is quite lax as the potion takes her voice away only for a full year unless she gets the prince to kiss her. There’s also a subplot within the film of Prince William being in an arranged marriage with the wife-to-be and her father planning to murder him, so they can take over the kingdom. Both the murder conspiracy and environmental messaging add some additional drama to the story, yet manages to keep a lighthearted tone making it a stark contrast to Andersen’s original tale.
10
Roxie Blum and Matt Martin's Little Mermaid (2016)
Roxie Blum and Matt Martin's Little Mermaid 2016 Roxie Blum and Matt Martin Production/Indie Rights Movies
Directed by Roxie Blum and Matt Martin, Little Mermaid takes a more modern and mature telling of Andersen's original tale. The gritty tone of Little Mermaid bares some resemblance to The Lure, a film based on the same fairy tale told through a horror lens. Once this version of the Little Mermaid comes onto land, she ends up having more mishaps with humans than she hoped for. The Little Mermaid finds her original suitor to be not as kind as she thought, almost gets robbed, and while she does get some luck getting employed at a strip club — something a fan site of The Little Mermaid pointed out as a callback to the original of how she entranced others with her dancing — she soon realizes the pressures of what comes with being a performer.
A big difference between Andersen’s original story and the indie movie is that of the role of the Sea Witch as she is less of a neutral party and more of a villain, going so far as to sabotage the Little Mermaid. However, the film does give the Little Mermaid a somewhat happy ending as when she steps off of Jax’s apartment balcony, she floats up and becomes a daughter of the air, eventually doing good deeds to in 300 years go to Heaven with her stating “not because of a man, but because of me.” While the reception of the film is mixed, some have criticized the ending with critic Genna Rivieccio from Culled Culture notably saying how it puts a feminist spin too late in the movie, given the Little Mermaid’s meekness throughout.
9
GoodTimes Entertainment’s The Little Mermaid (1992)
GoodTimes Entertainment The Little Mermaid GoodTimes Entertainment/Golden Films
GoodTimes Entertainment, much like Disney, often makes movies based on fairy tales from the Grimm Brothers and Andersen such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Thumbelina. They are often compared to Disney especially since the company released movies within a similar time span of the latter for a period. GoodTimes Entertainment’s The Little Mermaid followed in line with this trend, coming a few years after Disney’s version with some key differences.
The youngest of the royal mermaids, Lena, is described as curious, matching her original tale’s counterpart. Unlike her, however, Lena is first brought to the surface by Cassandra, the sea witch, rather than her own discovery. The end goal of Cassandra's plan isn't really addressed again in the film, but regardless the beats of the story pretty much play out similarly to the original tale except Lena ends up marrying her prince and the prince’s wife-to-be falls for someone else. The film certainly closes on a joyful note, giving everyone a happy ending which can not be the same said for Andersen’s version.
8
Conglomerate Media and Kingsway Productions’ The Little Mermaid (2018)
Conglomerate Media /Kingsway Productions’ The Little Mermaid 2018 Conglomerate Media/Kingsway Productions’
Upon directors Blake Harris and Chris Bouchard’s announcement of their film in 2017, there was some confusion between the indie film and Disney’s then upcoming 2023 live-action remake due to having the same name. But make no mistake, they aren’t the same as there are several elements with the indie film that differ from Disney’s as pointed out by Mic. The 2018 film adaptation is also a completely different story to Andersen's tale. The only outright reference to the fairy tale comes at the beginning of the film when the grandmother tells her grandchildren about a mermaid who gives up her soul to a sea wizard, so she can go on land to be with a prince, only for him to end up falling in love with someone else.
The rest of the film takes place sometime in the early 1940s and focuses on Cam Harrison, a journalist, and Elle, his young niece who has an illness that makes it hard for her to breathe. Cam, along with his niece, goes to Mississippi to investigate a circus that is rumored to have mermaid water that can cure anyone. At the circus, Cam and Elle meet the main attraction, “the little mermaid of the Mississippi” named Elizabeth and soon end up trying to free her soul from the ringmaster aka the evil wizard.
7
Disney's Live-Action The Little Mermaid (2023)
Halle Bailey as Ariel Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In 2019, Disney announced that The Little Mermaid would be another movie in their beloved animated classics to be re-imaged in live-action. The film was met with some controversy as RnB singer Halle Bailey received racist backlash due to her casting as Ariel. Despite this, the 2023 remake has been generally well-received, earning on Rotten Tomatoes a 67% Tomatometer score and a 94% audience score as well as hitting the No. 1 spot on iTunes’ digital chart as of August 2023.
