THE+LITTLE+MERMAID+FALL+2012

The Little Mermaid Ariel Kerrigan, Morgan Kenny, Stephanie Friedkin, and Madeline Fink

==  //The Little Mermaid// by The Brothers Grimm Read on your own=== In the Ocean lived a beautiful little mermaid named Sirenetta. Sirenetta had a magnificent voice that every creature in the ocean would stop and listen to. Sirenetta sang all the time, but always looked towards the surface of the ocean hoping to see the marvelous blue sky. Sirenetta's mother told her that she was to young to go to the top, and that when she was fifteen in a year or two she could go to the surface on her own. Sirenetta patiently waited and begged her sister's to tell her stories from their adventures on the surface.

On the night before her birthday Sirenetta could not sleep. In the morning her father requested her presence. Her father put a carved wooden flower in her long golden waves. He warned her that she can only observe the human world, and the children of the see do not have the same souls that humans do. Sirenetta swam to the top of the ocean as fast as she could. When she popped her head out of the water she saw a endless blue sky as night was beginning to fall. As to the little mermaids surprise a big wooden ship was dropping anchor by the rock she was resting upon. Sirenetta was watching the men do their work on the ship when all of a sudden they crew started to cheer " Horray Horray the Captain! Happy twentieth birthday!". Staring with big eyes the mermaid saw the captain ,and her heart fell for him at once. As the party continued the sea became uneasy. She knew a strom was coming and that the men were in danger. A flash of lightning filled the sky, and soon the ship had sunk. She looked endlessly for the captain, but could not see him. When she finally saw him she rushed him into her arms. She tread water while holding through the entire storm. Sirenetta used all her energy ,and almost went under a couple of times. She made sure to keep his head above water. When the storm ended she swam him to the beach ,and sat with him until he awoke. When the princess heard voices approaching she swam away knowing the captain was in good hands.

She knew she had met the love of her life. When the prince awoke the first thing he saw was the unknown lady. Sirenetta was beyond upset about not being able to marry the captain. The only way she could was by making a deal with the evil sea witch. The Sea witch warned her that it would hurt more than anything else, every step she took would be like walking on knives, that she would give her voice. The evil Witch also told her that if the man she loves marry's someone else she will not be able to come back to the ocean. She will become the foam in the ocean. The mermaid swam to the beach ,and drank the potion. The pain was to much for the mermaid to bear so she passed out from the pain. When she started to open her eyes she saw the face of her love the Prince. The prince took the mermaid to the castle because he knew the kindness of the unknown lady bringing him to the castle. The Mermaid knew that the heart of the Prince belonged to the unknown lady. Soon a big ship came into dock and the unknown lady came off the boat. The Prince requested the unknown ladies hand in marriage right away. The two were married at once, and invited everyone on a celebration cruise. The little mermaid decided to go on. While Sirenetta was longing to go home to her beautiful ocean, her sisters popped up out of the water. They informed the mermaid that they had made a deal with the sea witch that if Sirenetta killed the Prince she would become a mermaid again. At dawn the little Mermaid threw the knife over board. Sirenetta jumped into the water and felt herself rising from the water like sea foam. Little Sprites came to her and told her that they are the ones with out souls and watch over human loved ones. So the little mermaid went on her way...



