Review: The Little Mermaid

#140 - The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 Disney film about the journey of a 16-year-old mermaid princess named Ariel. She longs for what is above the ocean, and is obsessed with anything strange and out of the ordinary from the humans. One day, a ship wrecks and she saves a young prince named Eric. She falls immediately in love with him, but must retreat back to the safety of the ocean before anyone notices her. When her father, King Triton, forbids Ariel to go above the surface again and talk to humans, she takes drastic measures and forms a binding contract with the sea witch, Ursula. Ursula steals Ariel's voice and gives Ariel three days to get Eric to fall in love with her and kiss her. If Ariel can get Eric to kiss her by sunset on the third day, Ariel will forever be a human. If not, she will return to her life as a mermaid.
Ariel's mission is going as planned, and that is not to Ursula's liking. She hypnotizes Eric into believing she was the woman who saved him after the shipwreck, and he orders for them to be married at once. Ariel's friends, Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder, seek the help of King Triton to defeat the sea witch. Ursula puts up a fight, but it ends in her demise. King Triton grants Ariel her human legs, and the prince and the princess live happily ever after.

This is one of my top five favorite Disney movies. It has arguably the best music out of any Disney movie EVER, and it has an adorable lead character that you can't help but love. The thing I like the most about The Little Mermaid is that Ariel reacts to situations the way an actual 16-year-old would react. When her father tells her she can't have her way, she explodes and goes to extremes to get her prince. Typical teenage girl reaction. A lot of people criticize the fact that Eric falls in love with a girl he barely knows in three days...a girl he barely knows because she can't speak! However, he falls in love with HER, not her voice. He can tell that she is a caring and fun person without having to hear her utter a word. If you want to get really technical, he's searching for the girl with the voice the entire film. That's why he hesitates to kiss Ariel. So, in all actuality, he really falls in love with Ariel once the entire package is there. That sounds kind of shallow, but whatever. It's a Disney movie, and people fall in love and get married within a few days. Get over it. Deal with it.

I don't really have anything bad to say about this movie. I didn't realize how short it was until I just re-watched it. Short and sweet. Love it.


I give The Little Mermaid 5 out of 5 stars.