We got the new 2-disc Platinum Edition of The Little Mermaid and I watched it again...great, of course...but I noticed something strange in the opening credits. I couldn't find anything like "inspired by Hans Christian Andersen" or "based on the novel by Hans Christian Andersen." In fact, there was no mention of him at all. I admit that the Disney story made some pretty big changes, but I don't think that gives them the right not to mention him. Or maybe I missed it. I dunno. I couldn't find any reference to this fact on the Internet, which I think is something that would have been mentioned. But it's not like they're hiding it now - the DVD has a documentary based entirely on Hans Christian Andersen and his version of the story.On the positive side, the DVD has a virtual re-creation of "Under the Sea," a designed-but-never-built ride based on The Little Mermaid movie. It actually shows the perspective of riding in one of the cars while it goes through the ride as it would have been. It's pretty cool and a unique feature that certainly raises the bar on DVD features, which is always a good thing.
2 comments:
That is still one of my favorite disney movies. Glad to know they did it justice. You're right, they never give credit to the original authors. They like to pretend they made the whole thing up themselves.
Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve wrote the first published "Beauty and the Beast". Victor Hugo wrote "Hunchback". No credits there either.
On that DVD, the info they show about Walt Disney's original idea for a "Little Mermaid" animated short looks pretty damn cool too.
I guess the Disney company never gives credit to the original authors though. Luckily for Victor Hugo his name's not plastered on that Hunchback video.
Post a Comment