The Little Mermaid

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2020)

If you were to ask me what my favorite Disney canon film was, "The Little Mermaid" would be a strong contender for the title, because I seriously adore this movie. Growing up, I never had much of an exposure to the big four of the Disney renaissance. "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" have been in the Disney vault for much of my life. I'm partly annoyed by that and partly okay with it, because it's allowed to me scrutinize Disney's most popular films and decide if they live up to the hype around them or not without having to worry about a filter of nostalgia. For the most part, I'd say that they do, especially this one. "The Little Mermaid" is one of those rare Disney movies and one of those rare musicals where you know it'll be something unique and inventive right from the opening sequence, taking us from Eric's raucous ship to the undersea city of Atlantica with Alan Menken's theme for Ariel firing up for the first time.
Due to it's ambitious plot, the film moves along at a brisk pace through it's three acts. Ariel's actions and the consequences of her decisions (along with that of other supporting characters) carry her neatly from one scene to another, and the movie is never once allowed to drag (though the ending does seem to wrap up a bit quickly, like the filmmakers realized the movie was running long and they wanted to nip things in the bud). I've talked a lot in the past about how a strong ensemble cast can make or break a movie and while the animation is great and the soundtrack is stellar, it's the characters in "The Little Mermaid" and the way the character relationships shine through in the second half of the movie that really elevate the film. There's Ariel's euphoric chemistry with Eric; Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle's devotion to their little mermaid friend; Triton's guilt and concern over his lost daughter; Grimsby offering Eric sincere relationship advice because he doesn't just want the prince to be wed, he also wants his psuedo-son to be happy; and in a twisted sort of way, there's even Ursula trying her best to kill Ariel to avenge the only real friends the sea witch had in exile. It all makes this film's universe feel thoroughly lived in.
"The Little Mermaid's" lead character, Ariel, is the youngest of seven royal daughters, as well as the most passionate and outspoken one. Instead of lying around the palace without purpose, Ariel spends her days poking around shipwrecks and chatting up seagulls, rarely staying still for a moment, learning more about human inventions and human society. For years now, Ariel has taken an interest in the world above her head, romanticizing it as a land where seemingly anything is possible, and she'd love to see it all. She'd love nothing more than to cross the human / mermaid divide, live a life of adventure and excitement and exploration on land with endless, endless potential, and do something meaningful with her life. But she knows it'll never happen. One, because it's impossible, and two, her father, the king, despises humans. Ariel, in general, likes to try to understand and appreciate the beauty in everything, and she doesn't feel comfortable accepting and internalizing her family's harsh prejudices just because they're her family. But by the start of the film, she's starting to lose faith in her instincts and her intuition, and she's starting to consider that maybe her father is right, maybe she is just a fool. Still, an eventful encounter with an admirable human prince, who proves her right about humans being more than mindless monsters (that they can be brave and noble and self-sacrificing), convinces her not to let the dream die so soon and leaves her with quite a crush. She learns the importance of staying true to herself and sticking up for what she believes in. When her father finds out, the king becomes terrifyingly abusive towards her, destroying her collection of human objects, and a pissed-off Ariel decides to cut a deal with Ursula the sea witch to try to become human.
I've touched on this before on this blog, but Ariel is one of my favorite female characters from Disney. As far as Disney princesses go, she's a pretty big deal. She's the first truly proactive princess of the lot, who not only dreams of a more fulfilling life, but actively pursues it at every turn (not to mention, saves a dude's life from drowning), finding acceptance on land and the space to pursue her interests. You can't help but take a shine to her for her kindness, courage and personal convictions. She's also the first princess that's allowed to be more than just a role model figure. Ariel is a fundamentally flawed person, and her flaws drive the conflict of the story forward (if you've read my reviews of "Brother Bear" and "Frozen" you know those are my favorite sorts of characters). To elaborate, Ariel is a kind, brave, fun-loving and open-minded individual, but she can also be very stubborn and shortsighted. Throughout the film, she ignores Flounder and Sebastian's warnings and keeps putting herself into dangerous situations for the sake of discovery, all too cavalier about the risks (a trait she shares with Remy from Pixar's "Ratatouille"), which usually winds up stressing out her friends. This eventually catches up to her when she loses her bet with Ursula, and the sea witch not only betrays her (since she was just using her) but also almost kills her and her friends and family. While Ariel wasn't wrong to want a human life or pursue it, she does learn the hard way that her actions have consequences that can affect more than just herself. Nearly every Disney renaissance film was a coming-of-age story, and all of them contained a growing-up lesson: this one was Ariel's. Ultimately, Ariel is one of my favorite Disney characters because despite being a mermaid, she's one of the ones that feels the most human, relatable and well-rounded.
