About The Little Mermaid

Photo: Doug Kneller. Used with permission.

Ever since Disney released The Little Mermaid in 1989, kids all over the world have become familiar with the delightful story and some of the best movie soundtrack songs they’ve come up with in recent years.

However, many people are unaware than the story was written in 1836 by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, author of other popular children’s stories such as The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling and The Princess and the Pea. Interestingly, the original story is quite different from the one in the movie. For example, the names of Ariel and Triton are newly added, and the story ends very differently as well.

As part of our collection of classic online stories for kids (of all ages), we proudly present the original version of The Little Mermaid for your listening pleasure. And we’re gathered some interesting and informative Little Mermaid-related sites for you to look thru as you listen.

If you know of other good sites that we’ve missed (or if you find a dead link among those we’ve included…), please let us know by using the Contact Form on this site. En-joy!


About The Author

Aesop’s Fables – Hans Christian Andersen story texts online (including The Little Mermaid)
Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories – Another great resource about the author, with many of the story texts online
The Little Mermaid Sculpture – Unofficial home page of the story of the national symbol of Denmark (Hans Christian Andersen’s home country)
My Hans Christian Andersen Pilgrimage

Fan Sites

(They call themselves “Arielholics”!)

LittleAriel.com