The Real Life Story Of Disney's The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid, a tale that endured over the centuries

This story is certainly one of the most popular cartoons of the 1990s and 2000s. Ariel, a young mermaid, dreams of becoming human and living on the surface herself. With the help of her friend, she disobeys her father King Triton, and trades her precious voice for a pair of legs with the witch Ursula. But once on land, the young woman, who finds the sailor she has fallen in love with, Prince Eric, must succeed in making him fall under her spell in less than three days without the help of her voice. Should she fail, she would end up damned by the witch’s curse. Only a true love’s kiss can save her, and the whole plot of the film leads viewer to hope for a happy ending, which eventually comes.

At least, this is Disney’s 1989 version. And also the one the studio has chosen to use for the release of a live-action version of The Little Mermaid, due May 2023.

The Little Mermaid, a not-so-fairy story

Although Disney opted to make it a love story, this very much not the plot of the original story as written by Hans Christian Andersen. In fact, in 1837, the author of the Danish tale published Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid), a story that is very different from the one retold by the animation studio. In the original tale, the Little Mermaid fell under the spell of a human whom she saves from drowning, but unlike Disney’s adaptation, she was not driven to wish for legs out of curiosity for life on earth, or her love for the princes. In Andersen’s story, the young mermaid learns that the souls of humans are eternal and decides to go to the witch to get legs so that she too can acquire this “ability” by marrying a human. Once again, the Danish author’s story is much less squeamish than Disney’s: the Little Mermaid has her tongue cut out by the witch and the “creation” of her legs is so painful that every step she takes feels as if she is being “pierced by knives.”

Similarly, you’ll find no “happily ever after” for Hans Christian Andersen. The prince falls in love with another woman, and decides to marry her, so Ariel knows she is doomed to have her heart broken, literally, and to be turned into sea foam. In a fit of despair, urged on by her sisters, the young woman decides to stab Prince Eric, her only means of breaking her curse and becoming a mermaid again. But at the last moment, Ariel finally decides to spare him. As she throws herself into the sea, ready to accept her fate, she joins a metaphorical paradise, “the women of the air,” as a reward for her good deed.

No great love story, then. Hans Christian Andersen portrays a young woman who idealises her future and sacrifices everything to get there, without taking into account the risks and warnings. It is not her love for the prince that drives her to leave the ocean, but her desire to be immortal.

The Little Mermaid, a work forever linked to Copenhagen

Hans Christian Andersen died in Copenhagen in August 1875 after leaving his mark on the capital and on Danish culture. Although he may have been mocked by his peers during his lifetime, this great friend of Charles Dickens enjoyed worldwide success in posterity. The Danish capital erected many statues of the author, such as the one in Rådhuspladsen Square or the one at City Hall, but also of his most popular work: The Little Mermaid. In Copenhagen harbour, not far from Churchill Park, there is a bronze statue of the famous character in the waters of the Kattegat.

Outside the capital, you can also visit the writer’s childhood home in his home town of Odense. In the south of the country, in the heart of the Efteling amusement park, the Fairy Tale Wood features many of the local hero’s works in their original setting.

Could Toonami Be On The Chopping Block Perhaps For Adult Swim?

Adult Swim is a general entertainment brand owned by Warner Bros. Discovery that is home to various adult animation including Rick And Morty, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken. It is currently operating as a programming block on Cartoon Network in the U.S.

During the year, Cartoon Network's president Michael Ouweleen unveiled two series My Adventures With Superman and Unicorn Warriors Eternal shows initially meant to be released by Cartoon Network was folded under Adult Swim.

Later in the week, it was heard from sources that Ouweleen would be investing more airtime in Adult Swim therefore reducing the airtime seen on Cartoon Network in the affected region. Although, these changes don't seem to have an affect on the channel in other countries.

It does however bring out a lot of curiosity for the brands that do such as Toonami cause the last brand to have gotten this much attention was Cartoonito and by the end of March 2023 a lot of Boomerang feeds were phased out for this offering.

Similar to Boomerang, Toonami has a come off as repetitive and less productive or at least the feed situated in Africa as France was able to do a proper rebrand which saw the channel supply wrestling promotion AEW, anime and content from Adult Swim.

Kind of like how most of Cartoonito's existence was based off Boomerang, the same could be said about Adult Swim with Toonami. Content from the brand could help boost the offering in Africa and get more viewers invested on the channel currently it's a DC wasteland.

Another problem probably establishing a dedicated Adult Swim channel off the ground would be contractual issues as MultiChoice a platform that doesn't offer Toonami have rights to a portion of their content or in this case Adult Swim.

Considering Warner Bros. Discovery plans to rollout the Max streaming service in new destinations by 2024 that might as well change.

