It’s fascinating how Disney strives to make their princesses relatable to young girls, and it’s understandable that they do so! Representation (of many different kinds) in media can mean the world. It’s unfair for me to expect happier endings from The Little Mermaid, although up until now I think I might be anticipating them unless I see the words “Brothers Grimm” somewhere.

Besides this, I can’t seem to figure out what is this story trying to teach children. I struggle with analyzing it, and the only conclusion I can come to is that the moral is we shouldn’t be greedy or obsessed with “other-worldly” (a very well-fitting term here) things. Ariel’s personality and attitude in the story is not unlike those of other female protagonists, in fact she acts exactly how one might expect a teenager to, yet she still doesn’t get the happiest ending.

Imagine being impressionable (or maybe not, depending on you personally) and a young teen again, and you are read this story from a guardian or parent. Does it not discourage risk-taking and curiosity?

Of course not all of this is healthy, and the Disney ending is almost too happy, but what does the version we read teach young girls? To never leave home and venture out? To stay submissive and never explore?

I believe the Disney adaptation of the Little Mermaid wants the audience to view Ariel as adventurous. We feel bad that her father is controlling, and we want Ariel to live out her dreams and be with Eric. We see this specific chemistry she has with the prince, and we feel pity for her since this evil sea witch tempted her through the invitation of two eels. But in the Hans Christian Andersen version, I did not feel the same type of pity for the Little Mermaid. I felt there was a lack of passion, and overall, the main character seemed foolish. Throughout her time with the prince, she is treated as a pet. Then has to endure the guilt that her sisters provide. I think that is a significant theme change since her sisters were barely present in the Disney adaptation. The Anderson version made the story more about feminine relationships by giving the sisters and the grandmother more prominent roles, while the Disney adaption was more strictly about Ariel having daddy issues. Also, I feel like the audience does not feel the same empathy for the little mermaid because she does go to the sea witch, but she never has anyone who needs to persuade her to go. Yes, severe pain is inflicted on her, but it’s her own fault, and I don’t think the sea witch is the villain in this adaptation.

I had never read or heard of the version of the Three Little Pigs by Roald Dahl before reading it for this class. Since I had never read it, I was really engaged throughout the short tale. There are many different versions of the Three Little Pigs, and in the versions that I read in the past the pigs all lived. So, this was a different take on the tale that I already knew. Personally, I looked at the three pigs with sympathy. They were trying to build their, two of them were eaten by the big bad wolf and the last pig was killed by Little Red Riding Hood houses with not much explanation. It was a shock at first to see her show up in this tale, I laughed when the pig called her up to save him. It was really shocking that she pulled a “pistol from her knickers” and then killed the wolf and the pig. In her own tale, she doesn’t have much agency at all, but in this story, she has more agency than the pigs, which I think is interesting for Dahl to do. It’s a story about three pigs, but they really don’t have much agency at all.