THE LITTLE MERMAID

 

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The Little Mermaid (Den lille havfrue) is a fairy tale about a young mermaid who is willing to give up everything to gain the love of a prince and an eternal soul. The story was written in 1836 by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, and was first translated into English by H. P. Paull in 1872.

 

 

The Little Mermaid movie poster Walt Disney

 

 

 Story overview

 

The Little Mermaid lives at the sea bottom with her father the Sea King, her grandmother, and her five older sisters, born one year apart. When a mermaid turns 15, she is allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and as the sisters become old enough one of them visits the surface every year. As each of them returns the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their descriptions of the surface and human beings.

 

When the Little Mermaid turns 15 she ventures to the surface. She sees a ship with a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a distance. There comes a great storm, and the prince almost drowns, but the Little Mermaid saves him and she delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here she waits until he is found by a young girl from the temple. The prince never sees the Little Mermaid.

 

The Little Mermaid asks her grandmother whether humans can live forever if they do not drown. She is told that no, humans have an even shorter lifespan than mermaids. Mermaids live for 300 years, but when they die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist. Humans, on the other hand, have a short lifespan on earth, but they have an eternal soul that lives on in heaven even after they die. The Little Mermaid spends her days longing for the prince and for an eternal soul. At last she goes to the Sea Witch who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue; the Little Mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world. But drinking the potion will make her feel like a sword is being passed through her, and walking on her feet will feel like walking on knives. And she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die broken-hearted and turn to sea foam like other merfolk.

 

The Little Mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince, who is attracted to her beauty and grace even though she is mute. Most of all he likes to see her dance and she dances for him even though it feels like dancing on knives. The prince loves her like one loves a child.

 

The time comes when the king decides that the prince is to marry the neighboring king's daughter. The prince tells the Little Mermaid that he will not marry the princess because he does not love her. He can only love the young girl who once saved his life, the girl who unfortunately belongs to the temple. He also tells the Little Mermaid that she is beginning to take the temple girl's place in his heart. However, it turns out that the princess is the temple girl; she had only been sent to the temple to be educated. The prince loves her and the wedding is announced.

 

The prince and princess are married and the Little Mermaid's heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has given up in order to be with the prince and to gain an eternal soul - her beautiful voice, her wonderful home, her loving family, her life - and of all the pain that she has suffered; all without the prince ever having a thought thereof. She despairs, but before dawn her sisters come to her and give her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their hair. If the Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife she will become a mermaid again and be able to live out her full life under the sea.

 

But the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride and, as dawn breaks, throws herself into the sea. Here her body dissolves into sea foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warmth of the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters of the air tell her that she has become like them because she, like them, strove with all her heart to gain an eternal soul. As a mermaid her gaining a soul was dependent on another, the prince; but as a daughter of the air she will earn her own soul by doing good deeds. When 300 years have passed she will have earned her soul and will rise into the kingdom of God. This time can be shortened: with each good child she finds she subtracts a year, while she adds a day for each tear she must shed over a wicked child.

 

 

 

Rene Auberjonois

Louis (voice)

Christopher Daniel Barnes

Prince Eric (voice)

Jodi Benson

Ariel (voice)

Pat Carroll

Ursula (voice)

Paddi Edwards

Flotsam & Jetsam (voice)

Buddy Hackett

Scuttle (voice)

Jason Marin

Flounder (voice)

Kenneth Mars

King Triton (voice)

Edie McClurg

Carlotta (voice)

Will Ryan

Seahorse (voice)

Ben Wright

Grimsby (voice)

Samuel E. Wright

Sebastian (voice)

Charles Adler

Additional Voices (voice)

Jack Angel

Additional Voices (voice)

Hamilton Camp

Additional Voices (voice)

Nancy Cartwright

Additional Voices (voice)

Jim Cummings

Additional Voices (voice)

J.D. Daniels

Additional Voices (voice)

Jennifer Darling

Additional Voices (voice)

Gail Farrell

Additional Vocalist (voice)

Ed Gilbert

Additional Voices (voice)

Gerrit Graham

Additional Voices (voice)

Mark Hamill

Additional Voices (voice)

Anne Lockhart

Additional Voices (voice)

Mickie McGowan

Additional Voice (voice)

Rod McKuen

Additional Voices (voice)

Malachi Pearson

Additional Voices (voice)

Kimmy Robertson

Alana (voice)

Lee Tockar

Additional Voices (voice)

Caroline Vasicek

Arielle (voice)

Robert Weil

Additional Voices (voice)

 

 

Writers:

Roger Allers (story)
Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale)

 

 

 

LINKS and REFERENCE

 

 

CARTOONS OF NOTE

  1. THE LITTLE MERMAID

  2. SHREK

  3. FINDING NEMO

  4. TOY STORY

  5. THE LION KING

  6. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

  7. DUMBO

  8. DONALD DUCK

  9. MICKEY MOUSE

  10. ICE AGE

 

 

 

 

 

A - Z FILMS INDEX

 

 

 

