You probably grew up thinking the Little Mermaid was all about a bubbly redhead, a singing crab, and a "happily ever after" on land. That’s the Disney effect. But if you actually sit down and read the source material—the 1837 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen—the whole vibe shifts. It’s not just "sorta" different; it’s a completely different animal.
Most people use the phrase Hans Christian Andersen Little Mermaid movie to describe the 1989 animated classic or the 2023 live-action remake. Honestly, though? Neither of those is a faithful adaptation. They’re more like "inspired by" stories that stripped away the tragedy, the religious grit, and the literal physical torture of the original.
The Brutal Reality of the Original Transformation
In the movies, Ariel loses her voice. It’s a magical trade, a bit of gold dust, and suddenly she has legs. In Andersen's world, the Sea Witch doesn't just "take" the voice. She cuts out the Little Mermaid’s tongue.
Think about that for a second.
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Every step she takes on those new legs is described as feeling like she’s treading on "sharp knives." She’s the most graceful dancer the prince has ever seen, but internally, she’s in agony. She’s bleeding. The movies make the choice to be human look like a fun, albeit high-stakes, adventure. Andersen made it a martyrdom.
Why the Disney Sidekicks Are a Lie
- Sebastian? Doesn't exist.
- Flounder? Purely a Disney invention to sell plushies.
- Scuttle? Nowhere to be found.
In the original story, the mermaid's only confidants are her sisters and her grandmother. Her grandmother is actually a massive character who explains the central conflict: Mermaids live 300 years and then turn into sea foam. Humans, however, have an "eternal soul" that lives on in heaven. This is the real kicker—the mermaid doesn't just want the prince; she wants immortality.
The Ending Everyone Refuses to Film
If you watched the Hans Christian Andersen Little Mermaid movie versions from Disney, you saw Eric kill the sea witch and marry Ariel.
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In the book? The prince marries a different woman. He thinks this other girl saved him from the shipwreck. The Little Mermaid has to stand there, in her "knife-stabbing" legs, and watch the love of her life marry someone else.
The deal with the witch was simple: if the prince marries another, the mermaid dies the next morning and turns to foam. Her sisters try to save her at the last minute. They trade their hair to the witch for a magic dagger. If the mermaid stabs the prince through the heart and lets his warm blood drip onto her feet, she can become a mermaid again.
She can't do it.
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She throws herself into the sea and prepares to dissolve. But instead of vanishing, she becomes a "daughter of the air." She has to do 300 years of good deeds to earn that soul she wanted. It’s a bittersweet, weirdly moralistic ending that Hollywood wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
Other Movies You Might Have Missed
While Disney dominates the conversation, there are other versions that lean closer to Andersen’s melancholy.
- The 1976 Toei Animation Film (Hansu Kurishutan Anderusen no Ningyo Hime): This Japanese anime is surprisingly loyal. It keeps the "sea foam" ending (though it skips the daughters of the air part), and the mermaid’s heartbreak is palpable. It’s haunting.
- The 1975 Russian Version (Rusalochka): This one feels like a fever dream. It’s very artistic, very grim, and captures that "outsider looking in" feeling that Andersen—who was famously a bit of a social misfit himself—poured into the pages.
- The 2023 Live-Action Remake: Halle Bailey’s performance was great, and the movie tried to give Ariel more "agency." But it still follows the 1989 blueprint. It’s a Disney movie, not an Andersen movie.
What This Means for You
If you're a fan of the story, you've gotta realize the "movie" version is basically a sanitized remix. The original tale was a reflection of Andersen's own unrequited love for a man named Edvard Collin. When Collin got married, Andersen wrote this story as a way to process his own feelings of being "othered" and unable to truly join the world he desired.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers:
- Read the original text: It’s short, it’s public domain, and it will change how you view the character.
- Look for the "Daughters of the Air" ending: It’s often cut out of modern storybooks, but it changes the "tragedy" into a story about self-sacrifice and spiritual growth.
- Watch the 1976 anime: If you want to see what a non-Disneyfied version looks like, this is your best bet for a "human-quality" adaptation of the actual plot.
- Appreciate the subtext: Whether you’re analyzing it for a class or just for fun, look at the "Little Mermaid" not as a girl chasing a guy, but as a person chasing a version of themselves they aren't "allowed" to be.
The Hans Christian Andersen Little Mermaid movie we all want—the one that captures the raw, painful, beautiful prose of the 1837 masterpiece—hasn't really been made by a major studio yet. Maybe one day a director will have the guts to let the mermaid turn to foam. Until then, we have the books and the Broadway tunes.
To truly understand the legacy of this story, compare the Disney scripts with a direct translation of Andersen's 1837 text to see exactly where the themes of "eternal souls" were swapped for "true love's kiss."