10 Dark Storylines That Disney Movies Left Out
9. The Little Mermaid is made to dance on her legs that feel like walking on sharp knives
The original story of Ariel was by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. We learn that mermaids are permitted to swim above the surface of the sea on their fifteenth birthday and this is when Ariel first sees and falls in love with Prince Eric after saving him from drowning when his ship is sunk by a storm.
Ariel visits a Sea Witch who provides a potion that gives her legs in exchange for cutting out her tongue. She must get the Prince to fall in love with her in order to obtain a soul. This is where the story starts to diverge from the Disney version.
Ariel painfully grows two legs, essentially made by splitting her tail. They are excruciating to walk on, feeling like she is walking on sharp knives and she also bleeds constantly. The Prince finds her and asks her to dance for him, which she does, despite the pain.
Sadly, the Prince ends up falling for a Princess who he believes was the one who rescued him. The Sea Witch tells her if she kills him with a dagger and lets his blood drip on her feet, she can become a mermaid again, but she can’t do it so dissolves into sea foam.