So recently I’ve gotten into sort of a Disney animated rabbit hole (no not the one from Alice in Wonderland). There was this manhwa I was reading whose main leads reminded me a lot of Rapunzel’s and Flynn’s dynamic, so I rewatched Tangled, remembered how great it was, and then yeah. Disney has been a huge part of my childhood and honestly, rewatching them, especially those from the Disney Renaissance, just made me astounded on how well the movies of the Renaissance hold up to this very day (except for Pocahontas, screw that movie).

This included “The Little Mermaid”, a movie that unfortunately has been the target of a lot of lazy, bad-faith criticism in my opinion. There’s always that tired tirade about how this movie is about Ariel giving up her whole life, including her friends and family, for a man. But rewatching this movie, it is so much more than that reductive view. There is just so much nuance, depth, and maturity in the story and characters that, honestly, I feel like you would only believe that tirade if you haven’t seen the movie at all and just repeat it to feel superior or whatever.

So, this is my defense case on “The Little Mermaid”. And to talk about this, I’ll be mainly looking at the story through the lens of examining the characters, specifically three. These characters are Ariel, Prince Eric, and King Triton. And in examining these characters, it will help illuminate the nuanced motivations and themes that just make this movie magical.

Ariel

Alright let’s start with Ariel, and let’s just address that tirade upfront. First of all, it is very clearly established from the beginning that Ariel is enamored with the human world before she even knows Eric existed. The first sequence she is in has her scavenging a shipwreck for these human artifacts and trying to learn about them through Scuttle. She is curious about the stuff they make and thinks they are wonderful. The song “Part of Your World” has Ariel express the desire to see for herself what the human world is like and to explore it, wanting to see them dancing, wanting to know what a fire is, etc. This song is before Ariel even knew about Eric. So it is not just that she wants to go to the human world because she loves a guy, she’s always wanted to. The fact that later she loves Eric and can be with him by going to the human world is the cherry-on-top.

And let’s talk about when Ariel sees Eric for the first time on the ship. This is the first time Ariel is able to observe humans up close and of course is naturally captivated. She sees them having a fun time at party and sees Eric in those festivities, playing with his dog Max, hearing how he is still searching for “the one”, and of course him being handsome is nice too. But also, when the ship is caught in a storm and catches on fire, Eric and the crew are on the lifeboat, but Eric sees Max still stuck on the flaming ship and goes back to rescue him. He does manage to rescue the dog, but gets stuck on the boat when it explodes, sinking into the water. And then Ariel rescues his life. Yeah, I feel people forget that Ariel saved her love interest from distress, and this isn’t the only time. Rescuing him, caring for him, I think within the pacing of the movie, it feels natural that Ariel would fall in love, especially considering her preexisting fascination of the human world. I don’t see it as falling in love just due to external appearances, but a combination of those things above. And I think it works.

The Deal

And this leads into a moment where Ariel gets a lot of criticism, where she signs that contract with Ursula. This is where that tirade reaches its full force, but in context it is a lot more layered. We have to remember that just before this, King Titron (Ariel’s father by the way), just found out about her rescuing a human and her collection. Triton absolutely hates humans and thinks all of them are the same: spineless, savage, barbaric. This is the second time in the movie that he is angry at Ariel over this and when Ariel blurts out that she loves Eric, Titron legit becomes violent and destroys Ariel’s entire collection, the things she loves the most and has worked on for years. It meant the world to her. This of course devastates Ariel and she breaks down. And it is at this low point, where she is the most vulnerable and heart-broken, that Ursula makes her move, choosing this moment to get her way. Of course, we the audience know Ursula’s deal very clearly and from a distance we can say that Ariel is not doing a good move here. But I think it is completely natural that at this low point, seeing her father violently destroy her interests, she would take a desperate chance. A chance to fulfill her dreams of being in the human world.

There’s been a recent trend with the “deal with the devil” trope in media where fault is placed on the person accepting the deal, not the person making it, which I feel is unfortunate. There are many instances in the world where people manipulate others who are desperate into unfavorable deals and it’s kind of victim blaming to just say “oh they shouldn’t have signed it 4Head”. I feel this applies to the critiques about Ariel’s actions here as well. Yes, it unwise, but even if she chose it out of her own agency, I think it is completely understandable why she accepts it in this situation.

