The Little Mermaid

[Bruce Wayne]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sony-picks-up-dark-retelling-191130

 

[The Good]

Wow... so they're going for a darker, gritty version?

 

[Lady Day]

Have you ever read the original H C Anderson 'The Little Mermaid'? She never wanted a husband, she wanted a soul. She wanted to be human so she could have a soul and go to heaven when she died. Marrying the prince would give her that. It was a bonus she loved him. The prince never picks her and rather than kill him on his wedding night to another woman and let his blood drip on her legs so she becomes a mermaid again, she decided to die and turn into sea foam. But she becomes a spirit instead to watch over him and his wife forever!

This can't be a 'Disney' version of the story, which is a very, very nice version.
I wish hollywood would do more real fairy tales. They are not nice by a long shot.

From the synopsis it looks like they are telling the story from the other princess' side, which they can make as they wish.

Getting a degree in fairy tales/folk stories is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I find them utterly fascinating.
LD

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Very true. The Brothers Grimm definitely lived up to their name in the original telling of their stories.

 

[Lady Day]

Grimm's fairy tale are a whole other beast. Their strength is gathering the stories from all different cultures and writing pretty much paramount versions that we know today. Mr. Anderson did some of that but made up a lot of his stories. And most do lack the depth of the Grimm ones.

But a bit more about the Little Mermaid. The sea witch was pretty much a neutral party in the whole transaction. The witch took her voice, but when the mermaid walked, it felt as if she was walking on glass, so every step she took was beyond painful, but she looked beautiful, so whatever, right?

All her sisters sold their hair to the witch for the magic blade that the mermaid needed to kill the prince with because he had married another. And throughout the entire story the prince never sees her as a love interest but more like a pet. WOW!

Its a really, really monstrous tale, and ripe for all kinds of embellishing. The character developments alone could be delicious.
Sorry, I totally geek out about fairy tales.

LD