Part of That.... Blooooooooog

I forgot how much I love this movie! The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite Disney films. I think this is mostly because of the music. Alan Menken is a musical genius. I love listening to “Part of Your World” and “Kiss the Girl.” Compared to the music of a first wave film, The Little Mermaid takes the cake no doubt. The music is catchy, it tells a story, and it isn’t always about a prince! Three cheers for that!

I also found the characters to be must more dynamic than those of a first wave film. There’s a lot going on between Ariel, King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian, Flounder, Eric, Max, Scuttle, the Chef, the mersisters, and all the other sea creatures/merpeople/humans. In Snow White, there are literally 4 human characters, 2 of whom rarely appear on screen (the Prince and the Huntsman). The addition of more speaking roles makes the story much more interesting. Also, while animals were certainly a big part of the movie, they weren’t as central as the animals in Cinderella, who really comprised most of the plot.

I felt the story went a bit downhill once Ariel lost her voice. Without her being able to speak, the plot becomes more fictional and superficial, because Eric only is interested in her for her looks. Speaking of looks, the animation was so much better in this film than Cinderella or Snow White. There were so many bright colors, fascinating fish, and memorable images, such as the reprise of “Part of Your World” when Ariel is singing on the rock and the water splashes up behind her.

 This scene is one of my favorite Disney moments.

One thing that I did not remember was that Ariel is only 16 when the movie takes place. At 16, Ariel gives up her family, changes her body, and gets married. When I was 16, I got my driver’s license and studied for the SAT’s. Ariel’s age is problematic because 16 is really young to be making such big sacrifices for men. Then again, it must be taken with a grain of salt because the film was made in 1989, and it is fiction. Hopefully, no 16 years went out and got married after seeing this film.

The Grimm’s version of the story was much more abstract and frankly, I didn’t like it at all. I thought the plot development was rather slow and confusing. However, one aspect of the fairytale that I did like was how close Ariel was to her sisters. That element is missing from the movie and it infuriates me. If the sisters were more central to the plot, so much more female talent could be showcased. This film is seriously dominated by men, and as an actress, this makes me frustrated! In the musical, the mersisters have their own song. I encourage you to check it out here!

Overall, The Little Mermaid was entertaining and put me in a good mood to start my weekend. Although not without its flaws, I felt the film had more dimensions than its first wave predecessors, rendering it more enjoyable and memorable.