The Little Mermaid: A Childhood Reflection

When I was younger my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid. I related a lot to the main character, Ariel, not only that we have red hair, but in her personality. This classic Disney movie was about a young girl who happened to be a mermaid but wanted to be a human. Ariel was the daughter of the sea king, and lived a “privileged” life. When Ariel goes to the surface against her Father’s wishes, she sees a ship and falls in love with one of the sailors. Ariel then cannot stop thinking about Eric and how much she would love to be a human, she learns of the Sea Witch, Ursula who can help her fulfill her dreams.
Ariel then gets a potion from Ursula to give make her human for three days, she must get the prince to fall in love with her or she will turn back into a mermaid. Eric then finds Ariel on the beach, but she is mute from trading Ursula her voice. Eric and Ariel begin to fall in love, but then a girl named Vanessa appears with Ariel’s voice, which is really Ursula. Ursula put a love spell on Eric which causes trouble in Ariel’s plan and the two plan to marry. Ariel then turns back into a mermaid and her life is devoted to Ursula. Triton, Ariel’s father, tries to save her from Ursula by sacrificing himself and giving Ursula his powers. She creates a whirlpool, which kills her in the end. Triton is turned back into a mermaid and he willingly transforms Ariel into a human, seeing her happiness. In the end Eric and Ariel get married and live on in the sequel.
Now looking back, I realize that I really liked this movie because it was very magical and enchanting as well as a love story. I loved the underwater imagery and all of the animal characters and of course, all of the songs. I loved seeing Ariel’s prospective of the real world, such as using a fork as a hairbrush. Watching the movie now, I still really enjoy it. I still remember all of the songs from when I was younger, and it still makes me happy. It is still very magical to me but now I look at it more logically and knowing that mermaids don’t really exist kind of takes the fun out of things. This movie would appeal to any young girl because it is a magical cartoon with very bright animation with talking animals and memorable songs. Now I see the meaning in this movie, I think that it is mostly about a girl transforming from a girl to a woman. Triton was always very protective of Ariel and had Flounder and Sebastian follow her. In the end he realizes that her happiness is most important and transforms her, himself, into a human to be with Eric. Ariel realized what she wanted and turning into a human and getting married was a major life change for Ariel.