Recap To The Month: ESPN To Exit DStv, StarSat And The Rest Of Africa As The Walt Disney Company Facilitates Streaming

In 2021, The Walt Disney Company unveiled plans to close 100 international channels in the coming future which included a range of  FOX, National Geographic and Disney Channels. This past week it was reported that the brand is opting to make ESPN a streaming exclusive.

This news doesn't come as a surprise as mentioned they already closed a couple of channels across the world and also this was discussed back in 2022 but more of a what if scenario as they're still looking at ways of getting this off the ground.

The idea similar to Disney+ is to rollout ESPN as a standalone streaming service. There is regions already bundling sports under Disney+ so it's likely that this streaming service will rollout under the streamer if not a standalone or add-on.

Despite their cancellation on DStv and StarSat, The Walt Disney Company revealed they're still willing to distribute selected content on cable meaning these outlets alongside various in the region will likely use existing sports channels if not replacements for the content.

Similar to National Geographic and Disney Channel where content such as The World According To Jeff Goldblum and Monster Inc: The Series were made exclusive to Disney+ now the content can be viewed on the mentioned brands alongside local broadcasters.

Seeing as there's no timeframe as to when the indefinite will occur my guess would be between 2025-2027 as the company is currently looking to review the NBA deal in the hopes to stream them on ESPN+ (or Disney+) and the other BBC is looking to become an online platform.

Recap To The Decade: eMedia Investments Has Yet To Cutback On Repeats Currently Viewed On Openview

MultiChoice has been providing repeats to DStv consumers since the dawn of time and over the years they found ways to simplify that offering by either reducing the number of alternatives available or at least on a particular package as seen with Magic Showcase.

Of course, Openview serving as a free-to-view component from eMedia Investments has took part in a similar scenario. Following the success of eExtra's Kuiertyd (Turkwood), they launched a dedicated channel in 2022 to relive the moments even after axing Rewind.

During that year, SABC unveiled plans to restructure the rebroadcasts seen across their plans which would see shows such as 7de Laan being made viewable to consumers on SABC 2 and SABC+ and no longer on the loss making SABC 3.

Alas, eMedia Investments has yet to take a similar route with consumers on the Openview platform as they offer primetime on eExtra and catch-up on e.tv despite the existence of ePlesier let's not forget eVOD where this content can be streamed at anytime.

Just like the public broadcaster, it almost seems as if they don't have enough content to fill up a single channel. As mentioned, e.tv offers a catch-up service to Kuiertyd with eXposed playing second fiddle to above-mentioned brands alongside eReality.

If I had to be honest, ePlesier would have probably been better off had eMedia Investments reduced the airtime on e.tv or move this catch-up service to the Rewind type channel with the main channel airing selected content in the hopes to lure potential Openview consumers.

Recap To Last Year: OnseTV And MyTV Are No Longer Available On StarSat, Should eMedia Investments Perhaps Get It For The Openview Platform?

Last year, it was announced that OnseTV and My TV would be scrapped from the StarSat platform. As of 2023, Glow TV join the brands as another list of channels that can't be viewed anywhere in the market.

OnseTV was a general entertainment channel which is meant to serve as a rival to the kykNET channels on the DStv platform offering a lineup of drama series, movies, reality shows and documentaries. It includes shows like Suidooster and Snoek & Patat.

MyTV was a lifestyle channel and by the looks of it a rival to Media24's VIA also seen on the DStv platform. It offers a mixture of lifestyle and factual content ranging from home, decor, food, fashion and several others. It includes shows like Vaskap and Eksieperfeksie.

As seen in 2022, StarSat has been focused on reshaping the South African landscape through content adaption, dubbing, sub-titling supported by innovative low-cost commissioning of unique programme formats that appeal to the "vast majority" of consumers.

Unfortunately, OnseTV and MyTV didn't resonate with those plans for consumers which led to the untimely demise on the StarSat platform after 13 years.

MyTV (formerly ASTV) was added onto eMedia Investments' Openview platform back in 2013 but died out over the years as consumers weren't that invested at the time as seen with eExtra's Kuiertyd which has luckily pulled close to half a million viewers.

Over the years, eMedia Investments had begun investing in more content for the brand including Saturday Night Movies on eExtra and the Afrikaans game show, Die Kontrak.

I mean the idea of getting a brand similar to OnseTV or MyTV perhaps for Openview Ultra wouldn't be the most far fetched thing to happen. eExtra is telenovela skewed particularly with Kuiertyd but with their fanbase they could as well get this content to new heights.

Initially, Openview was more like StarSat with this offering and following Kuiertyd. You got to see more of this brand as well as the community it caters for. At the moment, it kinds of repetitive and maybe content from both these parties will help change that.