The Little Mermaid - What Did Disney Change?

    Andersen's original version of The Little Mermaid is overshadowed by Disney's colorful version. The Little Mermaid is a memorable story of a princess mermaid that wishes to love someone that is out of her reach. Disney has changed the story to make it appropriate for children. However, they kept the core of the story in place. Andersen's original version, I will admit, is a bit dark for children in this time. So, what did Disney change?
   What they first changed was the view the mermaids had on humans. The original version saw humans as delicate and beautiful things. When the mermaids were old enough, they were allowed to visit the surface world and view the wonders of human culture. But in Disney's version, humans were awful creatures that dirty the beautiful ocean and care nothing for other lives. Mermaids weren't allowed to travel to the surface. Another change is the role of the sisters. In the original version, they were the youngest mermaid's support in gaining information about the prince. But in Disney's version, the sisters treat their youngest sister with little respect. Their roles are replaced by the animals instead. The king's role is increased in Disney's version and is the magic touch that solves his daughter's problems.  

Why Do Villains Rise When Heroes Rise?

   We read, heard, or watched the origins of a hero more than we can ask for. But what about the villains? They show us the origins of the villain, but we don't really connect with them like we do with the hero. The villain experiments on himself for money. Why do they want the money? To get rich. Why do they want to get rich? Just because. You can't connect with the villain if all he wants is money! So what's the real reason the villain rise when the hero rise?
   Inspiration! That's the answer to the question. When you see your favorite hero flying above your head, run across roof tops, or swing from one block to the next, you can't help but admire them. You can't help but admire their power to go to the extreme to change the world. Now what does that do to someone who is already trying to change the world into their image? Obviously, that makes them go to the extreme to have their dreams come true. Which, also, means they will take their hero's message to the people to the extreme. EXTREME!

The Little Mermaid - What Made It Memorable

   Who doesn't know the story of The Little Mermaid? It's in most storybooks and several versions of the characters are used to educate small children. However, what makes The Little Mermaid so memorable to children and adults?
    Could it be the characters? There are 6 sisters, a king, a grandmother, a human prince, a witch, and a girl as the main characters the story focuses on. If I do say so myself, they are all typically "normal" characters. And by "normal" I mean their personalities aren't memorable except for the youngest mermaid princess. So the characters aren't what make the story so memorable.
   Then it has to be the story line, right? A mermaid princess that has everything she could ever want, wants something that is nearly impossible to have and out of her reach. It's like a lesson for kids to know that if they really try to get what they want, they will most likely get it, but with a consequence. With everything the young mermaid goes through, you want her to get what she wants since she has gone through so much to get it.
   So what makes this story so memorable? The journey.  

The Amazing Spider-Man - Honest Trailer

   Keeping movies honest! That's the job the YouTube channel Screen Junkies have placed upon themselves. I'm a huge fan of theirs and I never miss a video. The trailers you see on TV and on the computer on ads usually lie by showing you scenes that have been cut from the movie or by telling you what you want to hear. But Screen Junkies tells you exactly what to expect and what will disappoint you. One example, is the movie of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Thumbelina - Characters

   Thumbelina, the story of a girl who is kidnapped, saved, kidnapped again, rejected by her kidnapper's friends, almost freezes to death, saved again, saves a dying bird, flies away with the healthy bird, gets married, changes her name, and never sees her mom again. Oh, and if you have never read the story, I just spoiled it for you. Thanks to my one sentence summary, you now know Thumbelina is a story about a damsel in a lot of distress. Aside from the protagonist, I want to go into the characters she encounters.
   Thumbelina encounters her mother, a woman who is desperate for a child and goes to a fairy for answers on getting one. So far, the mother is the most reasonable character in the story. She only wishes to have a child to love and spend her life raising in peace. However the other characters Thumbelina encounters are shallow, self-centered, and selfish. The toad who kidnapped her chooses Thumbelina to be her son's wife based on her looks. That's shallow. The fishes that supposedly rescue her get her stranded on a plant in the middle of the stream, making it impossible for her to reach out for help. Their intentions were good, but they didn't think of the situation she would be in, so they committed a selfish act. This repeats over and over again throughout the story. The only selfless character that Thumbelina encounters in her adventure is the swallow. Swallow takes her away from her soon-to-be mole husband and allows her to travel with him across the land, throughout the seasons. However, he selflessly gives her up to the prince since she was beyond happy to marry the prince. All the swallow wanted was for the girl he fell in love with to be happy. That's not a shallow character.

