The Little Mermaid: Unfolded

We all know and love The Little Mermaid; it's a Disney classic! Apparently it was originally written as a ballet. Also, when mermaids die they turn to sea foam. Hans Christian Anderson was a Danish poet and author who was very fond of fairy tales. This being said, Walt Disney was also very fond of fairy tales, adapting Anderson's version to fit Disney's vision. The differences in the two tales are:
In Anderson's tale, the royal mer-family live with their grandmother.  Disney just has the family as the father and daughters.  Anderson's laws of the ocean state that mer-people the age of fifteen may go to the surface to see what lies above, while Disney has Ariel be a rebel and go up out of mere curiosity. Both characters are of the same age when the stories take place.  A big one is in Anderson's, for he does not give his little mermaid a name, she is just referred to as the Little Mermaid. Disney made the name Ariel famous by choosing that for his mermaid. In Anderson's version, when mermaids die they cease to exist, but when humans die their soul stays eternal in Heaven.  Disney has no mention of soul or religion in his film. In Anderson's version, the Little Mermaid goes to the Sea Witch and exchanges her tongue for legs, while Ariel exchanges her voice for legs (A little less drastic, don't you think?) In Anderson's version, the Little Mermaid, once she has taken a drink of the potion that will give her legs, will never be able to return to the sea again.  Ariel has the ability to return to the sea, and will be forced back within three days if she does not receive a kiss from the handsome Prince Eric.  The Sea Witch, although taking the Little Mermaid's tongue, does give her the ability to dance like "no human has ever danced before." But, Anderson, being himself, throws in a twist and makes every step the Little Mermaid takes extremely painful, and if the Little Mermaid does not receive a kiss from the prince and marry him, she will die broken hearted and will disintegrate into sea foam. Ariel, although not graceful with legs in the beginning, finds her balance and woo's the prince with her voice-less charm and girlish curiosity. The Prince in Anderson's story is forced to marry the neighboring king's daughter, but he refuses because he does not love her and wants to marry the girl who he thinks rescued him.  This being said, the neighboring king's daughter was the one who the Prince thinks rescued him from drowning (even though it was the Little Mermaid), so he leaves the Little Mermaid and arranges a wedding for the neighboring king's daughter. Disney finds it suitable to send evil eels after the darling Ariel to prevent her kiss with Eric, and this proves successful.  Successful until the evil Sea Witch Ursala turns herself into a beautiful princess to compete with Ariel.  But then- Anderson's mermaid's heart splits in two because her prince married the neighboring princess.  If the Little Mermaid stabs her prince and let's his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid again.  The Mermaid, being kind-hearted, cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince, so she jumps into the ocean, only to turn into a spirit because she has gained her soul.  Ariel, on the other hand, slaps the fake princess/Ursala with cake and attacks her with seagulls and other sea creatures. Ursala turns back into her hideous sea-witch self and tries to tear Ariel away from Eric, but their love is too strong, so they stab her with a ship and she pops like a balloon.  The two love birds get married, and King Triton gives them his blessing which was the icing on their cake.  The Little Mermaid, however, now as a spirit, tries to obtain her own soul by making children do good deeds, to finally be in the kingdom of God.

Anderson changed his ending, stating that children will learn and behave better if they think they will help a mermaid gain her eternal soul.  Although this was intended to be a good message, it actually creeped kids out more than make them want to behave.
So there you have it! The two tales, unfolded.

Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is a friend of John Green's and no, she was not named after the character in Rent.  Regarding my last blog post, all of the internet knows I love John Green. Regarding this blog post, now all of the internet will know that I also love Maureen Johnson.  Her style, although different than Green's and rightfully so (because they are two different people), is very peppy.  Not in the stereotypical cheerleader I'm-always-happy-and-spirited kind of way, but the yes-my-books-have-happy-endings-but-it's-an-adventure-getting-to-the-happy-ending kind of way.
Johnson's protagonists have all been girls so far. All unique to the book's society, and all unique to the reader.  Some have short pixie cuts, others live on boats, one sells her soul to the devil.  See, all unique! Now, I do love Johnson's work, but there are a few criticisms I have on it.  For one, her stories are all a little predictable.  No, I am not being a hypocrite if you are thinking that my previous comment says that her books are completely unpredictable.  They are predictable, which is why it says that they all have happy endings.  By the last third of the book you tend to always know how it will end.  Her stories never seem to flow well either.  They have wonderful plots, but the transitions aren't always smooth.  My biggest question though, is why does there always have to be an attractive guy? In all of her stories, the protagonist has found a handsome man, only to be taken away from him to ANOTHER handsome man.  The ugly dudes need a shot too!\
My favorite Maureen Johnson book is 13 Little Blue Envelopes, followed by The Bermudez Triangle, then Girl at Sea.  She did a collaborative story with John Green and Lauren Myracle called Let It Snow, and it is truly wonderful.