I think it is also important to note that Ariel didn’t accept the contract just to be with Prince Eric. As we’ve established before, she’s always wanted to see the human world, Eric or no. Honestly it is mainly Ursula that emphasizes Eric. While Ariel is obviously interested in Eric, she seems just as interested in being human if not more during that sequence. I think with the context we have, at this low point, Ariel would have made this decision even if Eric didn’t exist. So honestly this entire tirade about Ariel leaving everything for a man is just plain untrue. Of course, Eric is part of the motivation at this point, but he’s not the only one. There are a lot of intersecting motivations that lead to Ariel signing the deal. It is only with a reductive, narrow view of the movie that you could possibly say this tirade with a straight face. The plot beats are a lot more layered.

The Voiceless Romance

This brings us to when Ariel becomes human at the exchange of her voice, and this unfortunately is where another common criticism comes in: that without her voice, Ariel uses her looks to get Eric to fall for her, thus sending a problematic message that women’s appearances are what matters, not personality. I understand why people might have this criticism and I thought I would have the same criticism, but on rewatch the movie is a lot smarter than this.

Eric at this point has been saved by Ariel and the only thing he remembers is her beautiful singing. He believes that girl in his dreams is “the one”. When Eric meets the now voiceless Ariel, he naturally assumes it isn’t her. It is clear that Eric finds Ariel pretty, but he isn’t in love with her yet. He’s still in love with that ideal girl in his dreams. So how does Ariel actually get Eric to fall for her? Well funnily enough, for most of the time Ariel is not that pressed about it. She’s exploring and being enamored with the human world, seeing and observing what she always dreamed of. It’s actually pretty funny that while the rest of her companions are focused on the kiss, especially during the tour, Ariel is just having the time of her life. Yes, Ariel is definitely into Eric and is trying to get that kiss, but it’s not the only thing she is into. It’s endearing how fascinated she is at a soap bubble, or with a puppet show, or with dancing with feet, or with taking the reins on a carriage. And yeah, she’s definitely a fish out of water and to the other humans probably comes off as weird and eccentric. But during the course of the dinner and the tour, we see that Eric is actually really charmed by those aspects of her. He is charmed when Ariel blows smoke out of the pipe at Grimsby, covering him in soot. He is charmed when she continues to use a fork as a comb. They are clearly able to get to know each other more and more. Her personality is clearly conveyed. She is just being herself. And being herself is what ultimately makes him fall for her and choose her over the ideal girl in his dream. Eric falls in love with Ariel due to her personality and character, not her looks.

I do sincerely understand the problematic symbolism of a girl choosing to give up her voice to be with a man. I had this view too. But in the actual movie, I don’t think that is an accurate representation of what actually happens. Ariel, despite not having a voice, is still able to convey her personality and character. And it is that genuine personality and character that ultimately seals the deal. And if it wasn’t for Ursula literally sabotaging her at the end by mind controlling Eric, she would have done it. Reflecting on this, it sort of made me realize that the idea that you can only communicate or convey yourself through speech is not true and is actually narrow-minded against those that aren’t able to.

Character Retrospective

After rewatching “The Little Mermaid”, it actually made me love Ariel’s character quite a bit. She’s pretty headstrong and can be reckless, but she is also bold and independent. Her story arc retains her convictions in her beliefs and instincts despite the societal backlash, but she matures to learn to be more cautious and not be too reckless. And most importantly, in my view, she takes control of her own destiny. It saddens me to see this get twisted into this idea that Ariel gives up everything because she’s in love with a man when it is just not that. Ariel defies her father and her society that forbids the human world she is interested in, forbids the romance she has, and takes ownership of her life to truly be herself and to love who she wants to love, even if her family and society rejects it. I think that is powerful. Love is not a weakness, but a source of strength.

Prince Eric

Now Eric doesn’t have as much screen time as Ariel, given that Ariel is the main character. However, he still does have a character arc even if it is not as big. That character arc is intimately intertwined with the romance. As mentioned above, Eric wants to marry for love and is waiting for “the one”. He has this idealized idea of romance and the girl he would fall in love with. And eventually, he does meet the “ideal perfect girl” when he is rescued by Ariel, though he was barely conscious and thus the reality of it is hazy for him. Thus, up until he throws away the flute, he is still longing for that idealized perfect girl. Which is why it takes time for him to fall in love with the voiceless Ariel.

