BROADWAY!

When the story of the Little Mermaid is referred to in a conversation, most people think of the happy love story between Ariel and Prince Eric - Flounder and Sebastian the crab aiding her, while the evil Ursula tries her hardest to thwart the inevitable "True Love's Kiss." I think it is safe to say that at least 75% of American children have seen the animated Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. Disney movies have become a huge part of American culture because of "The American Dream" that started this country and has kept it alive until today. People came, and still come to America in search of greener pastures, hoping for more than they could ever dream of in their home country. These hopes are based on stories and tales that they have heard from those who have traveled and come back, letters they have received, and even just imaginations of what a better world would be like. America, to many people, is whatever they want it to be.

All of these hopes, dreams, and aspirations have been translated into the stories that are shared among groups in America. The stories we share are about the struggles between good and evil with good ultimately prevailing, finding true love and getting it, fighting for freedom and receiving it, and glossing over violence or minimizing the seriousness of graphic life situations. The stories we tell are meant to make us feel good and give us hope - to make us happy.

When you look at the elements of the Disney and Broadway musical of The Little Mermaid, comparing them to Hans Christian Andersen story (one of the closest written documents we have of the story), you can see how "The American Dream" has influenced and drastically changed them. Many of the fairytales that we know seem so child friendly, but when we read the original versions from Hans Christensen and the Grimm Brothers we sometimes cringe and are unsatisfied with the endings. There weren't many "happily ever after's" back in the day.

There are a few differences between the movie version and the broadway version which are mostly due to stage limitations. Prince Eric does not have dog; there is not a huge storm that destroys the ship; instead of using Flotsam and Jetsam to spy on Ariel, Ursula uses a magical Nautilus shell; Ursula's alter ego, Vanessa, is not there; and Ursula does not grow to monstrous proportions at the very end. Other than that, the only difference between the movie and the musical is that they add a few songs to the musical.

The differences between the Hans Christian Andersen version, however, are drastic. I will only highlight the major differences, or the ones that really change the meaning of the story. We all remember the story, like I said already, as Ariel seeking "True Love's Kiss" after she makes a deal with Ursula. Ariel only has three days to make Prince Eric fall in love with her but in return for receiving legs, Ariel has to give her voice to Ursula for those three days. That's not so bad. Originally though, Ursula cut Ariel's tongue out and the legs that she was given weren't all that great. Even though she was the most beautiful dancer, every step she took felt as if she were walking on knives and she sometimes bled. We definitely cannot tell our children stories like that! Also, she was meant to marry Prince Eric and as soon as he married somebody else the deal would be off and Ariel would be turned to sea foam.

It is interesting to note that not only were the conditions of the deal changed but Ariel's entire motive for going to the Sea Witch (in the Hans Christian Andersen) in the first place. She did fall in love with the Prince when she saved him, but the reason she wanted to be with the humans and marry Prince Eric was because she wanted to live forever after she died. Mermaids turn to sea foam when they die but humans spirits live on when they die. In the Broadway version, Ariel's only motive for going to live with the humans is because she is in love with Prince Eric. It is true lives kiss that will allow her to keep her legs and live happily ever after with the Prince.

It is interesting to see the shifting and differing values between different cultures and between different time periods. The word "fairytale" means something totally different to someone that lived in Denmark 200 years compared to someone who lives in America right now. There isn't anything wrong with the different values, it just makes for an insightful study to see what things are more important to one people than to another. There is a lot to be learned from both types of stories, the old  ones and the new ones. In addition to that, it seems that even though we like to change stories to fit our circumstances, we don't come up with as many new ones.

Something that I won't go into right now would be to ask the questions:

Why are the different values portrayed today more important to us? 

Are they as important to you personally as they seem to be to society?

What values from the old stories are still important to you? 

Which story would you rather tell to your children? To a friend? Would it be a combination? 

Why did Disney change it from Denmark to France???