8 Dark Origins Behind Everyone's Favourite Disney Films
7. The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a Danish fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson, with the Disney film adaptation released in 1989.
The story in both versions follows a mermaid Ariel who wants for a better life, swapping her tail for feet to live amongst the human world above the water. In the process, she trades her voice with an evil sea witch to be with her true love on land.
In the original story in 1837, the author takes a much darker path of murder and suicide. Fourteen year old Ariel visits the Sea Witch (Ursula) for a chance to be with the prince, and is given the legs she so desires.
However, she is cursed with no voice, no soul and every step she takes resembles being pricked with sharp knifes. Unlike the film, the prince falls for another woman and the mermaid fails, making another deal with the witch to murder him.
However she does not succeed, breaking when she sees the prince and his wife asleep. She dissolves in to foam, and is offered the chance to gain a soul - so long as she spends three-hundred years doing good deeds for humanity.