The Unrequited Love that Inspired “The Little Mermaid”

-- This video contains AI-generated animation -- We all know The Little Mermaid — but the story behind its creation may be even more heartbreaking than the fairy tale itself. In 1836, Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen began writing what would become one of his most famous stories. Behind the tale of a mermaid longing for a world she could never fully belong to was Andersen's own complicated emotional life, including his relationship with Edvard Collin and a love that could never become what Andersen hoped. In this episode of Tales with Sense: The Story Behind the Story, we explore Hans Christian Andersen, the events surrounding the creation of The Little Mermaid, and how the original 1837 fairy tale became very different from the version most of us know today. Welcome to The Story Behind the Story — where we discover the stories we don't know about the stories we do. #TheLittleMermaid #HansChristianAndersen #TheStoryBehindTheStory #TalesWithSense #FairyTales