The Little Mermaid
- In the original version, the Little Mermaid feels an indescribable amount of pain every time she takes a step - due to a curse the witch put on her.
- The Little Mermaid has a mother in the original - her mother is dead in the Disney version.
- The Captain that the mermaid falls in love with marries another woman (whom he had been in love with in the first place) - in the Disney version the Little Mermaid gets the prince!
- The Little Mermaid's sisters offer her a knife to kill the prince so she can return to the see in the original.
- The Little Mermaid dies at the end (turns into sea foam) - she kinds of commits suicide - because she cannot bare to see the prince with someone else.
Snow White
- In the original - the Queen requests the lungs and liver (as well as the heart) of Snow White to eat for dinner that night.
- In the original - Snow White is not awakened by a kiss from the prince (like the Disney version) - she is awakened when she is jostled by the horse on which her coffin is being carried by the prince.
Cinderella
- In the original - the step-sisters of Cinderella try to cut off different parts of their feet to make them fit into the glass slippers.
- The Prince is alerted of the step-sisters by two carrier pigeons who then peck out the step-sisters eyes. The step-sisters live as blind beggars for the rest of their lives.
Sleeping Beauty
- Woman is put to sleep because of a prophecy (not a curse) in the original.
- In the real original (not Brothers Grimm version) - Sleeping Beauty is raped by the King (her father) and is awakened when her child sucks the piece of flax that was keeping her asleep out of her finger.
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ReplyDelete"The Little Mermaid" was written by Has Christian Andersen, a 19th century Danish author; not, the Brothers Grimm.
ReplyDeleteBettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment" will help you understand the function of these stories in their original setting. The rape and threatened rape of girls were stories to help girls deal with that reality, or threat thereof, in their lives. Wicked stepmothers were really about wicked mothers - a totally taboo subject, but an ugly reality nonetheless to be dealt with through the once twice remove of a fairy tale about a stepmother. Some stories helped girls deal with the permanent powerlessness of their status.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about Disney's sanitizing these stories of all possible "negative" emotions (i.e. emotions that parents don't want to deal with in their children). Dumbo's separation from his mother, the death of Bambi's mother, the reality that little girls can't marry their fathers (Little Mermaid) - at some level, these do need to be dealt with.
1)TLM was written by Hans Christan Anderson 2)DISNEY'S Cinderella was adopted from Charles Perrault version. Even the movie says so. Look at this link and go 55mins into the credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLcv1kirPhA
ReplyDeleteHi I am doing a research project on the fairytale the little mermaid vs. the disney movie and i was hoping you could give me some guidance. Please contact me at grimmordisney@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThe version you are referring to about a "king raping his daughter" is by Basile. It is called "Sun, Moon and Talia" She is raped by a unknown prince/king and not her own father.
ReplyDelete