Adaption Report, Research Paper Example

Successful and popular children’s literary works are often adapted for film. Such is the case of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which was derived from the Hans Christen Anderson story of the same title. While both versions of The Little Mermaid have the same underlying part, Disney altered many aspects of the original work in order to make it “more suitable” for a younger audience. In the process of “Disney-ifying” the film however, the entertainment value and the moral lesson that Hans Christen Anderson intended to teach in the original were completely erased.

According to week 6 lecture “Historical and Aesthetic Implications of Rewriting Stories”, classic folk tales are rewritten to allow “a society to rework some of its main relationships between family members, family and society, class, gender, and even race” (Historical and Aesthetic Implications of Rewriting Stories 1). In the Hans Christen Anderson version of the tale, the little mermaid is described as “the prettiest of them all [her sisters]; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea” (Anderson 1). In the Disney version of the tale, the little mermaid, Ariel, certainly fits this broad description but is given red hair so she could stand out compared to the others. In addition to the description of the main character, all of the main relationships between family members, family and society, class, gender, and race remain the same. As a consequence, there wasn’t a need to adapt the film in a manner that modern viewers would understand, rather Disney felt that the content of the Anderson story was not acceptable for a young audience.

Although it is easy to be critical of Disney for altering a classic tale so drastically, these changes reflect a want to teach our children morality using softer lessons. According to the week 6 lecture, the original version of Little Red Riding Hood “recorded by the Brothers Grimm has the mother and the child eaten by the wolf before the huntsman comes and kills the wolf” (Historical and Aesthetic Implications of Rewriting Stories 2). While both versions of the story teach children not to trust strangers, the Brothers Grimm version puts Little Red Riding Hood in more of a futile situation in which she needs help from another to be free, while the modern retelling portrays Little Red Riding Hood as a hero who eventually notices that the wolf is trying to deceive her.

Like Little Red Riding Hood, the ending of The Little Mermaid is the same in both versions in a sense, because they both have a happy ending. In the movie adaptation, Ariel is happy because she is able to stay human and marry the prince that she loves. In the short story, the little mermaid is unable to make the prince fall in love with her and she turns into sea foam, which allows her to exist for all eternity. It is likely that Disney considered the short story ending to be too bittersweet, and the associated lesson discouraging for children. In the short story, the sea witch succeeded in her goal, which essentially teaches young children that they should not attempt to attain the impossible. In contrast, the Disney movie teaches young children that if they try hard enough to reach a goal, they will succeed.

Despite the fact that Disney believes these type of alterations on classic folk tales is appealing and useful to young people, they undermine the lessons that the original authors intended to teach children. While many parents wish their children to believe that life will always be positive and care free, others believe that it is essential for them to understand the possible problems they can encounter early on so they will be better prepared for life. As a consequence, the original tellings of these classic folk tales are more suitable for teaching life lessons than their adaptations.

According to chapter 7 of the textbook, “oral traditions that are older than written literature gives us innumerable variants of popular stories, such as Cinderella tales with deserving heroines who live happily ever after, or animal fantasy folk songs that mock romantic ballads” (Stahl 767). It is likely that people will continue to adapt The Little Mermaid to suit their entertainment and educational goals. However, it is essential for both young and adult readers to be aware of the roots of these tales so certain aspects of the story aren’t taken out of context. It may be disadvantageous for young children to be fed the “happy-go-lucky” attitude that is integrated into Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid, while for others the Hans Christen Anderson tale may provide a too harsh pictures of reality. As a consequence, it is necessary to make all versions of a story available and known and allow the individual to select which retelling they prefer over the others.

Works Cited

Anderson, Hans Christen. “The Little Mermaid”. 1836. Web. 2 January 2014.  <http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html>

“Historical and Aesthetic Implications of Rewriting Stories”. Week 6 Lecture. Children’s Literature. AIO. 2January 2014.

Stahl, J D, Tina L. Hanlon, and Elizabeth L. Keyser. Crosscurrents of Children’s Literature: An Anthology of Texts and Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.