As various sources, including TV Tropes, have already noted, the Rankin/Bass holiday special Jack Frost is very much like a wintery gender flip of The Little Mermaid. Namely the original Andersen tale, with its theme of unrequited love and its bittersweet ending. (The Disney version didn't exist yet.) Although by coincidence, both Jack Frost and Disney's Little Mermaid feature an animal character voiced by Buddy Hackett.
With the similarities in mind, it's interesting to compare the two stories' different requirements for the main character to become fully and permanently human.
In the original Andersen version of The Little Mermaid, for the heroine to survive in human form and gain a human soul, a man needs to love her more than anyone or anything else in the world, and marry her, vowing before a priest to always be true to her.
In the Disney version, this is modified so that Prince Eric needs to give her "the kiss of true love."
But either way, the required action is from the man, while the mermaid's role is framed passively. He needs to love her and kiss her or marry her, while she needs to be loved and be kissed or taken in marriage. And supreme emphasis is placed on love, and in Andersen's version, on marriage as a holy union.
In Jack Frost, to stay human permanently, Jack needs to acquire a house, a horse, a bag of gold, and a wife.
The impetus is on Jack to take action and gain these possessions, and the spell frames marriage as a transaction. A wife is simply the last possession Jack needs to acquire, on the same list as money and material property.
Now, the way it plays out is effectively the same. The Mermaid and Jack both choose to become human because they're in love with a human, and both can only hope that their human will return their love and marry them. Jack would never dream of trying to wed Elisa against her will: this is emphasized by the presence of the evil king Kubla Kraus as the villain, who shares Jack's dilemma of being powerful but lonely and who also fancies Elisa, but who kidnaps her and tries to force her into marriage, in contrast to Jack's selfless love. But the different wording of the spells, and the further material gain required of Jack, are interesting.
In both of these situations, the gender dynamics are questionable. They're certainly not modern. But if the plot of Jack Frost really was inspired by The Little Mermaid, then it was fairly clever of the writers to take the same basic situation (a supernatural being falls in love with a human and magically becomes human too, but can only remain so if their beloved marries them) and adjust the magic's requirements in a way that suits the gender flip.
The crew of The Night Fury was known as the most unorthodox yet efficient pirate crew to ever sail the seas.
Merida DunBroch; fierce fighter and Captain of The Night Fury.
Hiccup Haddock, the peg-legged first-mate and rumored Dragon Tamer.
Jack Frost, former stowaway now head navigator and escape tactician.
Rapunzel, the newly acquired cabin girl on a voyage to see the world.
Always spotted on the horizon but never captured.
Until one evening, when the crew attempted to cross The Dark Sea, they were intercepted by the magical mermaid guardian of the sea; Elsa.
But rather than drowning the crew, Elsa commissions the crew on a special quest; to rescue her sister, Anna, after she was captured by the Westergaards. In return for their help, Elsa will exchange a priceless treasure found only at the bottom of the sea.
Now, The Night Fury crew must embark across the sea, and encounter other mythical creatures in order to save Anna and claim their reward.
Since watching Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken, it hit me. Why not another Disney x Dreamworks crackship?
We got Elsa (Frozen) x Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians)
Merida (Brave) x Hiccup (How to Train Your Dragon)
Now presenting Ariel (The Little Mermaid) x Chelsea (Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken). Not gonna lie Cheriel is like Jelsa 2.0 but in stead of hetero ice powered spirits, they're lesbo redheaded mermaids.
Like my previous post, I have a mental illness called fanshipping.
found my ancient mp3 player recently. finally found a charger for it and plugged it in. and remembered i found a yt playlist of the whole httyd movie chopped up into like 20 videos and i downloaded the mp3s of all of them to listen to on the school bus. which is why i can effortlessly quote the whole first movie now
I just realized I never posted my lil silly mermay drawing on tumblr and it's a shame because I like it! I need more Jack Frost in stupid swimwear with stupid sunglasses
Day 16: medical checkup: Some progress was made, came in contact with Sirenia Sapien for a 30-60 second period. Hostile reaction to touch, or proximity. but this is closer than we’ve ever been. With more frequent exposure and attempts at communication we may be able to start preparations for prothetic fitting. Fingers crossed.
Attempts at communication still met with indifference. I cannot stress this enough, indifference not incomprehension. He understands fine, he just hasn’t shown any evidence of that outwardly.
Implying, Head Quarters exceptionally high cognitive functions if he is refusing to communicate with us via a brand new third strike. Silence.
Footnote. Swim patterns more lively as of late. Some good news at least, at least the food is giving him back some bounce in his step— flap in his fin? Uh… side note stick to facts. Jokes are not your forte Hiccup.
Side footnote. Maybe don’t refer to yourself in third person? Chat with yourself in the margins? Lose your entire mind in this facility and document it?
“Pop… popoppippop.” A riveting statement from our local Sirenia.
They say the creatures of the sea are known to sink ships and seduce voyagers. Hiccup finds some truth to these stories when a pale-skinned mermaid saves him from a shipwreck. The sea captain has nothing to offer Jack for saving his life, but all the merman desires is the sea captain's body.
UNCENSORED TEASER
Have a close up and personal view of some passionate love making between Hiccup and Jack Frost, voiced by Enrico Zenitani and SANTAtheGREY. Now available on Patreon and Gumroad.