** “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Anderson (1836) ** Read On Your Own
This tale comes from Denmark, and is about a Little Mermaid who lives in the sea, with a fish’s tail instead of legs. She is the youngest of five sisters, and is the most beautiful of them all. Her father is the Sea-King and she was brought up by her grandmother who would tell her and her sister stories about the world above. However, they were not allowed to go up above until they turned 15. When the years passed and the Little Mermaid swam up to a ship, she met a Prince who she instantly connected with. A storm approached at a bad time, and the Prince was in danger. The Little Mermaid swam after him and saved him. They were fascinated with each other. All the Little Mermaid wanted was to be with the Prince, but he is human and she is not. The only way for her to change this is to see the Sea-Witch. Unlike other versions, the Sea-Witch is not evil. She is definitely not a saint, but she has no interest in harming anyone, even though she did sink two ships. The Little Mermaid agreed to give her legs, but this would make every step she took feel like a thousand knives. Also, she cut off the Little Mermaid’s tongue so she could no longer sing or speak. If the Prince fell in love with the Little Mermaid, she would remain a human forever, but if he married someone else, she would turn into the foam on the top of the ocean. One day, the Prince and the Little Mermaid crossed paths and she was brought back to his palace. She travelled with him and spent lots of time with him, but he didn’t think of making her his wife. Her sisters knew about the deal with the Sea-Witch, so they had to do whatever they could to bring their sister back to the ocean. They gave the Sea-Witch their hair, but this was not all that had to be done. The Little Mermaid had to stab the Prince in the heart in order for this to be affective. This was impossible for her because she was too fond of the Prince. However, instead of becoming the foam of the sea, The Little Mermaid is raised with the Daughters of Air, sparing her life and giving her an immortal soul. Because she was so unselfish, the Little Mermaid was able to float on to the Kingdom of Heaven.



Rusalochka (1976 Russian film adaptation of The Little Mermaid)
[|Read About Rusalochka] Rusalochka is 1976 Russian film adaptation of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. The mermaids in this version are portrayed to be evil- they sit up on the rocks and cause catastrophes to kill sailors; this is done to please their father, the Sea King. The nature of these mermaids brings fear into the humans, who know of their existence. As a result, if a human sees a mermaid near land, she will be killed. In this story, a little mermaid saves a prince from drowning; she then falls in love with this prince although a nomad has warned her that it will lead to her doom. The kind nomad falls in love with the little mermaid, but his love is not reciprocated. The witch (who in this story is a human being on land) lets the mermaid have a pair of legs in exchange for her beautiful blue hair. The witch has a day job as a bartender; at first, she does not agree to help the mermaid, but upon seeing her hair, she agrees to help. The mermaid is forewarned of the pain the transformation would bring, but she agrees to it anyway. A man who saw her as a mermaid tells the townspeople that she is not a human, but a mermaid on legs, with a new head of blonde hair. In effort to save the mermaid’s life, the nomad rushes to the palace and brings the prince; however, the prince does not recognize her, and simply sees her as a lovely girl he is meeting for the first time. Her beauty mesmerizes him, but he already loves the princess and will go on to marry her. On the day the prince and princess are married, the little mermaid dies. Because the nomad loved the little mermaid and was so sad her death was in vain, he kills the prince. The prince realized just before his death that the one who saved him from drowning was the little mermaid- the lovely girl from town- but unfortunately it was too late

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The Little Mermaid – Disney Version
[|Read about the Disney adaptation] The Walt Disney version of The Little Mermaid was adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. Ariel, who is the little mermaid, dreams of having legs and seeing what its like to be human. But her over protective father forbids this, of course. So, her father sends Sebastian the crab to be her “body guard”. One day, when she sees a ship she follows it and rises to the surface to see Prince Eric. And naturally, it is love at first sight. During a horrible storm she saves the drowning prince and brings him to land.

Ariel goes to Ursula (who is a witch); Ursula grants Ariel her one and only wish, legs. But what she doesn’t know is that this wish could possibly enslave Ariel so that Ursula can take over their city that Ariel’s father, Triton, is in charge of. In the very end, Ariel marries the prince and King Triton kills Ursula. The Disney version is the most well known by children and adults, and is generally everyone's favorite adaptation. media type="youtube" key="h0BQxhSwrtQ" height="315" width="420"media type="youtube" key="uMIsXdoj2vU" height="315" width="420"
 * Modern Interpretation**

The Little Mermaid is also the only Disney Princess to have a child.

Blogs:
[|Little Mermaid Critique] This is a brief summary and critique of Disney's version of //The Little Mermaid// [|The Little Mermaid new remake] Blog on a new interpretation of The Little Mermaid

**Other Sites:**
[|Little Mermaid Art Animation Resort] Disney's Little Mermaid Resort [|Another critique on The Little Mermaid] This site is also a critique on The Little Mermaid