La Princesa Sirena

If you grew up on bouncy, sanitized Disney videos and slick animation and not written fairy tales, this film may not be your cup of tea. Unlike Disney's happily-ever-after version, this one fairly faithfully recreates the fairy tale written by Hans Christian Anderson. Yes, inevitably, a little of the 70s creep into the artwork but that's not necessarily a bad thing since it gives this film a unique look and feel (which wasn't meant to be anime as we know it now). Like most fairy tales, it can be dark and sad and violent. It's the nature of the genre. But we still read them to our children and our children are still thrilled by them, as we were and as our parents were.

This adaptation is starkly beautiful and tragic. In the early to mid 70s, it aired on TV every Christmas along with other animated shorts like The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince (two more tearjerkers). Even now, 30 years after I first saw it, it can reduce me to tears...but that doesn't stop me watching it.

In short, if you adore Disney's take on this story, then you'll probably be disappointed by this one. On the other hand, if you loved the fairy tale (or if you enjoyed The Selfish Giant or The Happy Prince animated shorts) then give this a try.