Disney's The Little Mermaid and Life is Beautiful - Essay Example

?Disney's “The Little Mermaid” and “Life is Beautiful.” Introduction The Little Mermaid is about a young mermaid called Ariel, the youngest daughter of Triton, king of the sea. Out of the stories she heard from her elder sisters about human beings, Ariel becomes dissatisfied with undersea life and wants to swim to the surface of the sea to be with the humans. Her father adamantly refuses to admit her idea and tells her about the barbaric fish eaters. At the age of fifteen, Ariel swims to the surface. She sees a handsome price, falls in love with him, and saves him from drowning. Because of wanting to live with humans and the prince, Ariel goes to Ursula the sea witch who gives her two beautiful but painful legs in exchange for her tongue. The prince loves her and rejects the neighborhood princess whom his father wants him to marry. He claims he wants to marry the girl he saw at the temple that saved his live, thinking it was Ariel. However it turns out that it was the neighborhood princess and so Ariel is not married by the prince. Life is Beautiful is about a Guido, a Jewish man who on coming to Italy meets Dora a beautiful Italian woman from a wealthy non-Jewish Italian family, falls in love with her at first sight. Although engaged, Dora dumps her fiancee for Guido. They get married and have a son named Giosue. The World War II breaks and all Jews are taken concentration camps. Guido cheats Giosue that the events unfolding were a game so that he does not panic. He tells him there is tank to be given to the winners and so he should cooperate by keeping quiet, not asking for his mother, not complaining of hunger and not trying to come out of where his father had hidden him so that they could earn more points and win the tank. Guido sneaks him food in the hideout. Despite these efforts, Guido is shot dead by a Nazi soldier after placing Giosue in a sweatbox as the last test and was on his way to get Dora so that he could reunite his family. Similarities and differences The two movies revolve around the theme of love. The first love that is evident in both the movies is father’s love towards their child. Ariel’s father had a good reason to deny Ariel a chance to swim to the surface of the sea. He knew the barbaric fish eaters would find her and kill her. He also knew that there were other sea characters that are out to destroy her life like Ursula. In Life is Beautiful, a father’s love is clearly seen where Guido does not want his son, Giosue to panic because of the WWII events. He hides him, sneaks him food, cheers and promises him a heavy prize for cooperating. In both the movies, father’s love drove the Guido and King Triton to fight to keep their children safe at all costs, including restricting their movements. Apart from a father’s love, the other type of love that is so evident is attraction between two people and both cases involve love at first sight. In Life is Beautiful, Guido had just come to Italy to do business and meets Dora, a primary school teacher, whom he falls in love with at first sight and even calls her a princess. Despite being engaged, Dora is deeply drawn to Guido, his fun and charismatic nature and decides to break her engagement with her aristocratic and arrogant fiancee to be with Guido (Bullaro 97). In The Little Mermaid, Ariel sees a prince on the first day she swam to the surface of the sea and rescues him from drowning. Her actions are a direct result of the deep feelings she had developed towards the prince just at first sight. The prince is also drawn to Ariel and this makes him reject his father’s orders to marry the neighborhood princess. Evidently, the message of love, sacrifice and dangers of succumbing to inconsiderate treatment or risks in the name of love is evident in the two movies. The two women are ready to risk anything to be with the men of their choice. Dora for example, breaks her engagement and is ready to have an estranged relationship with her mother. The magnitude of her love for Guido can be seen where she pleads to be allowed to follow her Jewish son and husband to the concentration camp despite not being a Jew and the possible pain she would undergo there. As for Ariel, she is ready to go against her father’s will. Her love for the prince causes her to strive to live on land to increase her chances of being married to the prince. She enters into a costly covenant with Ursula which cost her tongue, earned her two beautiful but painful legs and a penalty of death from heartbreak if the prince marries another girl (Altmann and Gail 180). The ddifference between the movies is seen where Dora’s sacrifice bears fruits but Ariel looses the prince to another girl. The two stories also involve heartbreaks resulting from love among other things. Dora’s fiancee is at the loosing end because of the love between Dora and Guido while Ariel is at the loosing end because the prince insists on marrying the girl who was with him at the temple, thinking it was she who rescued him. Under these conditions, Ariel’s rightful chance is evident. Both the stories end sadly. In Life is Beautiful, Guido dies just at the time he is about to unite his family so that they can live happily together once again (Bullaro 115). In The Little Mermaid, Ariel is not married by the prince despite the costly efforts. However, the causes of the sadness in both stories differ. Innocent Guido is killed as he tries to unite his family while Ariel earns his sad ending because of disobeying her father. Work Cited Altmann Anna and Gail deVos, Tales, Then and Now: More Folktales as Literary Fictions for Young Adults Englewood, CO.Libraries Unlimited. 2001. Print. Bullaro Grace Beyond "Life is Beautiful": comedy and tragedy in the cinema of Roberto Benigni, Troubador. Publishing Ltd. 2005. Print. 4PP=1000, 4SS Read More