Just like the animated version, there are a lot of differences between the live-action adaptation and the original fairytale, though Disney did sneak in a reference to the tale. A famous quote from Andersen’s story appeared in the opening shot of the movie: “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.” This comes into play throughout the movie as Ariel always comes close to crying though never slips any tears — a clear nod to the fairy tale. It isn’t until the very end when Ariel gets her voice back and becomes human again that viewers can see her visibly shed a tear.
6
Gorky Film Studio and Boyana Film's Rusalochka (1976)
Vladimir Bychkov's Rusalochka (1976) Gorky Film Studio/Boyana Film
Rusalochka is a Soviet movie retelling of Andersen's tale that manages to mix up elements of the original tale while still keeping the whimsy aesthetic of the story through its costuming and setting. Taking place in the 13th century, the film shows how mermaids are viewed as malevolent creatures rather than beautiful maidens due to them sinking ships. Despite this, the Little Mermaid saves the prince from one of the shipwrecks and falls in love with him.
In this version, the Little Mermaid gets some help from a local man named Sulpitius who gets a witch to turn her into a human in exchange for her uniquely greenish-blue hair, letting her keep her voice. Throughout the movie, Sculptius keeps the Little Mermaid out of danger and acts as her wingman of some sort, trying to get the prince to fall in love with her. Sculptius’s involvement in the story adds a new dynamic to the tale as he acts sort of like a fatherly figure in the Little Mermaid. In the end, Sculptius makes the ultimate sacrifice to give the Little Mermaid her happy ending by giving up his life — a counter in Witch’s deal that states if the prince does end up with someone else, the Little Mermaid can only live on if another gives up their life for her. While the film closes with the Little Mermaid becoming a spirit of some sorts, it leaves somewhat of a lingering bittersweet ending.
5
Reader's Digest The Little Mermaid (1975)
Reader's Digest The Little Mermaid (1974) Reader's Digest Productions
Reader's Digest short animated The Little Mermaid film tells the fairy tale through whimsical, storybook imagery and a soundtrack to match. Further setting in the mood for the film is the narration by Richard Chamberlain, who even takes some lines from Andersen’s story as well. Reader's Digest’s version is a quick watch, though it manages to tell a pretty faithful adaptation of Andersen's tale from beginning to end without any big changes. Like in the original story it was adapted from, the Little Mermaid ends up becoming a daughter of the air and has to serve 300 years caring for the children of Earth to receive a soul. This ending drives home more of a moral message aimed at children as the Little Mermaid’s length of the term depends on if a child is good, taking a year off her time, or bad, adding a day onto it.
4
Ivan Aksenchuk's Rusalochka (1968)
Ivan Aksenchuk's Rusalochka (1968) Ivan Aksenchuk
Rusalochka, directed by Ivan Aksenchuk, is another Soviet film (not to be confused with the 1976 of the same name) tells the story of The Little Mermaid through enchanting, somewhat avart-grande-style animations. The short takes an interesting opening with the fairytale, having animated tourists looking at the real-life Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark presented by their guide only the perspective to change to a fish who says that humans think love exists and mermaids don't when it is, in fact, the opposite before leading into the story.
The short stays pretty faithful to the original fairytale with some changes. Similar to Disney’s adaptation, the film really drives home the importance of the Little Mermaid singing to the Prince when she rescues him, making it all the more heartbreaking when he later misattribute it to the nun who he marries. The Sea Witch also mentions how the Little Mermaid’s great-great-great grandmother fell in love with a human and successfully married him — adding an almost familial link between the two characters. And instead of a dagger which the sisters give to the Little Mermaid to kill the prince with, it's a potion that’ll cause a sea storm. This adaptation also has dual messages that mirror the end of Andersen’s tale with the fish condemning the mermaid’s decision as foolish while the tourist guide commends her final action as courageous.
3
Malá morská víla (1976)
Karel Kachyňa's Malá Morská Víla (1976) Karel Kachyňa
In Karel Kachyňa's Malá Morská Víla, the mermaids in this Czech adaptation are dramatically different from Andersen’s description as they look more akin to water nymphs. In one scene, the Sea King even makes fun of how humans see them as people with fishtails. The costuming of the merfolk overall are ethereal-like and surreal with them wearing long blue flowy dresses and having big hair decorated with various items from the many shipwrecks caused by the Sea King.
