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Mermaid (Animation)

 Mermaid (Animation)
type
TVTItem
 Mermaid (Animation)
label
Mermaid (Animation)
 Mermaid (Animation)
page
Mermaid
 Mermaid (Animation)
comment
Mermaid, aka Rusalka (Русалка) is a 1996 animated short film (ten minutes) from Russia, by Aleksandr Petrov.The short appears to be set in 19th century Russia, centering on two Orthodox monks—a white-haired old monk and his young apprentice—living in an isolated cabin. One day the young monk goes to the ice-choked river for water and sees a young woman caught in the current, apparently drowning. He manages to grab her and fish her out, but after he races to the cabin for a sled and blankets and returns, she is gone, the footprints in the snow leading back to the river.However, that isn't the last that the apprentice sees of the woman. He later sees her frolicking in the water like she was born to it, swimming like a dolphin, casually flipping him fish. The apprentice becomes enthralled with her beauty and her angelic singing voice, and keeps returning to the river to find her.The old monk hears the woman's laughter as she frolics with the apprentice by the river and realizes just who, or rather what, she is: a "rusalka", the Russian equivalent of a mermaid. Unlike Western mermaids, the rusalka has a fully human body. Also unlike Western mermaids, who are usually friendly and sweet like Ariel, the rusalka are actually sirens, who lure young men to their death by drowning. The old monk is doubly horrified because, while he realizes what the woman is, he also knows who she used to be, and why she is in the river.Done with the distinctive paint-on-glass style that Petrov uses for all his shorts.
 Mermaid (Animation)
fetched
2023-05-06T04:42:21Z
 Mermaid (Animation)
parsed
2023-05-06T04:42:21Z
 Mermaid (Animation)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_188802c0
type
Spurned into Suicide
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_188802c0
comment
Spurned into Suicide: The young woman, in the backstory, saw her lover marrying another woman. She then drowned herself in the river. The suicide is not shown, so the story might be unclear to Western viewers unfamiliar with the myth of the rusalka and how they are created.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_188802c0
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_188802c0
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_188802c0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_243cbd0d
type
Dope Slap
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_243cbd0d
comment
Dope Slap: The rusalka fashions a garland of flowers which she puts on the apprentice's head. The old monk, after pulling the apprentice away from the river, slaps the flowers off his head in a manner that comes off as this.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_243cbd0d
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_243cbd0d
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_243cbd0d
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_4ef92d0b
type
The Atoner
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_4ef92d0b
comment
The Atoner: Hinted at with the old monk. The cartoon shows that in his youth he was handsome and dashing, The Casanova who bedded one young woman and married another. In the time frame of the story he's lost the wife at some point and has become a bearded monk who prays constantly. The obvious conclusion is that he entered monastic life out of guilt/shame for what happened to the girl who became the rusalka.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_4ef92d0b
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_4ef92d0b
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_4ef92d0b
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_53c9fc92
type
Flashback
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_53c9fc92
comment
Flashback: One brief flashback shows the old monk as a young man, having fun sledding with the woman who became the rusalka. A second flashback shows the old monk as a young man getting married, and the horror of the young woman when she sees this.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_53c9fc92
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_53c9fc92
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid (Animation) / int_53c9fc92
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_55180ce
type
Snow Means Death
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_55180ce
comment
Snow Means Death: It's snowing in the final scene where the young apprentice is working on the cabin's roof, while the camera pans to the graves of the old monk and the rusalka, overlooking the river.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_55180ce
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_55180ce
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid (Animation) / int_55180ce
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_615fdb1f
type
Dream Sequence
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_615fdb1f
comment
Dream Sequence: One with obvious symbolism in which the old monk dreams of climbing to heaven in a ladder, seeing the Virgin Mary (who is his old lover), accepting a lamb from Mary, and then seeing blood on his hands.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_615fdb1f
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_615fdb1f
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_615fdb1f
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6563aeb6
type
Shameless Fanservice Girl
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6563aeb6
comment
Shameless Fanservice Girl: The rusalka, being a mermaid/siren, isn't at all shy about swimming around in the river in the nude—all the better to seduce the young apprentice. She does deign to wear a frilly white dress when appearing to the young apprentice on land.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6563aeb6
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6563aeb6
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_6563aeb6
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6fd5262a
type
Swing Low, Sweet Harriet
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6fd5262a
comment
Swing Low, Sweet Harriet: Having fully human bodies, the rusalka can go on land, and this one does, further enchanting the young monk by swinging on a swing in a lovely dress, and laughing.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6fd5262a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_6fd5262a
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_6fd5262a
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_7f152e56
type
Our Mermaids Are Different
