The Little Mermaid
1989
Mermaids are just fantastic creatures. If I had to chose what kind of imaginary odd being thing, like werewolves, vampires, zombie, ect, I think I would chose to be a mermaid. What’s cooler than being able to breathe underwater? Plus you’d get to be friends with animals like fish or dolphins. I want to be best friends with a dolphin. I feel like they’d be loads of fun and have something interesting and entertaining to say all the time.
Ariel is a mermaid! Duh. Everyone on the planet knows that. However she is a bizarre mermaid, because she wishes that she could be a human. Why would she want to be a human? That’s just dumb. We’re just not nearly as awesome as mermaids. First of all, we can drown. I don’t think mermaids can. Mermaids also make better use of things, like fish! Humans just eat them! Mermaids befriend them. This is a better use of cute little fishies I am positive.
Everyone under the sea tries with no luck to convince Ariel that life in the water is much better than out on land. She won’t listen to anyone. She longs to be among surface dwellers.
This longing only increases once she meets and rescues the handsome Prince Eric from drowning during a ship wreck. After their brief meeting, Arial can think of nothing but him. It is apparent to everyone that she’s madly in love with someone, but all her fellow merpeople think she must have found a nice merman to fancy. It’s never crossed anyone’s mind that she might actually love a human.
But she does. And Sebastian, her crabby friend, knows about it. He accidentally lets it slip to Ariel’s father, King Triton, that the man she has her eye on doesn’t have fins, but feet instead. This news sends Triton into a fit, and he decides to destroy all of Ariel’s human artifacts that she’s been carefully collecting for years. He hopes this will make her realize humans suck. Instead she just runs away.
She encounters the evil seawitch Ursula, who tells her that she will turn Ariel into a human. But there is a price. She must give up her voice, and if she can’t get Eric to kiss her within three days, then she’ll return as Ursula’s personal property. Ariel readily accepts this deal.
As she is changed, she quickly swims up to the surface with her new pair of legs. As luck would have it, the first human she finds on land is Eric. He vaguely remembers her, as he was kind of unconscious when they met. He does remember that his rescuer had a beautiful singing voice, and he has been trying to find her for days. Upon learning that Ariel is speechless, he is saddened that she is not his savior, even though she really is. He still takes her to his castle and lets her live there.
As the days go on, Eric and Ariel spend lots of time together, and even though she can’t communicate through words, he’s still growing extremely fond of her. So fond in fact, he nearly kisses her. Sebastian and many another animals serenaded them, creating an amazing mood. It was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, Ursula’s evil eels tip over the boat they happen to be in at the moment and the mood is ruined.
Ursula, not taking any other chances, and changes herself into a human possessing Ariel’s voice. She goes up to land and hypnotizes Eric into believing she is the girl who saved him from the boat wreck. Since she has Ariel’s voice, he easily accepts this and plans to marry her that very day.
Once Ariel hears about it, she is heartbroken. Until one of her seagull friends discovers that Eric’s new bride is none other than the terrible Ursula. Once Ariel hears this news, she rushes to break up the wedding. With the help of seals, birds, starfishes, and all sorts of sea creatures, she successfully does that, and Eric finds out she is the girl he has been looking for.
But it all happens too late. The sun sets before Eric is able to kiss Ariel, and she is turned back into a mermaid. To make sure that his daughter is not held prisoner by Ursula, Triton agrees to give himself over to the sea witch in Ariel’s place. Awwww. Such a good daddy.
Now it is up to Ariel to save the merkingdom from Ursula’s insanity, which she does with the help of Eric. He stabs her with a ship’s mast. This causes her to die. Yay!
Seeing how happy Ariel was as a human, Triton decides that he shall turn her back into one. Once she has legs again, Ariel and Eric get married, and likely live happily ever after. The end.
I have one thing to say about this movie. Okay, I have lots to say, but I’ll start with this one thing. This has to be one of the best movie scores ever created. It even won the Academy Award for Best Score and Best Song, with “Part of Your World.” Of all the wonderful Disney soundtracks, I’d have to choose this one as best. Every song is memorable and beautiful. From the upbeat and catchy “Under the Sea” to the romantic and lovely “Kiss the Girl” for me these are the reasons this movie is superb.
Besides the terrific score, this movie’s animation is great too. It’s bright and colorful, perfect for its ocean setting. The characters are drawn rather well, and this movie I’d say serves as a reminder that animated films can be art too.
With those things in mind, along with a delightful story full of cherished characters, they all add up to one of the very best movies Disney has to offer.
Movie Watching Budd(y)(ies): ROSE! And some of my siblings were there too.
Best Part: The chief who attempts to cook Sebastian. He’s a completely out of his mind French cook, and he’s hilarious.
Best Song: This is a tough one, but I’d have to go for “Kiss the Girl.” It’s probably my favorite Disney song in any of their movies.
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