Ariel

Ahh Ariel…the infamous story about a mermaid who falls in love with a human, and after saving his life (and having a rather nasty argument with her father about it), trades her voice to a sea witch so she can have legs and spend a few days with her prince. Ariel was the very first Disney Princess to have a well-developed personality, but is her personality worthy or not? 

Honestly, I am very conflicted with Ariel’s character. This could possibly be due to my second niece Claire’s undeniably fetish for the little mermaid (what can I say? Cute little girls rub off). On the one hand, Ariel awakens that sense of curiosity and wonder in all of us. Who can deny the attraction during this particular scene when Ariel sings inside her cavern of collectibles? Disney introduced us to Jodi Benson’s awe-striking voice, which has gone down in history as possibly the most enchanting Disney princess voice of all time – one which little girls all over the world have tried to repeat. 

After all how can that scene not haunt you with its potent reminder? The gift of song is truly beautiful and one of the main attractions for girls in the Disney enterprise according to Dobson’s book Bringing Up Girls. After all, it is Ariel’s voice that first attracts Eric to her first and the one thing that sticks in his mind in his pursuit of her.

 

Ariel has other good qualities as well. Her opening scene features her bravery as well as ocean smarts when it comes to outwitting an attacking shark. And though she is a bit forgetful, we see she is a pleasant person to be around, and she makes friends in unique places like with a seagull. 

Unfortunately, Ariel has some negative qualities to her as well. For one thing, her relationship with her father is rather stony. As a child, one sees King Triton has overbearing and prone to yelling a lot as well as overreacting. However, as an adult, we can see the protectiveness behind his reasoning in addition to Ariel’s rebellion and lack of respect for authority. Is it understandable in her case when it comes to her desires? Perhaps, but she should still respect her father’s wishes for her to remain ‘under the sea’ and know it’s out of love that he does it.

 Now comes the turning point of the film shortly after Ariel has saved Eric’s life when he would’ve otherwise drowned. Though she’s been raised to believe their races are mortal enemies, and even though Eric is a fisherman by nature, Ariel still chooses to rescue him, and in doing so, falls in love with him even more.

The next argument between she and her father shows the side of him which needs anger management. Could Ariel have gone about the argument in a different way? 

King Triton: He’s a human. You’re a mermaid!

Ariel: I don’t care.

Yes, the girl has some trouble articulating, but the girl is only 16 years old and full of raging hormones and estrogen. That part of her is also something King Triton doesn’t understand. All we know of the story is that Ariel’s mother is out of the picture, and Triton has six other daughters other than Ariel. One would think he’d be a little more in tune to the way girls act when they’re teenagers, but then again perhaps he’s become more aggressive and more testosterone-driven because of this.

It’s Ariel’s actions after this, which thrust the plot forward when she sacrifices her voice to Ursula and gains legs in the process. 

Her immediate desire is to keep this secret from her father, which is why she convinces Sebastian not to return and tell the sea king what has happened. Eric then finds her but doesn’t believe she’s the one who rescued him since she has no voice, but since he’s a stand-up guy, he brings her back to his palace and gives her a place to stay anyway. 

Their relationship develops over the next couple of days from a kingdom tour, a dance in the street, a carriage ride (where Ariel shows her adventurous side) and that monumental boat ride with another classic song – Kiss the Girl.

 

In the meantime, Triton allows no one in the kingdom to sleep until she’s found and shows not only his true love for his daughter but remorse over how he lost his temper. Perhaps Ariel should’ve shown more concern over how her father may have worried over her. But again it’s a story, and action Is often created through conflict and wrong decisions.

Another positive of Ariel is her determination. As soon as she discovers Vanessa is actually Ursula in disguise (and has stolen her voice to boot) she immediately jumps into the water even if it means swimming the entire way to the wedding barge. Fortunately, she has good resourceful friends like Sebastian and Flounder and even Scuttle who creates a distraction for her, enabling her to get to Eric and get her voice back.

Her voice is sort of her undoing at this point because if she’d saved a couple of her words and just kissed Eric instead, she wouldn’t have turned back into a mermaid. But the next scenes show Eric’s courageous side again as well as Triton’s sacrifice for his daughter when he agrees to give up his crown to save his daughter’s life. Even Flounder and Sebastian are heroes when they rescue Eric from the eels. Everyone proves themselves to be heroes except…Ariel. The most she does is cause Ursula to shish kabob her own eels, which just makes the sea witch angrier.

Eric is the one who ultimately defeats Ursula while Ariel is locked in a vortex and because Triton sees how much they love each other, gives Ariel her legs, and a wedding commences. Though one could argue against Disney and lifelong commitment after a few days, but Ariel and Eric were the first to have a real relationship compared to the first three princesses. And obviously it worked since they’ve become one of the highest-ranking Disney couples.

Overall, Ariel is the first Disney princess to be realistic. She is both curious and adventurous, stubborn and obstinate, spirited and impulsive.

My daughter probably won’t get to watch this film until she’s at least five or so simply because Ursula is one pretty frightening villain. I’ll be interested to see how she reacts to Ariel. When she gets older, she’ll understand more about Ariel’s character, but I can enjoy a little girl’s innocence to deeper motivations because as my 6 year old niece says when I ask her why she likes Ariel so much, “Aunt Emmy! She’s a mermaid – that’s why!”

Random Trivia

• At the end of the original tale, the prince marries someone else, and Ariel’s sisters tell her if she kills him, she can be a mermaid again, but she refuses. Instead of turning to sea foam, she becomes a spirit, and as long as she does good deeds for 300 years, she can go to heaven.
• She is the first and only Disney Princess not born as a human.
• She is the only Disney Princess to have a child, who she named Melody.
• Only Ariel and Rapunzel have superhuman strength.
• Even though all of Ariel's sisters' names begin with the letter 'A', Ariel's name is of Roman origin while all the others are Greek, and Ariel's is also the only one not to end in the letter 'a'. 
• Ariel's iconic pose on the rock at the end of the film was inspired by the statue in Copenhagen, Denmark appropriately labeled 'The Little Mermaid'.
• Next to Rapunzel, Ariel has the biggest eyes of all the Princesses (and the first to have big eyes)
• Ariel has the reddest lips.
• Ariel's sea-green mermaid tail was a special hue mixed in the Disney paint lab
• Ariel has appeared in more Disney Princess themed merchandise than any other Princess.
• In the original Danish tale, Ariel was permitted to observe the human world once she turned 15.
• Ariel has the most songs out of any Disney character.
• In the original fairy tale, Ariel's main motivation to become a human was to gain an eternal soul.

Ariel Spin-offs

Not many Ariel characters have been adapted for real movies, but I'm fond of the Once Upon a Time Ariel, but I would absolutely love to see Sierra Boggess in the Broadway version.

 Once Upon a Time - Ariel

Sierra Boggess - Broadway