10 Disney Films With Shockingly Dark Source Material
6. The Little Mermaid
Turns out it is absolutely not better down where it's wetter like Disney would have us believe. Based on a Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Little Mermaid is the story of a young mermaid unsure of her place in the world falling in love with a prince. Sure there are some hurdles to their inter-species love affair, but nothing they can't overcome.
Unless you're reading Hans Christian Anderson version of the story, and then they absolutely can't overcome them and don't- the prince marries someone else and Ariel essentially commits suicide. Oh, also she lives in perpetual pain after she wishes to be a normal girl, like she's walking on knives to be exact.
The stories differ drastically in tone. With the exception of Ursula there is little dark about Disney's adaptation of this pretty dour story. Admittedly the song would have been much less catchy and feel good had Disney gone in Anderson's much darker direction.