Hans Christian Andersen is a famous Danish author, his works include fairytales such as The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor's New Clothes. Adaptations of his work have formed the basis of many modern fairytales and children's stories. His original works are sometimes quite gory, dark or sad (for example, The Little Mermaid dies at the end of the original fairytale). Compared to modern adaptations, the original stories also paint characters in a complex or nuanced way; and ideas of right and wrong are less directly obvious. Modern adaptations of his work have often been sanitised and simplified to make moral messaging far more obvious and remove some of the darkness and complexity from the original storylines - instead favouring a happily-ever-after ending.