extravagantGEEK

Greetings. I haven’t posted on my site in over a year. It should go without saying that this year has been a rough one for a lot of people, and I am not exempt from that. This year was a roller coaster in many ways. The biggest change that I finally feel comfortable glazing over is that my divorce was finalized at the end of September.

I don’t think anyone ever gets married expecting it to not work out, aside from maybe gold diggers.😅Long story short, we just weren’t right for each other, and as hard as that was to accept initially… after a few years I just realized things were never going to change and we should just cut our losses. I have no ill will towards my ex and wish him nothing but the best.

This post contains spoilers from the film, proceed at your own discretion.

I saw the live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid a few days before its official release. As a millennial who was 2 years old when it came out in theaters, the original was a huge part of my childhood. Saying I am a fan of The Little Mermaid as both a Disney property and as a beautifully written but sad story by Hans Christian Andersen… would be quite an understatement. Miss Ariel may have been in denial about her obsession with humans but I will admit without hesitation that my obsession with mermaids began immediately after seeing the animated version of the film.

My addiction to TLM (The Little Mermaid) was so strong that I’m honestly surprised that the VHS tape didn’t pop from being played too many times over the years. I wish I still had it but that and several other things in my childhood have been lost over time. I do however have it on Blu-Ray DVD. I have watched the animated series that was on the Disney Channel. Seen both of the spin-off movies. I had a Little Mermaid themed birthday party when I was 4, lots of TLM toys (including the slides from the movie to look at on the Red ViewMaster 3D). Even my bedsheet and comforter set were TLM.

I read the lore of the Disney story from books that were released through the years and of course the real thing as well. Hans Christian Andersen was an amazing writer and I have been a fan of him ever since my mom had me watch a movie about his life starring actor Danny Kaye.

However, I’m glad that I was older than 2 when I came across his version of the story, because toddler me was not ready. To be honest I’m not sure 8-year-old me was ready either. When I finally watched a short animation about the “real” version of the story… despite being a little sad, it resonated with my young heart. I found a story of a young girl in love, refusing to kill that person just because it would set her free. Seeing her let her love for the prince overcome her selfishness was just awe-inspiring to me.

If you have never read the original version of the story, I highly suggest it. I can understand why Disney would want to change the story to make it more digestible, and I like their original changes. I’m not sure about the most recent ones they made though. There is a reason why I’m just now posting my review a couple of weeks after seeing the film. I felt like I need to marinate on it and also give time for others to give it a watch before reading my thoughts. I’ll now get into the thing that I did and did not like, in no particular order.