The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen (which was the inspiration for Frozen) and my personal favorite, the Little Mermaid are just a few of the works by Hans Christian Andersen. Of course the versions of his stories that Disney tells are very much changed for their original material. The stories written by this Danish author often had a morbid twist to them in comparison to the stories we know. For example, The Little Mermaid is originally a tail of a mermaid who is 15 years old and saved a prince from his sinking ship. The mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch for a potion to turn her human in exchange for her tongue, (which can be magically returned at sunrise). The position grants her legs, however when she step she feels like she is stepping on sharp knives.(which brings a whole new light to the fact the Ariel couldn't walk at first) She meets the prince who is enchanted by the mermaid's beauty and dancing. However, the king orders the prince to marry a princess from a neighboring kingdom. At first the prince refuses because he will only marry the girl who saved him from drowning. On looking at the princess he believes that she is the girl who saved him. He falls in love with her and marries her. The mermaid is in despair since the spell that gave her legs will kill her if she does not marry the prince. However, the mermaid's sisters bring her a knife from the sea witch and tell her that if she kills the prince and lets his blood drip on her feet she will become a mermaid again and live. (wow Disney left that part out) The mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the prince and so throws herself into the sea and her body disintegrates into sea foam. Instead of not existing, like the sea witch told her, she becomes a spirit who can do good deeds and earn a human soul which will eventually be brought into the kingdom of God.
Well, that was certainly not the same story that I knew. Not only does this prove that Disney intentionally changes stories but that stories in general change over time. Like a game of telephone, every time a story is told it changes a little. Some stories change until we have something completely different then when we started. As historians it is always important to consult source material. Especially when presenting something to the public. For example, if some wanted to do an exhibit on The Little Mermaid or other Andersen stories they cannot simply rely on the Disney version. The exhibit development team needs to look at the source materials to get the true meaning of a story. So, the rest of the story is...always check the source material.
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