Ariel is a lucky girl, because it's pretty clear she has some of the best guy friends a mermaid could ask for. Ariel does most of the work attaining her goals in this movie, but she wouldn't have gotten as far as she did without Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle helping her. Sebastian the crustacean is Atlantica's esteemed court composer and the king's personal adviser / right-hand man. He's clearly a grumpy middle-aged man, but he has a good heart and he's scrappy; he endures quite a bit of slapstick in this movie (especially during "Les Poissons"), but he never lets it slow him down. For the first half of the film, Sebastian is only concerned with maintaining the usual status quo, keeping Ariel in line and keeping the king happy, so he doesn't invoke the man's anger. It's not until he sees how badly Triton hurts her and he knows his own part in that that Sebastian realizes Ariel is more than just the king's daughter, she's her own person. She deserves a life of her own and a chance to be happy, so he decides to 'switch sides' so to speak and help her brave the human world to make that happen, despite knowing it will probably only lead to trouble. During their adventures on land, the crab's greater understanding of the teen and the mermaid's appreciation of his friendship leads to the two bonding some, and Sebastian surprisingly becomes an uncle figure to Ariel, or at least a stand-in guardian. It's quite an improvement on their previous relationship and makes for some amusing visuals (in fact, "Kiss The Girl" might be my favorite scene in the movie because of the surreal but adorable sight of a mermaid's guy friends trying to set her up with a boy).
Flounder is one of the few figures in this movie that's a wholly static character. He starts the film as Ariel's timid, supportive friend who often gets dragged along on adventures and by the end he is still exactly that. I guess you could say he becomes more of an action fish than he ever thought he would be: braving storms, moving huge statues by himself, creating romantic atmospheres, and taking on Flotsam and Jetsam to save Eric's life. With so many characters in this movie, not all of them can be developed. Out of Ariel's three friends / sidekicks, Scuttle the seagull is the one that's often forgotten about - including by Disney themselves - and that is not okay. Scuttle does the best he can y'all. Scuttle is Ariel's consultant on human objects, and it's pretty clear his information is not correct. It's actually not clear if Scuttle believes it all himself or if he's just straight up making things up to tell her. In any case, Scuttle is the loudest, most scatter-brained member of Ariel's friend group and something of a screw-up, but incredibly friendly, well-meaning and supportive, as well as surprisingly invested in sea business that doesn't really pertain to him. He also retains some of the spirit from the last film in the Disney canon by being a fast-talking, softhearted New Yorker type among the ensemble cast; the goofy everyman acting opposite to the more serious, straight man Sebastian. Scuttle finally gets a chance to prove himself when he brings Ursula's treachery to light and calls in reinforcements for the gang's final fight with the sea witch.
Worldly, seafaring Prince Eric is the male protagonist of this film and Ariel's love interest. It's pretty easy to see how she got smitten so easily. The dude is humble (despite coming from a regal background, he never treats the people around him as being lesser than him), brave (never asking anything of his subjects that he wouldn't do himself), handsome, kind to animals (he's ultimately willing to die for his pet, Max), he loves the sea (which means he has a wanderlust like Ariel does), and most importantly, he's single. He's pretty much her dream guy, and as soon as she realizes he's looking for a lady and he's already glimpsed her, she knows she wants a shot with him. Ariel is also Prince Eric's love interest. Eric is a hopeless romantic and a bit of a daydreamer. His manservant and