What makes this film also different from the original is that the Little Mermaid is already engaged to a merman prince, though she falls for a human prince when she goes above the water for the first time. The story is still tragic, all the more so as the Little Mermaid and the prince share a close bond, so close that he admits he wishes she could marry him until he goes to another kingdom and falls for the princess there — mistaking her for being the one that saved him after the shipwreck. The Little Mermaid tries to kill the prince with a knife given to her by her father, the Sea King, but she decides against it and accepts her fate. The story ends on a sad note as flowers bloom within the sea with the last shot of Sea King standing on shore, implying that he was the one that did it in her honor.
2
Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Little Mermaid and her friends Sebastian and Flounder singing. Disney
One of the most well-known adaptations of the fairy tale comes from Disney's animated version of The Little Mermaid. While Disney kept the core elements of Andersen’s tale — a young mermaid wanting to go on land, a romance between a mermaid and a human, and the loss of the lead’s voice — they changed many aspects of the story. The biggest and notable change from the original tale to Disney’s version is that the little mermaid, Ariel, does end up getting her happily ever after.
There are many elements that make the film stand out as an adaptation, from the detailed animation to the amazing memorable music created by lyricist Howard Ashward and composer Alan Menken. Additionally, the adaptation has many outstanding vocal talents and performances with actress Jodi Benson as the beloved Ariel being the most prominent. The movie received many accolades following its release, including three Oscars and a Grammy pertaining to its music and score. The Little Mermaidis widely credited as kickstarting the Disney Renaissance period from the late 1980s through the 90s which helped bring the studio back into prominence again in the box office.
1
Toei Animation's Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975)
Toei Animation anime adaptation Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975) Toei Animation
Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is an anime adaptation from Toei Animation that is pretty faithful to the original Hans Christian Andersen tale down to the very tragic end. Marina, the youngest of the mermaid princesses, is curious about the land above, wanting nothing more than to swim up to the surface like her sisters. One night, she and her dolphin friend, Fitz, sneak out to go up above, finding the prince celebrating his birthday with his crew on his ship.
From there the series of events play out the same as Andersen’s tale. Once on land, Marina ends up becoming close with the prince — so close that the King and Queen worry he might be too attached to her. However, their worries are averted when the prince instantly falls in love with the princess from the neighboring kingdom as he mistakes her for saving him. When the prince tells Marina about the marriage it leaves her shocked and visibly shaken. What makes Toei Animation’s version so devastating is that while Marina is offered salvation and doesn’t take it just like in the original fairy tale, her story just ends with her turning into sea foam and Fitz crying out her name. And isn't until after, when the prince finds Marina's hair clip, that he realizes it was her all along.
Since the movie was made in the 70s, the soundtrack has many familiar groovy-like tracks within the adaptation, though, being as the original story is set around the 1800s, it doesn’t hold back with adding some classic music as well. The hand-drawn animation style also lends itself to hold up against the test of time.
All the Movie Incarnations of The Little Mermaid, Ranked
BY
ANTONIA RAINEY
PUBLISHED 23 HOURS AGO
There have been many movie incarnations of The Little Mermaid that’s been told over the years, each taking a crack at bringing the fairy tale to life.
The Little Mermaid 1989 Ariel poster sitting rock ocean moonBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales are one of the most well-known stories told in the world. These timeless whimsical and often dark tales have been adapted through many different mediums and even cited as a source of inspiration for others’ works with The Little Mermaid being the biggest example. Some might be familiar with The Little Mermaid through Disney’s animated and 2023 live-action retelling of the story, however, the original tale was much darker. In Andersen’s version, the Little Mermaid gives up her voice, so she can go on land to meet a human prince that she saved only for her love to go unrequited, causing her to turn into sea foam.
While Disney’s adaptations have been the most widely known retelling of Andersen’s fairytale, they aren’t the only ones. There have been many movie incarnations of The Little Mermaid that’s been told over the years, each taking a crack at bringing the fairy tale to life. Here are all 12 movie incarnations, both shorts and full-length features, about The Little Mermaid, ranked.
12
The Asylum's The Little Mermaid (2023)
asylum mermaid The Asylum
The Asylum is known for being a mockbuster, often releasing low-budget movies around the same time as other blockbusters and popular shows in hopes of gaining new viewers. When Disney released their remake of The Little Mermaid in May 2023, it wasn’t long until The Asylum released their own take of the fairy tale that following month.
