Google Viral: Hans Christian Andersen in Movies and TV Dan Koelsch, April 2, 2010June 12, 2010 Today is the 205th birthday of legendary children’s author Hans Christian Andersen, and Google is celebrating through their latest Doodle. Actually, it’s not just one, but five Doodles, all from one of Andersen’s more famous tales, “Thumbelina”. That’s well and good, but what does Andersen have to do with movies? Find out after the break. Andersen (1805-1875) is renowned for writing some of the most famous fairy tales of all time. You can actually get his complete fairy tale collection in many forms for pretty cheap, since they are in the public domain now. In case you didn’t know, some of his most known works include “Thumbelina”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, and “The Princess and the Pea”. Pretty much all of those should ring a bell. His works are beloved by billions, relatable to all, and have a very visual style, so you’d expect his tales to show up in movies and TV. Anderson’s tales have become the basic foundation for hundreds of movies, television shows and episodes, and even horrific reality shows (remember ABC’s “The Swan”?), yet his biggest direct legacy is most likely with Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Considered by many to be one of the best animated musicals of all time, the 1989 film was nominated for a Best Picture Golden Globe and revitalized the then stagnant animation studio. Without Andersen’s story, who knows if Disney would have gone on that great run of animated musicals that included Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. What’s your favorite movie or TV show adapted from or inspired by Hans Christian Andersen? Features Viral News Fairy TalesGoogleGoogle DoodleHans Christian AndersenThe Little MermaidThumbelina
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No, Disney ripped off the lion king from “Kimba The White Lion” which is a japanese version that was out way before Disney’s Lion King. Infact, Disney has taken another very similar plot of a movie “Nadia and the Secret Water” and renamed/edited to be known as we call it “Atlantis”. Same, dorky male, same, adventurous dark-skinned female in older forms.I love hans christian andersons books but many of his books were sad, reflecting his lack of loving relationships during his lifetime. He was never married.
Yeah I’ve heard that about The Lion King. It has elements from a lot of sources, including Hamlet and the Bible. But, that’s not the point.I’m just pointing out that Disney’s resurgence in the animated film genre started with The Little Mermaid.
Disney also mutilated his fairy tale of the little mermaid. They made Ariel to be a girl who wanted to go out and be her own adventurous independent woman who ended up walking down the aisle with some bland attractive ken doll. what kind of twist of fate is that? make her appear unique and strong just to get married?in the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, Ariel ends up making the ultimate sacrifice for her chosen love. she becomes an awesome guardian spirit.and just in case all our children didn’t know it, human fathers do in fact reprimand their daughters. 😛
@MarkIndeed the original little mermaid was edited with a happy ending. If anyone is looking for a more similar verison of the real anderson ending of the little mermaid, look for The Little Mermaid japanese version (Adasen Dowa Ningyo-Hime) Or Reader’s Digest animated verison of the little mermaid (1975).These stay as close to the original as possible, including the part with her voice and the sea-witch! However i’ve yet to see a version which includes the pain of her dancing on her feet for the prince.My favorites is thumbellina by don bluth and Adasen Dowa Ningyo-Hime.
Thanks for the information Dan. I enjoyed reading your well-written post. Even though there are always many truths or many facets of the truth, you still wrote a great post! I didn’t realize Hans Christian Andersen only lived to be 30. I had heard once he didn’t have a happy childhood and that is very sad. It is also not unusual for those times before we started realizing how much we impact/scar our children by our thoughtless/unconscious behavior and parenting. Of the millions of people who were brought up the same way and in the same period, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his childhood Hans Christian Andersen left us a legacy through his imagination and gift for storytelling. Thank you for a great post!
my favorite the emperor with no clothes – genius psychological / political oommentary even today/ love the dismey little mermaid though she was better off without the prince(but movie studios think thats what people want)and adore the movie hans christian andersen with danny kaye/ it states at the beginning that its a fairy tale based on the life before any purists complain buts its beautiful amd the music is wonderful.whenever im down i play a clip of danny kaye belting out” im hans christina andersen andersen thats me! and finally though his life may have been sad he gave so much creativity and thought to othes that has never stoppped . i hope he knows it/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANS!