The Little Mermaid Discussion

[CampbellzSoup]

I like in Kindgom Hearts where they threw the trident back at her...not having a boat slam into her. There could have been a lot done arrow use your freaking imagination it's a Disney movie not a real life scanrio.

[Disney's Divinity]

I disagree about the battle, but I guess that goes without saying. It's always been one of my favorite scenes in the film--Ursula rising out of the ocean is so totally awesome. One of the most iconic Disney moments for me. Although I suppose it wouldn't have been too bad for the trident to be thrown at her, though I could do without the screaming in KH2 (one of the bad things about the alternate ending).

Personally, I believe Ursula becoming a giant works perfectly for the film. For one, it suits her plot point: she basically wanted to be a goddess, and now she looks the part. Second, Ariel's risked the entire ocean with her naive deal and it's somewhat divine justice that the whole ocean seems to rise up against her (thus earning the audience's--or at least my--forgiveness for her understandable mistake). And, finally, the "So much for true love," and the resulting destruction (via bow and lightning) goes along with Ursula scoffing at Eric and Ariel's "love" by proving that Eric is willing to risk his life for Ariel rather than save himself and also showing that Ursula's arrogance was her own downfall, in more ways than one (by rising the ships from the ocean floor, starting a storm, and believing Eric wouldn't attempt to stop her when push came to shove).

The scene serves an important purpose in the film, and I think it's much better than the alternate ending seen on the Platinum DVD (where Sebastian, Triton and Eric play the dominant roles in the scene, with Ariel ending up knocked out).



ps. Noone liked the quote "She's not Daddy's little girl anymore" in my last post? I was sure that would be a crowd pleaser.

[xxhplinkxx]

I like in Kindgom Hearts where they threw the trident back at her...not having a boat slam into her. There could have been a lot done arrow use your freaking imagination it's a Disney movie not a real life scanrio.

Yeah, that works out great in the game when they have Sora and the Keyblade. But how in the movie would Eric or Ariel take a GIANT trident from a GIANT Ursula? Ariel was having enough trouble just trying to stay alive, and I'm sure Eric couldn't just climb Mt. Ursula and say "Hey, can you please make the trident normal-sized so I can stab you with it? Thanks!"

ps. Noone liked the quote "She's not Daddy's little girl anymore" in my last post? I was sure that would be a crowd pleaser.

Yes, I loved it! That whole description with the back arched and the breasts forward was great! I was just too lazy to respond to it.

[Disney Duster]

Like Disney heroines before her, Ariel is looking for a romantic solution to the yearning in her heart. (Andersen’s mermaid looks for human love only as a means of achieving her true desire: an immortal soul. Disney’s mermaid sees a cute fella as her be-all and end-all.)

But who isn't looking for a romantic solution to the yearning in their heart?!? Ariel already was interested in the human world when she saw Eric...he was a cute, interesting human!

Well, sometimes people say they yearn in their hearts to be an artist or rich or famous or someone who helps the world. Or they yearn in their hearts to have a soul, or they yearn in their hearts for the human world. And this woman was saying Ariel is looking for a man's love as the solution to her heart, which actually was the desire to experience the human world.

I can relate to Ariel in the sense that my parents (my mom, really, but my dad never stood up for me) didn't want me (and didn't let me) to do things that I wanted to do (I very badly wanted to do community children's theater and take vocal lessons). I ended up being depressed from about 16-18 (really 18 was such a tough age for me)...I like to think that my life would be so different if I were just allowed to express myself and do what I had a passion for. If you have a passion for something, just like how Ariel had a passion for humans and collecting human things, and for Eric, then you should go for them- do whatever you can (without harming yourself or your loved ones) to make your dreams come true.

OMG Amy go get vocal lessons and community theater if you love it it's not too late you're so young!!!!!

Eric could possibly be a prince of a principality, meaning he rules his country even as just prince and his parents might be dead.