For the most part, The Ayslum's The Little Mermaid follows the core premise of the original Andersen tale with the little mermaid, named Princess Sereia in this version, making a deal with the sea witch, so she can go up on land. The movie does play out certain parts of the story differently, especially in the end. Instead of the mermaid succumbing to a tragic fate, the Prince becomes a merman allowing the two to live and explore together. While The Asylum adaptation did try to differentiate itself from the Disney version through its story beats and art style the movie didn’t go without controversy; according to The Chainsaw, the art on their official poster was criticized for allegedly using A.I.
11
Burbank Animation’s The Little Mermaid (1998)
Burbank Animation The Little Mermaid 1998 Burbank Animation Studio
Burbank Animation has done their own takes on many classic fairy tales and children’s literature before, and The Little Mermaid is no exception. The angle of Burbank Animation's The Little Mermaid has an environmental lens as the nearby kingdom is shown to have been dumping trash into the ocean affecting the aquatic life down there. The youngest of the mermaid princesses, Miranda wants to put a stop to this by going up and giving the people on land a piece of her mind. As such, this also serves as an additional motivation for Miranda to go up on the surface besides falling in love with Prince William.
Unlike the original fairy tale, the deal Miranda makes with the Sea Witch is quite lax as the potion takes her voice away only for a full year unless she gets the prince to kiss her. There’s also a subplot within the film of Prince William being in an arranged marriage with the wife-to-be and her father planning to murder him, so they can take over the kingdom. Both the murder conspiracy and environmental messaging add some additional drama to the story, yet manages to keep a lighthearted tone making it a stark contrast to Andersen’s original tale.
10
Roxie Blum and Matt Martin's Little Mermaid (2016)
Roxie Blum and Matt Martin's Little Mermaid 2016 Roxie Blum and Matt Martin Production/Indie Rights Movies
Directed by Roxie Blum and Matt Martin, Little Mermaid takes a more modern and mature telling of Andersen's original tale. The gritty tone of Little Mermaid bares some resemblance to The Lure, a film based on the same fairy tale told through a horror lens. Once this version of the Little Mermaid comes onto land, she ends up having more mishaps with humans than she hoped for. The Little Mermaid finds her original suitor to be not as kind as she thought, almost gets robbed, and while she does get some luck getting employed at a strip club — something a fan site of The Little Mermaid pointed out as a callback to the original of how she entranced others with her dancing — she soon realizes the pressures of what comes with being a performer.
A big difference between Andersen’s original story and the indie movie is that of the role of the Sea Witch as she is less of a neutral party and more of a villain, going so far as to sabotage the Little Mermaid. However, the film does give the Little Mermaid a somewhat happy ending as when she steps off of Jax’s apartment balcony, she floats up and becomes a daughter of the air, eventually doing good deeds to in 300 years go to Heaven with her stating “not because of a man, but because of me.” While the reception of the film is mixed, some have criticized the ending with critic Genna Rivieccio from Culled Culture notably saying how it puts a feminist spin too late in the movie, given the Little Mermaid’s meekness throughout.
9
GoodTimes Entertainment’s The Little Mermaid (1992)
GoodTimes Entertainment The Little Mermaid GoodTimes Entertainment/Golden Films
GoodTimes Entertainment, much like Disney, often makes movies based on fairy tales from the Grimm Brothers and Andersen such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Thumbelina. They are often compared to Disney especially since the company released movies within a similar time span of the latter for a period. GoodTimes Entertainment’s The Little Mermaid followed in line with this trend, coming a few years after Disney’s version with some key differences.
The youngest of the royal mermaids, Lena, is described as curious, matching her original tale’s counterpart. Unlike her, however, Lena is first brought to the surface by Cassandra, the sea witch, rather than her own discovery. The end goal of Cassandra's plan isn't really addressed again in the film, but regardless the beats of the story pretty much play out similarly to the original tale except Lena ends up marrying her prince and the prince’s wife-to-be falls for someone else. The film certainly closes on a joyful note, giving everyone a happy ending which can not be the same said for Andersen’s version.