Most Horrifying Story I Have Ever Read!

 

   Do you believe in ghosts? 
   Do ghost stories scare you?
   I don't know about you, but I do believe in ghosts...and at the same time I don't. Confusing, right? There are somethings that can be explained scientifically and some things that can't be explained. Those things that can't be explained, I say, is the work of the supernatural. Though, that's my opinion. And ghost stories? Nah! It's rare to find me scared of ghost stories. 
   Now why do I bring up ghosts? I'm working on this project that involves Great Britain and the supernatural. Wanting to know about both, I began to search the web for myths and legends that take place in Great Britain. I found a website that held a lot of information and legends about Britain's landmarks. But this website, also, contained personal experiences that people shared. I read some of these experiences and most of them were pretty average and non-scary. However, one story caught my eyes and actually managed to freak me out! This is the story of The Screaming Waitress. You can read the story by clicking on the story's title, but I will give a quick summary of what happens, with spoilers. So don't read on unless you don't mind the spoiler.
   (SPOILER ALERT - Beginning)
   The narrator travels to London to visit their brother. The narrator doesn't clarify their gender in the story, so I will assume the narrator is a man. (My apologies if I mistaken the gender). So the narrator arrives at the hotel late and the hotel's restaurant was closed, so he decided to look around the area to find a place to eat. He finds a place still open and eats there. He gets to know the waitress since it was just them in the restaurant. But the strange thing was, the waitress knew him and his plans he had for the next few days. The narrator found that strange, but simply brushed it off.
   After he finished his meal, he stuck around to keep the waitress company until she was ready to leave. She went into the back room to, what the narrator assumed, put away the money. When she took a long time to come out, he went to check on her. When he peeked into the room, he found it dark with the waitress on the other side of the room. However, she wasn't her normal self. She had black eyes and "clammy" skin with her mouth wide open. She, then began to scream and yelled something in what the narrator presumed was Latin. The narrator was so frightened, he ran out of the restaurant with the creepy waitress running after him. He ran out, into his car, and drove away. But when he looked in his rear-view mirror, he saw her in the backseat  of the car! He, immediately, slammed on the brakes and looked back again. She was gone. 
   At the time when the narrator was typing up his story, he still felt the presence of that waitress, watching him.
   (SPOILER ALERT - ENDED)
   Pretty creepy stuff! If I were him, I wouldn't step foot in London ever again!  
   

Works Cited

  "Dedicated to Tales of the Paranormal." The Screaming Waitress, London, England. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.ghost-story.co.uk/index.php/ghost-stories/319-the-screaming-waitress-london-england>.

Meet Hans Christian Andersen- Early Days

  

   Andersen didn't have the most carefree life. At least, not at first. Hans was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark. This year would be his 209th birthday. Pretty old, if I do say so myself. Anyway, Hans was born as an only child. He received standard education as a child. His father, who died early in Andersen's life, introduced his child to lore while his mother, Anne, was a washerwoman who cleaned for a living. It's harsh, but that's how life was back in the olden days.

   Since the Andersen family were poor, Hans had to work to sustain his family until they moved to Copenhagen. There Hans decided to pursue the acting career. While working on his acting skills, Hans became interested in writing thanks to the advisement of the director of the Royal Danish Theatre, Jones Collin. Even though Hans enjoyed writing, his teachers disheartened him from it. This caused Hans to have feelings of bitterness towards his school years.
   Some time later, after publishing a short story, a poetry book, and a travelogue, Andersen's writing skills were finally recognized by the king and given a grant to travel around Europe and improve his skills. It was thanks to this grant that Hans Andersen's imagination of fairy tales was born!

Works Cited

   "Hans Christian Andersen." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 25 2014http://www.biography.com/people/hans-christian-andersen-9184146.

 

 

1st Post: Welcome!!

   Welcome to my blog! A blog about me (obviously), and a blog about Hans Christian Andersen and his famous works of art, stories. Now I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but wouldn't you be a bit curious about the writer who created The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, and The Ugly Duckling? Come on! One of Disney's most recent animated films, Frozen, is based on Andersen's The Snow Queen. I believe most people already know how that movie worked out.

                             
  So stick around people, because I have much to tell!
   
        Disney's Frozen Available on Disney Movies Anywhere. N.d. SwaRai. Web. 4 March. 2014.