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_7f152e56
comment
Our Mermaids Are Different: As noted above, the rusalka solve the Mermaid Problem by being fully human in body. That's because they aren't actually fish people: they are the spirits of young women who either drowned themselves or who were murdered by drowning. And instead of being cutesy, they are malevolent: see The Fair Folk above.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_7f152e56
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_7f152e56
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_7f152e56
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_81a1960f
type
Silence Is Golden
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_81a1960f
comment
Silence Is Golden: There's some dialogue, like the old monk's prayers, or the priest reciting a wedding service, but the story is told without words.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_81a1960f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_81a1960f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_81a1960f
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_859ec5d8
type
The Fair Folk
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_859ec5d8
comment
The Fair Folk: The rusalka isn't a cute mermaid, she is an evil spirit who lures young men to their deaths by drowning.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_859ec5d8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_859ec5d8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid (Animation) / int_859ec5d8
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_953a8ee8
type
Age Cut
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_953a8ee8
comment
Age Cut: How we get into the flashback. The old monk is startled to hear some very familiar laughter. The film then cuts seamlessly to the old monk as a mustachioed young man, sledding down a hill with the young woman who later became the rusalka.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_953a8ee8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_953a8ee8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid (Animation) / int_953a8ee8
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_b2b1d6cb
type
Sirens Are Mermaids
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_b2b1d6cb
comment
Sirens Are Mermaids: The rusalka is basically a cross between the two, living in the water like a fish, but with a human body and luring men to their deaths.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_b2b1d6cb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_b2b1d6cb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid (Animation) / int_b2b1d6cb
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_be38c5d3
type
Water Is Womanly
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_be38c5d3
comment
Water Is Womanly: The rusalka is the evil spirit of a woman who died by drowning. She lives in the water and is not shy about swimming in the nude, seducing men with her beauty and singing voice to drown them.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_be38c5d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_be38c5d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_be38c5d3
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_cde51255
type
Antagonist Title
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_cde51255
comment
Antagonist Title: Revealed only at the end.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_cde51255
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_cde51255
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_cde51255
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_d0f0a80d
type
One-Word Title
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_d0f0a80d
comment
One-Word Title: An Antagonist Title, revealed only at the end.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_d0f0a80d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_d0f0a80d
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1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_d0f0a80d
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_e3cee2e7
type
Empathic Environment
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_e3cee2e7
comment
Empathic Environment: A storm suddenly breaks out in the flashback, as the young woman flees from the church after seeing her lover getting married. Another storm breaks out at the end as the rusalka is overturning the young man's rowboat.
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_e3cee2e7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_e3cee2e7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_e3cee2e7
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_f6624c30
type
Together in Death
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_f6624c30
comment
Together in Death: The old monk frantically dives into the river and battles the rusalka. He saves his apprentice, but he himself drowns. The underwater battle cuts to a scene of the apprentice on the riverbank shaking his head, the corpses of the old monk and the rusalka intertwined together a few yards away. The film then ends with a shot of two side-by-side graves. (In rusalka mythology, the rusalka could end her undead existence and die for real if her death was avenged, which presumably happens when the old monk drowns.)
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_f6624c30
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 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_f6624c30
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
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ItemName
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
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 Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
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 Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
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 Mermaid (Animation)
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Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
 Mermaid (Animation) / int_name
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Mermaid (Animation)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Films of 1995–1999 / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid Media / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Mermaid Works Launching This Weekend / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
One-Word Title / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Siren Song / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Sirens Are Mermaids / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
The Fair Folk / int_a821288d
 Mermaid (Animation)
hasFeature
Water Is Womanly / int_a821288d