8
Conglomerate Media and Kingsway Productions’ The Little Mermaid (2018)
Conglomerate Media /Kingsway Productions’ The Little Mermaid 2018 Conglomerate Media/Kingsway Productions’
Upon directors Blake Harris and Chris Bouchard’s announcement of their film in 2017, there was some confusion between the indie film and Disney’s then upcoming 2023 live-action remake due to having the same name. But make no mistake, they aren’t the same as there are several elements with the indie film that differ from Disney’s as pointed out by Mic. The 2018 film adaptation is also a completely different story to Andersen's tale. The only outright reference to the fairy tale comes at the beginning of the film when the grandmother tells her grandchildren about a mermaid who gives up her soul to a sea wizard, so she can go on land to be with a prince, only for him to end up falling in love with someone else.
The rest of the film takes place sometime in the early 1940s and focuses on Cam Harrison, a journalist, and Elle, his young niece who has an illness that makes it hard for her to breathe. Cam, along with his niece, goes to Mississippi to investigate a circus that is rumored to have mermaid water that can cure anyone. At the circus, Cam and Elle meet the main attraction, “the little mermaid of the Mississippi” named Elizabeth and soon end up trying to free her soul from the ringmaster aka the evil wizard.
7
Disney's Live-Action The Little Mermaid (2023)
Halle Bailey as Ariel Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In 2019, Disney announced that The Little Mermaid would be another movie in their beloved animated classics to be re-imaged in live-action. The film was met with some controversy as RnB singer Halle Bailey received racist backlash due to her casting as Ariel. Despite this, the 2023 remake has been generally well-received, earning on Rotten Tomatoes a 67% Tomatometer score and a 94% audience score as well as hitting the No. 1 spot on iTunes’ digital chart as of August 2023.
Just like the animated version, there are a lot of differences between the live-action adaptation and the original fairytale, though Disney did sneak in a reference to the tale. A famous quote from Andersen’s story appeared in the opening shot of the movie: “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.” This comes into play throughout the movie as Ariel always comes close to crying though never slips any tears — a clear nod to the fairy tale. It isn’t until the very end when Ariel gets her voice back and becomes human again that viewers can see her visibly shed a tear.
6
Gorky Film Studio and Boyana Film's Rusalochka (1976)
Vladimir Bychkov's Rusalochka (1976) Gorky Film Studio/Boyana Film
Rusalochka is a Soviet movie retelling of Andersen's tale that manages to mix up elements of the original tale while still keeping the whimsy aesthetic of the story through its costuming and setting. Taking place in the 13th century, the film shows how mermaids are viewed as malevolent creatures rather than beautiful maidens due to them sinking ships. Despite this, the Little Mermaid saves the prince from one of the shipwrecks and falls in love with him.
In this version, the Little Mermaid gets some help from a local man named Sulpitius who gets a witch to turn her into a human in exchange for her uniquely greenish-blue hair, letting her keep her voice. Throughout the movie, Sculptius keeps the Little Mermaid out of danger and acts as her wingman of some sort, trying to get the prince to fall in love with her. Sculptius’s involvement in the story adds a new dynamic to the tale as he acts sort of like a fatherly figure in the Little Mermaid. In the end, Sculptius makes the ultimate sacrifice to give the Little Mermaid her happy ending by giving up his life — a counter in Witch’s deal that states if the prince does end up with someone else, the Little Mermaid can only live on if another gives up their life for her. While the film closes with the Little Mermaid becoming a spirit of some sorts, it leaves somewhat of a lingering bittersweet ending.
5
Reader's Digest The Little Mermaid (1975)
Reader's Digest The Little Mermaid (1974) Reader's Digest Productions
Reader's Digest short animated The Little Mermaid film tells the fairy tale through whimsical, storybook imagery and a soundtrack to match. Further setting in the mood for the film is the narration by Richard Chamberlain, who even takes some lines from Andersen’s story as well. Reader's Digest’s version is a quick watch, though it manages to tell a pretty faithful adaptation of Andersen's tale from beginning to end without any big changes. Like in the original story it was adapted from, the Little Mermaid ends up becoming a daughter of the air and has to serve 300 years caring for the children of Earth to receive a soul. This ending drives home more of a moral message aimed at children as the Little Mermaid’s length of the term depends on if a child is good, taking a year off her time, or bad, adding a day onto it.