Obviously "Fathoms Below" wasn't cut...was it scaled back? Was it cut but then reinserted?

I think by cut they meant it was cut in half, or cut to a smaller portion. Which indeed it was, as we heard the longer version on the DVD. That article sounds like it got things wrong anyway, like "Kiss the Girl" was not the song almost cut, and there was more computer generation than just the wedding ship.

HM, that's interesting. Ariel was going to defeat Ursula herself...but then Jeffrey told them to have big strong man Eric kill the bad guy and save the damsel in distress...?

Perhaps Ariel was going to be even more strong and "feminist", originally. I know that may make lots of her fans here quite happy. That also sounds like how one Disney storyman pitched an even stronger, what we might call more feminist today, scene for Cinderella, that didn't make it in her film, at least not nearly the same. But we're talking about Ariel here.

HM Disney's Divinity, I never realized: After Ursula says my favorite line from the film, "So much for true love!", Eric proves his true love by saving his beloved!

[xxhplinkxx]

OMG Amy go get vocal lessons and community theater if you love it it's not too late you're so young!!!!!

I've told her that a million times, but does she ever listen to me??? NOOOOOOO!

[Mooky]

I never understood those "she gives it all up because of a man" complaints. It's shown in the movie that Ariel had a thing for human world long before Eric showed up. He's not the sole reason she trades her voice for legs, he was more of a catalyst (in the chemical sense of the word) that furthered her longing to be human. So she did what she did for herself, Eric was basically just a bonus .

[xxhplinkxx]

So she did what she did for herself, Eric was basically just a bonus .

A hell of a bonus, if you ask me.

[a-net-fan]

I LOVE The Little Mermaid, probaly in my top 3 favorite Disney Classics and one of my favorite films ever. I do agree that Ariel does look a little weird in some shots but the animation is beautiful and the songs are wonderful.

Yes...LM def makes my top three. Lion King and Little Mermaid seem to alternate for the #2 and #3 spots.

[ajmrowland]

I like in Kindgom Hearts where they threw the trident back at her...not having a boat slam into her. There could have been a lot done arrow use your freaking imagination it's a Disney movie not a real life scanrio.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

And I do use my imagination; I'm just not very creative, and I was thinking on terms of what the scene called for.

[broadwaybrian318]

so is there any rumored time frame when this will be released on Blu-ray? i am dieing to have this movie on Blu-Ray? Does anyone have any guesses or heard rumors?

[miklc]

The way it's looking at the moment it is likey that we will see The Little Mermaid on Blu-Ray probably 2013/2014 time, though nothing has been confirmed as of yet, it seems so long away!!

[rodis]

Ursula's dispatch was a great idea, what's the problem? Also, that's one of the best animated scenes in the movie. I love how it was executed! The fuschia-turquoise blended beautifully.

And, personally, though I'm really looking forward to a Bluray edition of the film, I'm kinda worried because I didn't really like the restoration on the SE DVD. The colors were sometimes too bright to reveal grain that wasn't even visible on the VHS, sometimes too saturated and, I'd much rather have the dark bold colors of the 1990 VHS. Notice for example how Ursula's lair (when seen from afar) was originally this dark beautiful blue and they turned it into light blue-ish. Hated it.

Still, my fav Disney film ever!!

[ajmrowland]

I never noticed the color change, but I think the grain is there because of the source, and the movie is recent enough to not require a full-on restoration. With the blu-ray, we'll probably get one though.

[Disney's Divinity]

Anyone find it bizarre that this thread was revived exactly one year from the last post--April 13th?

Kinda bizarre.

[miklc]

Anyone find it bizarre that this thread was revived exactly one year from the last post--April 13th?

Kinda bizarre.

Even more bizarre is that The Little Mermaid is my favorite film of ALL TIME and my birthday is today April the 13th hahah

[Atlantica]

I found this on an Ariel website, and thought I'd share, after the wonderful Alice In Wonderland commercial from the 50's was posted....

