TLM Disney/Anime Compare and Contrast

[jeremy88]

So, I just got done watching The Little Mermaid Anime version on youtube. I must say it was really sad, It did stay closer to the original Hans Christian Anderson story far more then the Disney version and I think it got the general concept of what Hans Christian Anderson's story was all about in some ways though both are interpreted pretty good.

This thread is to discuss the similarites and differences between both versions. I actually do enjoy this one, and respect it for it's accuracy to the original fairy tale but still the Disney version is more special to me on a number of levels since its technically my first Disney movie(saw it on a hospital bed at the age of two when I was recovering from an eye brow accident...ouch) Keep in mind this one was made in the 70's so the effects, sound, animation isnt too great and it comes off as a little cheesey in some moments.

<img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/ ... danime.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a> <img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/ ... disney.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

Anyway I do like how in this film there isnt really a bad conflict between the humans and the merpeople, but there isnt really a relationship between Marina and her father either. The sisters in this version do play a much bigger role then the sisters in Disney's The Little Mermaid, and Marina's grandmother is present like the orignal story story. I also liked how the Sea King did make mention to Marina's mother on how she died in an accident, they don't say how but at least there's mention of a mother.

The premise of this story is basically the same as the Disney Version. A Mermaid wants to become human to live on land with her Prince, so she strikes a bargain with the sea witch in order to gain human legs but in return must lose her voice. Though both versions miss the core of the story. The want for an eternal soul. In this version she apparently already has a soul because when she dies her soul is lifted off to heaven, with out any mention of if she already had one or because she gained one because of her choice to let the Prince live, in Disney's version Ariel basically just wants to be human to be with Prince Eric and to experience life on land (we all know how Part of Your World goes) and the whole soul wanting is absent.

I won't give to much away, but at the end the Prince realizes that Marina was the one who actually saved him after she died. When I saw this I felt like yelling...EDIT! (eep i should watch my language more!)"SEE IT'S ALL YOUR FUALT! I HOPE YOU FEEL BAD FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE beephole!!" but of course I guess it's not fair to get mad at him since he was completely clueless...One thing I really didnt like about this one was the fact that her emotions to become human came extremely fast. She had no thought about the consequences even after her best friend Fritz the Dolphin tried to stop her with his extremely sad plea. So it just made Marina seem kind of dumb with her choice to become human and lose everything she had with out even experiencing a true reason as to why she wants to live on land, where as in Ariel's case she had just gotten into an argument with her father, thus fueling her desire to become human in which she always had this interest in human life(take a look at her grotto) plus Ursula is very convincing in Poor Unfortunate Souls. Disney's The Little Mermaid is obviousley the better film in terms of story, plot, conflict and characterization. Plus in the Anime version there's a particular villain character who just makes no sense at all. But both story's are pretty engaging though, at the end you do feel bad for everyone's loss so I guess it's safe to say the characters had somewhat a core center. Other then that there are some similarites between the two an example would be the Prince statue, A pipe(or snarfblat which ever you prefer to call it), and a mermaids friend(Fritz and Flounder) Fritz seems to have much more of an emotioanl attatchment to Marina then Flounder does with Ariel. Well that's about it, Im not sure how many of you already seen this version of The Little Mermaid or even if there's already a thread about this. Either way its very interesting to watch these two versions of Hans Christian Andersons The Little Mermaid.

Here is the entire move if you feel like watching it. Remember this was made in the 70's lol.

Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGAFvbhnavk
Part Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKirB4ZX0Dw
Part Three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T93TjqNjRw8
Part Four
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C79L6sulCwQ
Part Five
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdu9vFL7Rc
Part Six
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcYGHGZ0lnI
Part Seven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THwXWu_8ytQ
Part Eight/Ending
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_dicdWC9DE

[Poody]

I love that movie, I keep forgetting to order the DVD. I also love the anime TV series, "Saban's Adventures of the Little Mermaid"

[Siren]

I think before people critize the animation they need to understand one word....BUDGET.

Japan anime is popular because its CHEAPER to produce then live action movies. Hence why there is SO MUCH anime and why they choose to animate many storylines over filming them in live action. So don't just consider age for the animation quality but also budget. Disney gave a much higher budget compared to the anime version. Its certainly perfectly fine to base your opinion on liking TLM because it was cripser, clearer, brighter, etc....But to base that opinion solely on that fact is unfair. Remember to also base your opinion on acting, characters, storyline, etc.

On with my opinion....

Both versions have a special place in my heart. Storywise though, I enjoy the anime one better. I just really like tragic tales. Though I will say Flounder owns Fritz for sidekick. And Ariel you could better relate to than Marina. Marina seems to be just moving through the motions rather then judging her own emotions wisely.

