Excellent case. The ending of the Hans Christian Anderson version is too damned depressing.
Actually, I find the endings of many of Anderson’s stories maudlin at best.
Incidentally, regarding the Disney version. It’s been pointed out that it resembles the ending of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu, with Ursula playing the part of Cthulhu. The recent “live action” remake is interesting in that it makes Ariel, rather thah Erik, the one who essentially strikes the final blow.
Wikipedia- However, the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his new wife, and she throws the dagger and herself off the ship into the water just as dawn breaks.
Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warm sun and discovers that she has turned into a luminous and ethereal earthbound spirit, a daughter of the air. As the Little Mermaid ascends into the atmosphere, she is greeted by other daughters, who tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul.
Because of the Little Mermaid’s sacrifice, she is given a chance to do good deeds for all her lifespan (300 years like the merpeople) and she will receive her soul and rise up into Heaven when her lifespan ends.
Would John Huston’s Moby Dick qualify? Considering the attention span of most media consumers today, even the 1:55 running time might be a bit of a stretch.
Between the novel of Cuckoo’s Nest and the film adaptation, there’s the play which first ran on Broadway in 1963 and had Kirk Douglas playing McMurphy. I think many of the changes in the narrative from the book stem from that version.
While a lot of people have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think the movies have become pretty iconic, despite not being completely faithful to the books. Hardcore fans of the books (like my son) bitterly bemoan the exclusion of characters like Tom Bombadil. While Jackson took liberties with the story, his movies are certainly miles above any previous efforts.
Captain Ahab’s death is a lot more dramatic in the movie than in the book.
When I was in elementary school, I got a book that was a kid-friendly version of the story. But, years later, I learned that the ending was taken from Huston’s movie, not from Melville’s book.
In the original story of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde Hyde is not obviously ugly. He just gives the impression of being that way. As one character describes him:
“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point.
Of course, in every movie version made Mister Hyde is made to look as hideous as possible.
In story the glasses are purportedly to protect one’s eyes from the dazzling radiance of the city- a subtle hint of what a fraud the Wizard turns out to be.
While he’s given little credit, H. Rider Haggard’s books about Allan Quatermain heavily influenced other writers, as well as the creation of the movie character Indiana Jones. While Haggard’s books are nearly forgotten, these movies are, for the most part, considered original classics of the genre. I read the Haggard books (King Solomon’s Mine, etc.) when I was a teen, and immediately recognized him in the person of Indiana Jones.
Robert Newton’s Long John Silver in Disney’s adaptation of Treasure Island basically set the standard for pop culture pirates for half a century (until Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow came along - again a Disney production!)