The Little Mermaid Movie Review

Let The Little Mermaid be Part of Your World

Disney has done it again; The Little Mermaid is a fun and inspiring tale for all ages with its captivating characters and its irresistible music, it’s a must see for the entire family, a classic in the making.

Story:

Ariel is the youngest of the seven daughters of the ruler of the ocean, King Triton.  Though this rebellious mermaid loves the ocean, she is fascinated by things on land.  She is so curious in fact that she ventures up on land and happens to find the man of her dreams, Prince Eric, and this gives her the desperation to live on land.  She makes a deal with the sea witch to make her dreams come true but gets into mischief along the way.

What went well:

The likeness of this movie is fully based on how you feel about fairy tales.  If you’re not a huge fan of the fairy tale scene I would suggest swimming past this film.  As for me, these are the best kind of movies.  Disney fairy tales are classic tales that are loved by generations and generations of people everywhere.  The rebellion and curiosity of this Disney princess is the change the Disney company was looking for, a princess who can stand up for herself and fight for her dreams instead of just dreaming of them.  Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora better step out the way because Ariel’s charisma and attitude make her a prime candidate for a new favorite Disney princess for little girls (and old as well) everywhere.

The music of this film is captivating and gets easily stuck in your head.  From the beautiful and passionate song Part of Your World to the fun and rhythmic tune of Under the Sea, the music from this film won’t have you clamming up, but will have you tapping your feet.

The animation in this movie is quite incredible.  The animators at Disney studios did an amazing job with giving this movie an under the sea feel.  The way Ariel and the merpeople moved through the water was life like and realistic.  Ariel’s animated under sea hair added personality and depth to her character and somehow made me love her even more, maybe it’s the color or the style but either way she made me jealous of her red beach waves.

What went wrong:

            Many parents will argue that this princess is not a good role model for little girls.  She deliberately disobeys her father, claims she’s in love at age 16 with a man she’s seen only once and never spoken to, makes a deal with an evil witch (which we all know never works out) and goes through a drastic body change just to be with someone she’s never spoken to.  Parents agree that these are not good lessons to be teaching young girls.  Sorry Disney, but this rebellious princess still has some lessons to learn.

Characters:

            There are many characters in this movie, to name a few, Sebastian, the loveable crab, Flounder, the scared but adorable best friend, Scuttle, the crazy and scatter brained seagull, King Triton, the strong and overprotective father, Ursula, the evil and deceiving sea witch and of course the main characters of Ariel and Prince Eric.  Ariel, being the main character of this film is a very relatable character to many young girls (well and old too).  Even though at times she may do some stupid things, it goes to show that everyone makes mistakes. There are even relatable characters for boys in this movie, such as Prince Eric.  This young prince is strong and has a huge thirst for adventure but he’s a bit of a perfectionist.  His kingdom wants him to marry but he believes that he’ll find the perfect girl when she comes along, in fact he spends half of the movie looking for her but is blind to the fact that she is right in front of him.  Even fathers can relate to the powerful King Triton, wanting to protect their daughter but having to learn to let go.  As you can see there are many relatable characters for many in this film, who knows, you might find more.

Overview:

            Even though this movie has its flaws and its critics, it has all the joy you would expect from a Disney film, the adventure, the devastation, the determination, inspiration, and happiness that these stories bring.  This movie is a classic that the whole family can enjoy.  I would recommend going to see this film.