[jeremy88]

I did forget to mention the budget cut for this movie. Anime is cheaper to produce, persay it's not as difficult to draw and the inking isnt as complex. But I wasnt soley just basing it on it's age, it is low budget compared to the bigger budget Disney films like The Aristocrats, The Rescuers, Winnie the Pooh and Robin Hood those of which all came out in the 70's. But there is a 15 year time period between this one and the Disney version(released 75' in Japan, 79' in USA), and a lot can improve within 15 years. So part of it is based on age and not just budget. Look at somthing compared to Disney's The Little Mermaid and Lilo and Stitch or something (in terms of originally being crisper, brighter, clearer?) big budget productions, big difference in animation because of time. But I also did base my opinion on the storyline, characters, and acting. Which isnt the excuse for the budget, because it could have had a more complex plot with better defined characters. However some of these characters emotions are pretty good, Fritz for example. Im not saying this one is bad or anything, its quite good actually but it has some minor problems not depending on the budget line.

For me though I think Fritz is the better sidekick, because, he helps out Marina a lot, and tries to stop her bad desicions. He show's more compasion for Marina than Flounder. With Flounder, sure he's around for the first half of the movie but after that he kind of just dropped out of the movie and you don't hear too much from him. In fact the only time he does get another major moment with Ariel is when he's pulling her to the wedding ship. Where as Fritz is consistant through out the entire film. But that's just what I think. Flunder not being around though isnt a bad thing, because Sebastion is there now. It's almost like Ariel has sidekicks for both water and land, Flounder being her under the sea pal, and Sebastion being her on land advisor.

[blackcauldron85]

I remember watching Saban's The Little Mermaid growing up- with Marina. Did the TV show come out first, then they made a movie? Is the movie unrelated to the TV show? As a little girl, I had my Ariel doll and I had my Marina doll (it really wasn't her, but a blond mermaid I named after her). I haven't seen it in years, but I know I've always prefered the Disney version. But, I liked the TV show growing up.

[Poody]

The movie is unrelated to the TV series. She's just till blonde and still called Marina.... I have a Marina doll from the TV series! She's kinda scary looking....

[my chicken is infected]

That version's on YouTube now? Sweet!

I own a bootleg DVD. I really enjoy the anime version. I find it to be beautifully animated, beautifully scored, and very well done. I still prefer Disney's version, but the anime version is one that should be seen as well.

[jeremy88]

Haha yeah Saban's Adventures of The Little Mermaid is a different type of series thats different from The Little Mermaid Anime. I vaguely remember it. I probably watched a couple episodes. The Sea with is really ugly. This series came out a little after Disney's TLM was released...I think they made this to cash in on the Disney's version lol. Same with a slew of other random Mermaid cartoons and characters.

I hope they release this version on DVD, like an actually DVD release with special features an stuff lol. But a release like that seems unlikely.

[my chicken is infected]

I remember seeing a few episodes of the Saban TV series.

UAV Video DID release a DVD, but it was edited to remove nipple shots and is now OOP.

[Jasmine1022]

i really, really liked the anime version. in some ways it was better, but i think i still like the disney one because it's not depressing the whole way through.

i think that fritz was probably a better sidekick, but i found him to be a little on the annoying side. he did make me really sad, though, and i liked that he tried to keep her safe, and how he came after her even though he ended up getting hurt.

[DisneyFanatic]

I am so glad you posted the links because I have never seen it and wanted to see the difference between the two. However, I greatly prefer Disney's version. I feel that you could definately relate to Ariel more (as some else said). The voice acting was not the best, but I think that maybe some of the story was somehow lost in translation from Japanese to English. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I feel like I only started to like the story within the last 15 minutes. I appreciate that it remained closer to the original story and I really liked the opening with the live action talking about Hans Christian Anderson.

Overall, I feel like the story just stayed too close to the surface, they could have gone into more detail about a lot of it...I don't know, I am not an expert reviewer.

[Disney Duster]

Wow. That was pretty good. Anyway, did anyone realize how much Disney seemed to take from this, considering this came before Disney's version? They took the mermaid's wondering what human objects are for and using them incorrectly (the boot as a hat, the pipe as a flute). They took the Prince's statue, as stated. Every princess has to have an animal sidekick, but Frtiz is a lot like Flounder being so young and small. After the storm, the Prince was hanging onto a piece of driftwood that he slid off, just like Eric did. Then, there was the concert where Marina sang with her sisters sitting aound her. Then Disney's version has a concert where would be singing with her sisters, if she just didn't miss it. And there was another rip when Fritz pointed out there were polyps on the way to the sea witch. In the original script for Disney's version, the poor unfortunate creatures Ursula turns merpeople into are called polyps! And in the official Disney's The Little Mermaid comic book I have, Ursula says she turns merpeople into polyps. In fact, when Ariel first goes into Ursula's cave, she sees skulls on the floor, just like Marina saw! That was about all the rips I saw, except for that rather big woman who was the Prince's servant. She looked and acted a lot like Carlotta! So it seemed Disney took a few ideas from this one. It could have been accidental and subconcious, but...