These are some Ariel commercials from the 90's, and some feature Jodi Benson singing a couple of notes, or singing a song for her characters dolls ! It's nice to see that Disney still gets its vocal performers involved all the way from advertising to the movie itself, just like back in the 50's. Enjoy !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fs7lSdtXuk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNfrESwhESI

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/9021/

[rodis]

I never noticed the color change, but I think the grain is there because of the source, and the movie is recent enough to not require a full-on restoration. With the blu-ray, we'll probably get one though.

What is a full-on restoration?

[broadwaybrian318]

UGG four years away... I dont think I can wait that long. This is my favorite movie of all time. I just want to see it in High-Definition. The under the water parts of this movie i think will look spectacular in the Blu-Ray format. Heres hoping it getting released sooner and not later

[ajmrowland]

I never noticed the color change, but I think the grain is there because of the source, and the movie is recent enough to not require a full-on restoration. With the blu-ray, we'll probably get one though.

What is a full-on restoration?

What I meant was a restoration effort the likes of older titles.

Anyway, the comments on the first video are hilarious!

[Goliath]

Yesterday, I got the strange urge to watch this film again. That would make it the 82648359th viewing so far. I'd like to share some thoughts with you and see what you have to say about it.

As much as I love so many other Disney Classics, The Little Mermaid engages me in such a strong emotional way, which no other Disney film does. In each and every scene, I am 'living' the film, to the point that I care about Ariel as a character to such a degree, that I never experience with any other character from a Disney film. And that got me thinking: why is that?

I think it's because of all of Disney's leading characters, Ariel has the most 'emotional' motivation for her actions, and she's the one who goes the farthest to obtain her goal. Let's compare.

Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora had no distinct goal. They just wandered around in their own films until something happened to them, and more often than not, other characters had to get them out of the mess the girls got into. Belle and Jasmine effectively did nothing but sit around in their castles, unwilling, yes, but still, they did. And while they had a vaguely stated goal of wanting to get 'away', the film's plot dictated that they did nothing to achieve it. Tiana has my everlasting respect for being the first 'feminist' princess, but owning her restaurant was not really a very emotional quest. Now let's turn to the non-princess characters.

Pinocchio has a clear goal: he wants to be a real boy, but what does he do to become one? He spends most of the film trying to simply have a good time, but ends up in trouble because of it. Alice's only goal is to escape Wonderland, but it ends up being just a dream. Wendy, John and Michael have no goal except playing around with Peter Pan in Neverland. Bernard and Bianca have a noble goal: to save Penny from Madam Medusa, but that's not something they do for themselves, it's not for their own sake.

I could go on for a while, but I think it's clear what I mean. Ariel is the only Disney character who has a clear goal set for herself, and she will do whatever it takes to achieve it, even if it means giving up everything she knows (her father and her sisters), giving up her voice and putting herself in danger (doing business with Ursula). All because of her one big wish, and this wish comes forth from her inner feelings; it's her emotions that thrive all her actions, that thrive the whole movie even.

And this could have easily ruïned the film. Because as we know, Ariel doesn't really know Erik at all. She sees him and instantly falls in love with him, without ever having spoken a word to him. It's what we would call 'puppy love', a teenage craze. Something so superficial that it will blow over in a few weeks. But at the end of the film, when Triton says to Sebastian: "She really loves him, doesn't she?", it just feels very natural and believable. That's because the determination in Ariel -again, not seen in any other Disney character- makes it believable to us. It's this spirit that's so beautifully captured in her animation. I would guess the head animator had real teenage daughter, because Ariel is so lifelike (again, kind of in a unique way), and the superb voicework of Jodi Benson makes it all the more convincing.

As you probably can tell, I've enjoyed the film incredibly once again. I'd like to read UD's thoughts on my 'analysis' of the character and how this affects the movie experience.