Die kleine Seejungfrau

I first saw this movie when I was a little girl. I hadn't been exposed to the Disney version yet, and had had the book (which was my favourite) so I kind of knew what to expect. Needless to say, I loved it! It quickly became my favourite movie, and also introduced me to the loveliness of anime. Very few people I know have seen this version, but I encourage any and everyone to view this version. When I eventually saw Disney's version I was kinda disappointed, but also understood that they couldn't make it the same as the original. Watch this movie and you will see what I mean.

I first saw this movie when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I absolutely loved it!!! Unfortunately we moved to another state shortly after and when I went to the local video store to rent it again, the man treated me as if I were stupid. "There is no other Little Mermaid besides Disney!" We got into a huge arguement right there in the store :) So I rent the Disney version....I had a bunch of friends over and I remember standing up at the end saying "No! She dies! That's not right!" I was so disappointed. Sure the Disney movie is fun and has lots of great songs to sing along to...my little girl loves dancing to it. But it's just not right. If anyone wants to see one of the greatest love stories of all time....this is the one for you. You won't regret it.

Loved this movie as a kid and I still love it as an adult. Beautiful music too. Not too many goofy annoying characters. More mature and enjoyable. Looking for more movies similar to this one.

This is a very sad and beautiful tale, the way Hans Christian Andersen has intended it to be. Even more sad than this though is that mass audience now knows only the dumbed down Disney version, which actually is a clear case of plagiarism. What else is it if it takes the original story and changes the ending??? Of course the rights to do that were properly purchased, at least I think so. But now we do not even have a chance to see true version ever released on DVD, as it justly deserves.

I'm not being corny--this is an actual line from the film, straight from the Sea Witch (her sister Sand Witch was on vacation) to goofball princess Marina.

There should be a special section in video stores for Brutal Truth Fairy Tales. As opposed to the dark Disney overlords, the producers of this piece stuck to the original story with a few turns of creative license here and there. That is, Marina, our little mermaid, dies at the end. But hey, it's not so bad--after all, she stays true to her love (however misguided). It also appears that she picked up an immortal soul, or at least the promise of one, somewhere along the way.

The Little Mermaid for Mature Audiences? Well, I can't help thinking that kids expecting Disney magic would be a little horrified by this version. The happy ending--I guess--might be a little too philosophical for kids expecting dancing crabs and evil doers who are more goofy than terrifying. But if you're an anime fan and you'd like to see the mermaid thing a little more like it was originally written, you probably would enjoy wasting 1.5 hours with this.