I've never realized that Disney's The Little Mermaid was not an original Disney character/story, though this shouldn't have been a surprise since Disney's princesses all come from stories developed by people outside of Disney. Like Disney they take someone's original story and add so much more to them to make them appropriate and more appealing to children of all ages. Andersen and Disney both share the similar story lines when it comes to the main idea of the story. In both The Little Mermaid stories, Ariel wanted to ultimately become human so that she could be with Eric. She also sided with Ursula in a deal that would give her legs in exchange for her voice; in Disney's version her voice was kept in a nautilus shell
I've never realized that Disney's The Little Mermaid was not an original Disney character/story, though this shouldn't have been a surprise since Disney's princesses all come from stories developed by people outside of Disney. Like Disney they take someone's original story and add so much more to them to make them appropriate and more appealing to children of all ages. Andersen and Disney both share the similar story lines when it comes to the main idea of the story. In both The Little Mermaid stories, Ariel wanted to ultimately become human so that she could be with Eric. She also sided with Ursula in a deal that would give her legs in exchange for her voice; in Disney's version her voice was kept in a nautilus shell