Tale vs adaptation

Adaptations of the fairy tales all seem so nostalgic as they bring back our childhood days. We have watched lots of adaptations like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and so on. Sometimes even though there are new versions of the same story we tend to go back to the original one and it remains our all-time favorite.

Today I will discuss a Japanese animated movie called "Bubble". This movie is an adaptation of Little Mermaid's tragic story. When we hear about a fairy tale it often starts with 'once upon a time...' and ends with 'and they lived happily ever after'. We are tuned to only listen and watch stories which have a happy ending. The other reason may be because fairy tales are part of children's literature so it's mostly a story that is dedicated to children.

Even though the fairy tale we know is a 'happy' one there is also another version of the story that is tragic. Most of the plot remains the same apart from the ending. This Japanese movie brought out that realistic element in a very different plot line. The plot does not have any connection to the little mermaid fairy tale apart from the references they often mention in the movie. 

The plot of this movie is a unique one, even though the ending is predictable the story is compelling to watch till the end. The story begins with an introduction of a few teenagers along with two adults living in a stranded city. Their city was once flooded with bubbles that burst over some time and the land was filled with the water body disrupting the gravity. They spend most of their time playing games that are quite dangerous but it is their coping mechanism. The movie takes a turn when a girl appears in their life. She is a quirky character who happens to be attached to one boy whom she calls 'prince'. There are a lot of elements that turn the plot accordingly. The theme of friendship is highlighted here as how the teamwork of two people helps them with a game in the movie. The setting displays an almost destroyed city that might drown at any moment in the water completely. The remaining dwellers refuse to leave the place as it holds an emotional sentiment. There are a lot of mysterious and supernatural elements.

This movie promotes co-existence as we find only a few people staying in a stranded city but they all get together to help and support each other. The aesthetic view and the music in the movie are also very engaging till the end.