Disney v. Andersen

     Despite The Little Mermaid's enormous popularity, the film has also received an incredible amount of criticism since its release in 1989. In her article, "The Little Mermaid," Roberta Trites argues that Disney's adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the same name takes away the integrity of every female character, teaching women that they should always be dependent on men. While I agree that many of the original tales morals were altered to fit the Disney "formula," critics should recognize the necessity of these changes and the strengths of this movie rather than simply focusing on its faults. 
     For those of you who aren't familiar with Andersen's tale, here are some of the major changes Disney made in its adaptation. First of all, in the original tale, the sea witch is not looking for revenge. Therefore, Ariel seeks her out to transform into a human. Secondly, when Ariel is transformed into a human it is an incredibly painful process that makes her feel as though she is walking on knives for the rest of her life. In addition, Ariel doesn't get her happy ending. The prince marries another woman and Ariel dissolves into sea foam before becoming a daughter of the air where she then spends her afterlife attempting to gain an immortal soul through doing good deeds. Lastly, and probably the most important difference, merpeople do not have immortal souls in Andersen's tale. Although she is also motivated by love for the prince, part of Ariel's determination to marry the prince is to gain an immortal soul. However, in the Disney movie, all she wants is to marry the handsome prince. 
     So yes, Ariel's motives seem much more shallow in the Disney adaptation than they do in Andersen's tale. Let's face it though, Andersen's tale would not have made a great animated children's movie. If I were watching that movie when I were five years old, I would have been terrified and my parents would have been horrified that they had let me watch it. For the sake of marketability, Disney had to drastically alter the original tale and therefore some of the original morals. If they hadn't, The Little Mermaid would not have been nearly as successful and Disney would have lost a huge amount of money producing that movie. And although some may argue that Disney should have simply avoided adapting Andersen's tale at all, I believe that Disney would have been stupid to ignore this tale. Many people dream of what lies at the ocean floor. This makes the ocean the perfect setting for an animated movie, because the animators are free to create an entirely new world. Part of The Little Mermaid's genius is that it translated a human world into an unknown, seemingly magical setting. So although Disney drastically altered the values behind Andersen's tale, The Little Mermaid was still an incredible feat in the world of animated films and it should still be recognized for its strengths while being criticized for its weaknesses.