The "Little Mermaid" 1989 vs. 2023 Movie Issue

FastTrax

FastTrax

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Ariel as herself in 1989

Princess-Ariel.jpg

www.imdb.com/title/tt0097757/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(1989_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Little_Mermaid)


Jodie Benson as Ariels voice in 1989

MV5BODg5MzVkMGQtODcyNS00YmE2LWFmYTktMDA5NzFmOTM0MGY3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzg1MTI3NTU@._V1_.jpg

www.imdb.com/name/nm0072533/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodi_Benson


Halle Berry acting as Ariel in 2023

lm 2.jpg

www.imdb.com/title/tt5971474/

www.imdb.com/name/nm1782991/

www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-mermaid-2023/user-reviews

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid_(2023_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halle_Berry


Viewer comments

www.medium.com/@jpeekay/i-dont-want-a-black-ariel-e6fe9d2ea417

www.deadline.com/2023/06/the-little-mermaid-slavery-erasure-disney-marcus-ryder-1235397950/

www.watchmojo.com/articles/top-10-differences-between-the-little-mermaid-1989-and-2023

www.quora.com/Why-is-everyone-so-upset-about-the-new-Little-Mermaid

 

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I haven't seen either of the Disney versions of The Little Mermaid but in my youth I did read a lot of Grimms and Andersen fairy tales. Can't remember the Little Mermaid so I did a bit of researching.

This link gives a plot summary and the ending is very interesting.

The Little Mermaid - Wikipedia

... The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, visits the Sea Witch who lives in a dangerous part of the ocean. The witch willingly helps her by selling her a potion that gives her legs in exchange for her voice (her tongue), as the Little Mermaid has the most enchanting voice in the entire world. The witch warns the Little Mermaid that once she becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Consuming the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her body. When she recovers, she will have two human legs and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before; however, she will constantly feel as if she is walking on sharp knives. Moreover, she will obtain a soul only if she wins the love of the prince and marries him, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries someone else, the Little Mermaid will die with a broken heart and dissolve into sea foam upon the waves.

After she agrees to the arrangement, the Little Mermaid swims up to the surface near the prince's castle and drinks the potion. The liquid feels like a sword piercing her body and she passes out on the shore, naked. She is found by the prince, who is mesmerized by her beauty and grace, even though he discovers that she is mute. Most of all, he likes to see her dance, and she dances for him despite suffering excruciating pain with every step. Soon, the Little Mermaid becomes the prince's favorite companion and accompanies him on many of his outingsā€”but he does not fall in love with her at all.

When the prince's parents encourage him to marry the neighboring princess in an arranged marriage, the prince tells the Little Mermaid he will not because he does not love the princess. He goes on to say that he can only love the young woman from the temple, who he believes rescued him. It turns out that the princess from the neighboring kingdom was the temple woman, as she was sent to the temple for her education. The prince declares his love for her, and the royal wedding is announced at once.

The prince and princess celebrate their new marriage aboard a wedding ship, and the Little Mermaid's heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has sacrificed and of all the pain she has endured for the prince. She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before dawn, her sisters rise out of the water and bring her a dagger that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their long, beautiful hair. If the Little Mermaid kills the prince and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid once more, all her suffering will end, and she will live out her full life in the ocean with her family. However, the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his new wife, and she throws the dagger and herself off the ship into the water just as dawn breaks.

Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warm sun and discovers that she has turned into a luminous and ethereal earthbound spirit, a daughter of the air. As the Little Mermaid ascends into the atmosphere, she is greeted by other daughters, who tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. Because of her selflessness, she is given the chance to earn her own soul by doing good deeds for mankind for 300 years, and she will one day rise up into Heaven.
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I'm guessing that the movies are nothing like the original.
 
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Warrigal said:
I haven't seen either of the Disney versions of The Little Mermaid but in my youth I did read a lot of Grimms and Andersen fairy tales. Can't remember the Little Mermaid so I did a bit of researching.

This link gives a plot summary and the ending is very interesting.

The Little Mermaid - Wikipedia


I'm guessing that the movies are nothing like the original.
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oldaunt said:
The latest movie stinks and really is nothing like the book either. I didn't expect as much from the first one, being a cartoon version. And no, it has nothing to do with color.
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Didn't know a book edition even existed. I'll dig that up and post it. Thanks to both of you for your comments.
 
It seems this latest version was a big hit at the box office. I was at the theater last weekend to see About My Dad (funny movie) and there were tons of families with kids there to see The Little Mermaid. Regardless of the version, I think children today just need something light and heartwarming to distract them from the negative events in the world.
 
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seadoug said:
It seems this latest version was a big hit at the box office. I was at the theater last weekend to see About My Dad (funny movie) and there were tons of families with kids there to The Little Mermaid. Regardless of the version, I think children today just need something light and heartwarming to distract them from the negative events in the world.
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Kids don't care about poor story writing and lame acting. They just love the story.
 
oldaunt said:
The latest movie stinks and really is nothing like the book either. I didn't expect as much from the first one, being a cartoon version. And no, it has nothing to do with color.
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Thatā€™s too bad. I REALLY loved Ariel the animated version. It was so cute and funny, especially with Ellen Degeneres playing the fish. I laughed a lot.
 
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oldaunt said:
The latest movie stinks and really is nothing like the book either. I didn't expect as much from the first one, being a cartoon version. And no, it has nothing to do with color.
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Haven't seen it, but I read one opinion ( yours would be the second comment) that the new movie doesn't stand up to the original animated version at all.

Maybe it's what I got used to, but fairy tails often lend themselves better to animation than live actors, and often times even better with old pen and ink animation, rather than the advanced digital engineering of Pixar or whatever it's called. I actually find myself more immersed in fantasy when I'm not distracted by living characters.

There have been exceptions, however.
 
I haven't seen either version of the movie. I saw a blurb about a concerted effort by some to "bomb" the new movie, by repeatedly sending negative reviews to an online ratings survey. They had to reevaluate the ratings due this skewing.
 

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