Anyway, this one was better in some ways than Disney's, because I felt more for Marina. Marina seemed less whiney than Ariel, more grown up, actually. In fact, I felt like Marina's characters grew through this, from just wanting the Prince to deciding not to kill him, and realizing she really belonged to the sea. Her speech at the end was beautiful and really touched me. Fritz was a selfish little snot who wanted Marina for himself, I thought Flounder was much more accepting and let Ariel get what she truly wants. This Marina was actually braver and more able to take care of herself than Ariel!

[PixarFan2006]

When you compare both side-by-side, it's no contest that Disney's version looks much better than the anime. Them again, I have to remember that Anime is cheaper to make due to the budget, though it is not true for all anime.

I think I remember owning another copy of the little mermaid other than Disney's version as a kid. It was distributed by StarMaker video, but I am not sure if it is the anime version or not, since I lost the tape a long time ago.

[Siren]

Well, I don't think Disney should be seen as stealing EVERY idea from the anime version. Afterall, they were BOTH based on Hans Christian Anderson's original tale. And if my memory serves me correct, the mermaid had a fasination for human objects and had the statue of the prince in her hidden cave in the original story. So both the anime and Disney took those details along with many others from the original story. I highly recommend reading the original. It is so beautiful. Like a poem. The descriptions of their world and everything in it so beautiful.

[jeremy88]

lol yeah when I was watching the Anime version. I did start to think..."Disney stole a lot of these ideas.." But then I just remembered that a lot of those occurences happen in the fairy tale also.

HAHAHA DISNEY DUSTER YOUR SO RIGHT! WHEN I SAW THE NURSEMAID! LMAO! I was like...wow thats Carlotta's mother lol. But yeah the polypie(polyps) Statue, Prince Rescue, all that other stuff is in the story. But anyway I dont think disney borrowed too many ideas if any from this version because it could have just happen coincedentally since a lot of similarites are from the story. Who knows maybe they did or didnt see this one. I may never know for sure.

This version is much closer to the story. Its not a complete actual rendition of the story it still misses a lot of detail. But its far closer then the Disney one. While the Disney one still does retain a somewhat general concept of the story. Either way I love both of these versions.

And Siren is right, the originally fairy tale is amazing visual. And is written beautifully. Sometimes I want to learn the Danish language just to read how Hans Christian Anderson originally wrote it.

Anyways heres a link to the whole original story written by Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid, 1836

http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html

[Disney Duster]

Oh wow. I'm a dolt. Well, first of all, I had read the original Hans Christian Anerson story when i was younger, in a book all by itself, actually, which surprised me because that link made it look like the story was too short for a book of it's own. Anyway, I guess I forgot all the little details. The poylps were in the original story, too! So Disney didn't really do any stealing, except possibly Carlotta. I take everything I said about that back! I'm sorry, thank you Siren and jeremy88 for pointing that all out. Whew! Now I can go back to embracing the Disney version as it's own, original, wonderful masterpiece.

Anyway, Ariel's still awesome, of course, but I think I just felt more for Marina because she seemed to grow up more, and the story itself made that happen. You can see someone grow up when they decide not to kill someone and sacrifice their own life, but Ariel didn't have the chance to show that. Ariel is a stronger character in the terms of a stronger personality and presence. Marina was braver and more courageous because she went into a deadly forest to get to the sea witch, she picked up a rock she planned to kill the wolves with, and like I said, she sacrifised herself, unsure of what life would be like as foam.

[Disney's Divinity]

So it seemed Disney took a few ideas from this one. It could have been accidental and subconcious, but...

Ever heard of Kimba the Lion? Yeah, well...that makes me wonder...

[Poody]

Ever heard of Kimba the Lion? Yeah, well...that makes me wonder...

mhmmmm... and people always think KIMBA is the rip off one....

[Ariel'sprince]

well,i think the disney version is the best since it's my favorite film.
and anime version was nice but still,i think marina is just a puppet on stings-what's the point with the evil cat? and those tigers? she's just dosn't do anything herself,she's a puppet on stings that always get grabed by people and fritz always have save her,unlike ariel who's brave and belive in what she wants.
plus and don't like the idea that marina understand that she's belong to the sea,the disney version that show that people need to go after their dreams is better.

[Prudence]

It's the Western version and the Eastern version. I think both are good for different audiences, and they should not be compared.

Just my unwanted $0.02, of course.