13 GOING ON 30

16 BLOCKS

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

A PERFECT STORM

ALIEN

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

ATONEMENT

AUSTIN POWERS

BABE

BACK TO THE FUTURE

BATMAN

BIG MIRACLE

BRAVEHEART

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

BRIDGET JONES' DIARY

CASABLANCA

CASINO ROYALE

CAST AWAY

CATWOMAN

CHRISTINE

CON AIR

CROCODILE DUNDEE

DEAD CALM

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

DIE HARD

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

DISCLOSURE

DOLORES CLAIBORNE

DOLPHIN TALE

DR. NO

DUMB AND DUMBER

ERIN BROCKOVICH

FATAL ATTRACTION

FIRE ON THE AMAZON

FLIPPER

FLY AWAY HOME

FREE WILLY

FRENCH KISS

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

 

 

GLADIATOR

GOLDFINGER

HARRY POTTER

HORNBLOWER

INDIANA JONES

JAMES BOND

JAWS

JURASSIC PARK

JUST LIKE HEAVEN

KING KONG

KUNG FU HUSTLE

LEON

MAN ON FIRE

MASTER and COMMANDER

MEAN GIRLS

MEDICINE MAN

MEN OF HONOUR

MISERY

MISS CONGENIALITY

MOBY DICK

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

NAKED GUN

NATIONAL TREASURE

OUT OF TIME

OVERBOARD

PARENT TRAP

PAYBACK

PEARL HARBOUR

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

PLANET OF THE APES

PRETTY WOMAN

PSYCHO

P2 DEAD MANS CHEST

RACE THE SUN

RAMBO

ROB ROY

ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THEIVES

ROBOCOP

ROXANNE

 

 

SCHOOL OF ROCK

SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC

SEABISCUIT

SHORT CIRCUIT

SPEED

SPIDERMAN

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

STAR GATE

STAR TREK

STAR WARS

THE 39 STEPS

THE AVIATOR

THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO

THE DA VINCI CODE

THE DAMBUSTERS

THE FLY

THE MASK

THE MATRIX

THE MUMMY RETURNS

THE PATRIOT

THE PERFECT STORM

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

THE TERMINATOR

THE THING

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

THE WORLDS FASTEST INDIAN

THUNDERBALL

TITANIC

TOP GUN

TRADING PLACES

TREASURE ISLAND

TROY

TRUE GRIT

UNFORGIVEN

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

WAR OF THE WORLDS  

WATERLOO BRIDGE

ZULU

 

 

 

 

A - Z ACTORS INDEX

 

 

 

Adam Sandler

Al Gore

Alec Baldwin

Angelina Jolie

Anthony Hopkins

Arnold Shwazenneger

Arnold Vosloo

Ashlea Kaye

Ben Stiller

Brad Pitt

Brendan Fraser

Bruce Willis

Burt Lancaster

Catherine Zeta Jones

Charlize Theron

Chris Cooper

Clint Eastwood

Daniel Craig

Demi Moore

Dennis Hopper

Denzel Washington

Drew Barrymore

Dwayne Johnson

Eric Bana

Eva Green

George Clooney

Gerard Depardieu

Glen Close

Goldie Hawn

Gregory Peck

 

 

Halle Berry

Harvey Keitel

Hugh Jackman

Humphrey Bogart

Ian Holm

Ingrid Bergman

Jack Black

Jack Nicholson

James Caan

James Cromwell

James McAvoy

Jason Statham

Jean Reno

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Daniels

Jim Carrey

Joaquin Phoenix

John Hurt

John Travolta

John Wayne

Johnny Depp

Judi Dench

Julia Roberts

Julie Andrews

Kate Hudson

Kate Winslett

Kathy Bates

Keanu Reeves

Keira Knightley

Kevin Spacey

 

 

Kim Basinger

Kirk Douglas

Kirsten Dunst

Kurt Russell

Leonardo di Caprio

Liam Neeson

Linda King

Linda Kozlowski

Lindsay Lohan

Mads Mikkelsen

Marilyn Monroe

Marlon Brando

Matthew McConaughey

Mel Gibson

Michael Cain

Michael Douglas

Michael J Fox

Michael Keaton

Michelle Pfeiffer

Mike Myers

Morgan Freeman

Naomi Watts

Nicholas Cage

Nicole Kidman

Orlando Bloom

Owen Wilson

Paul Bettany

Paul Hogan

Pierce Brosnan

Rachel Weisz

 

 

Rebecca De Mornay

Reese Witherspoon

Rennee Zellweger

Richard Gere

Robert de Niro

Roger Moore

Russell Crowe

Sally Edwards

Sam Neil

Samuel L Jackson

Sandra Bullock

Sean Connery

Sharon Stone

Sigourney Weaver

Stanley Baker

Stephen Chow

Steve Martin

Steve McQueen

Steven Segal

Slyvester Stalone

Tim Roth

Tobey Maguire

Tom Cruise

Tom Hanks

Tommy Lee Jones

Uma Thurman

Willem Dafoe

Will Smith

Yul Brynner

 

 

 

 

GRAPHIC NOVEL INDEX A - Z

 

 

 

Anita Blake - Guilty Pleasures

Batman

Captain America

Catwoman

John Storm - Kulo Luna

 

 

Ironman

Spiderman

Superman

Superwoman

The Incredible Hulk

 

 

The Fantastic Four

The Green Lantern

Tin Tin

Wonderwoman

X Men

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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