4
Ivan Aksenchuk's Rusalochka (1968)
Ivan Aksenchuk's Rusalochka (1968) Ivan Aksenchuk
Rusalochka, directed by Ivan Aksenchuk, is another Soviet film (not to be confused with the 1976 of the same name) tells the story of The Little Mermaid through enchanting, somewhat avart-grande-style animations. The short takes an interesting opening with the fairytale, having animated tourists looking at the real-life Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark presented by their guide only the perspective to change to a fish who says that humans think love exists and mermaids don't when it is, in fact, the opposite before leading into the story.
The short stays pretty faithful to the original fairytale with some changes. Similar to Disney’s adaptation, the film really drives home the importance of the Little Mermaid singing to the Prince when she rescues him, making it all the more heartbreaking when he later misattribute it to the nun who he marries. The Sea Witch also mentions how the Little Mermaid’s great-great-great grandmother fell in love with a human and successfully married him — adding an almost familial link between the two characters. And instead of a dagger which the sisters give to the Little Mermaid to kill the prince with, it's a potion that’ll cause a sea storm. This adaptation also has dual messages that mirror the end of Andersen’s tale with the fish condemning the mermaid’s decision as foolish while the tourist guide commends her final action as courageous.
3
Malá morská víla (1976)
Karel Kachyňa's Malá Morská Víla (1976) Karel Kachyňa
In Karel Kachyňa's Malá Morská Víla, the mermaids in this Czech adaptation are dramatically different from Andersen’s description as they look more akin to water nymphs. In one scene, the Sea King even makes fun of how humans see them as people with fishtails. The costuming of the merfolk overall are ethereal-like and surreal with them wearing long blue flowy dresses and having big hair decorated with various items from the many shipwrecks caused by the Sea King.
What makes this film also different from the original is that the Little Mermaid is already engaged to a merman prince, though she falls for a human prince when she goes above the water for the first time. The story is still tragic, all the more so as the Little Mermaid and the prince share a close bond, so close that he admits he wishes she could marry him until he goes to another kingdom and falls for the princess there — mistaking her for being the one that saved him after the shipwreck. The Little Mermaid tries to kill the prince with a knife given to her by her father, the Sea King, but she decides against it and accepts her fate. The story ends on a sad note as flowers bloom within the sea with the last shot of Sea King standing on shore, implying that he was the one that did it in her honor.
2
Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Little Mermaid and her friends Sebastian and Flounder singing. Disney
One of the most well-known adaptations of the fairy tale comes from Disney's animated version of The Little Mermaid. While Disney kept the core elements of Andersen’s tale — a young mermaid wanting to go on land, a romance between a mermaid and a human, and the loss of the lead’s voice — they changed many aspects of the story. The biggest and notable change from the original tale to Disney’s version is that the little mermaid, Ariel, does end up getting her happily ever after.
There are many elements that make the film stand out as an adaptation, from the detailed animation to the amazing memorable music created by lyricist Howard Ashward and composer Alan Menken. Additionally, the adaptation has many outstanding vocal talents and performances with actress Jodi Benson as the beloved Ariel being the most prominent. The movie received many accolades following its release, including three Oscars and a Grammy pertaining to its music and score. The Little Mermaidis widely credited as kickstarting the Disney Renaissance period from the late 1980s through the 90s which helped bring the studio back into prominence again in the box office.
1
Toei Animation's Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975)
Toei Animation anime adaptation Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975) Toei Animation
Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is an anime adaptation from Toei Animation that is pretty faithful to the original Hans Christian Andersen tale down to the very tragic end. Marina, the youngest of the mermaid princesses, is curious about the land above, wanting nothing more than to swim up to the surface like her sisters. One night, she and her dolphin friend, Fitz, sneak out to go up above, finding the prince celebrating his birthday with his crew on his ship.
From there the series of events play out the same as Andersen’s tale. Once on land, Marina ends up becoming close with the prince — so close that the King and Queen worry he might be too attached to her. However, their worries are averted when the prince instantly falls in love with the princess from the neighboring kingdom as he mistakes her for saving him. When the prince tells Marina about the marriage it leaves her shocked and visibly shaken. What makes Toei Animation’s version so devastating is that while Marina is offered salvation and doesn’t take it just like in the original fairy tale, her story just ends with her turning into sea foam and Fitz crying out her name. And isn't until after, when the prince finds Marina's hair clip, that he realizes it was her all along.
Since the movie was made in the 70s, the soundtrack has many familiar groovy-like tracks within the adaptation, though, being as the original story is set around the 1800s, it doesn’t hold back with adding some classic music as well. The hand-drawn animation style also lends itself to hold up against the test of time.