Comments on: Fairy Tale Fest: The Best Adaptation of The Little Mermaid I’ve Ever Seen

By: Miranda

Miranda — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:23:23 +0000

In reply to Thursdayyoga.com. Gosh, thank you! It is a brilliant book - I encourage everyone who can do so to order a copy and support the great work Tara are doing in India.

By: Thursdayyoga.com

Thursdayyoga.com — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:22:32 +0000

Thank you for introducing me to The Flight of the Mermaid.

You are a fabulous writer; and I really enjoyed your post. Thanks,

Renee

By: octopuslove

octopuslove — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:38:55 +0000

Looks awesome. I’m very curious to see what Bhajju Shyam, Gita Wolf and Sirish Rao have done with the sea witch character? In my opinion the most disturbing thing about the Disney version is the portrayal of fat, dark-skinned Ursula as utterly evil and devious and jealous. In Andersen’s original the witch is portrayed as disgusting, but straightforward; she never tries to cheat anybody, in fact she tells the little mermaid she’s being stupid.

By: Russell

Russell — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:16:29 +0000

Regarding the Disney versions as “sanitised” or not, I think a lot of the time the point is that the Disney versions are so saccharine as to lack any of the “bite” tales told in the oral tradition, or even set down by Anderson, Perault, Grim and the like, had. The Disney versions just don’t seem to hold much weight whatsoever.

That said, I don’t think that’s entirely fair. There’s a good deal of fun in Disney animated movies, even the really horrible ones. It’s just that it often comes from the villains. Think how much more awesome Jafar, Ursula, Scar, and especially Maleficent are than the “heroes” of their respective movies. Scar sings about Machiaveli. Ursula strikes Faustian pacts and turns people into sea urchins (more evil than stealing 40 cakes). Maleficent turns into an enormous dragon. The Disney villains are so much cooler and more fun.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 09 May 2011 09:48:46 +0000

In reply to Markgraf.

It’s SO beautiful. It is worth every penny. It’s a real testament to the power we all have as voices, writers, storytellers, listeners, to tell stories in new ways.

The feminist reorientation of the text is beautifully subtle. Other retellings might try to be more strident, but I just love the way the text deftly sticks to Anderson whilst drawing out, and claiming back, themes of self discovery and autonomy that the Victorian stuff about souls in Anderson’s text sort of veils.

In a feminist context we often leap to the assumption that outdated oppressive female archetypes are sort of hanging over us via these stories. I think this probably has something to do with the “sticking power” of Grimm and Perrault, who collected so many tales together in *print* so expansively, and following on from that Disney’s obedient borrowing of so much of Grimm, adding in more romance and less piety. These interpretations have been hugely influential and have benefited from things like western capitalist globalisation; the reach of Disney is strong.

But! I still say that fairy tales can and do evolve, that they always have, and that they can, in imaginative hands, still be truly timeless. Not everybody thinks that way – it’s a shame they don’t stock Flying Mermaid costumes in Tesco alongside the pink princess uniformity – but that’s why adaptations like this are important, and should be given attention :).

Also my phone cam pics do not do the craftsmanship justice at all.

And! Also! Tara Books just tweeted us to say that Sita’s Ramayana – a visual retelling of the Ramayana from Sita’s POV – is almost ready for release! I am really excited.

Oh my word what a frothy comment this is! I must stop now and have a cup of tea.

By: Markgraf

Markgraf — Mon, 09 May 2011 09:05:21 +0000

I ain’t gonna lie: I actually did a small cry (approximately 0.5ml) while reading this review, which… is a good thing! So I’ll be grabbing a copy of this book, hohyesz.