In his perspective, the voiceless Ariel is definitely not the idealized perfect girl. She’s eccentric, kind of weird, and super energetic. From his perspective, Ariel is like a manic pixie dream girl. But as we established above, he doesn’t mind those eccentricities and is actually pretty charmed by them. And despite still longing for a perfect ideal romance, he still falls and falls for Ariel as they spend time together. This culminates in the scene where Grimsby says that he shouldn’t get lost in his dreams and ignore what is in front of him. And after some thought, Eric throws away the flute, symbolizing him giving up on the unattainable ideal and resolving to focus on the oddball girl in front of him which he has been falling more and more in love.

I think this is a really nice and simple character arc, learning to not constantly chase the ideal and perfect, and realizing the now. It is intertwined with the romance and makes Eric a pretty dynamic character. And I think the message is a good one in a perfection-focused society, especially when it comes to romance.

A common criticism I see involving Eric is that he is the one that rescues Ariel in the climax and is the one that defeats Ursula, making Ariel into a damsel in distress. This criticism forgets the fact that Eric was literally a dude in distress twice before that and had to be rescued by Ariel. Him doing this in the climax is just him returning the favor. But outside of that, I am of the opinion that it is thematically necessary that Eric is the one that ultimately defeats Ursula. It is needed to make the movie work. But why is that needed? Well to discuss that, we need to discuss the next character.

King Triton

As much as this story is about Ariel and her adventure, it is also as much about King Triton and his growth as a parent. As we discussed before, King Triton is extremely prejudiced against humans and places strict restrictions on anything regarding that, forbidding interacting with the human world. This causes him to be in conflict with his daughter Ariel. King Triton is definitely an overbearing helicopter parent here and tries to restrict her freedom in interacting with the human world, ignoring his daughter’s insistence that he is wrong about humans. He thinks he knows best for her. This of course culminates into him destroying all of Ariel’s collection, which leads to Ariel signing the deal, etc.

It is shown in the movie that King Triton deeply regrets those actions, but the damage has been done. And thus, near the climax, he takes accountability by taking his daughter’s place in the contract, turning into a polyps in her place. This leads to Ursula gaining his power and starting a storm in both under the sea and above it with the intent of ruling it all. What is interesting about this is that all the actions that lead up to Ursula gaining his power are done by the merfolk. Ultimately, it was King Triton’s actions that lead to the mess that they can’t do anything about. The merfolk are powerless to stop Ursula’s reign. And even before the movie, Ursula was still causing havoc with other poor unfortunate souls.

This is why it is so important that Eric is the one that defeats Ursula. It is important for the story that a human does it. The conflict which is ultimately due to the prejudice Triton and most of the merfolk has against humans and which the merfolk can’t resolve, the fact that it is a human that resolves it is thematically important. Humans were the ones that restored Triton, and not just Triton but the other victims of Ursula. Ariel was right, and Triton realizes that he has been wrong, not just on humans, but his treatment of Ariel, of thinking he knows best.

So, when Triton decides to give Ariel what she wants and allows her to live in the human world, it is thematically and emotionally resonant. And it makes the ending scene of the wedding with both humans and merfolk so much stronger. And after finally being understood and granted the freedom she so wanted, Ariel finally says to Triton that she loves him, completing this arc of reconciliation. I don’t’ know man, this is good stuff. It is very nuanced stuff. But to see this get dismissed because “Eric saves damsel in distress Ariel” in that climax is kind of frustrating. This thematic cohesion just makes the movie’s themes be stronger and I think it is important to recognize that.

Conclusion

So yeah, I love “The Little Mermaid” rewatching it. It still stands up to this day and I hope what I said above is enough to explain why I love it and why many of the common criticisms I don’t agree with. Honestly, I could go on, there is so much I could discuss, from iconic scenes, to the gorgeous animation, to how this literally the most influential Disney movie on Disney outside of Snow White, there’s a lot. And of course it’s not perfect, I do have some flaws with it, but I think I’ve written enough.

This blog post honestly was unplanned. I was planning on doing a blog post on Danganronpa masterminds and it being more of a negative-type post (spoilers for that post I guess), but I think I got tilted seeing the same tired tirade again and again. Maybe the other blog post will come out soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my defense of the movie that started the Disney Renaissance, “The Little Mermaid” that could.