"Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be, part of your world ..."
Hello everyone!
That's usually how things go with me, honestly.
BUT, here we are!
We're finally taking a look at how it all began, not counting the original fairy tale that was brought to life by Walt Disney back in the day.
It's wild to me how I didn't even know this movie was originally released in 1989. That's the year I was born! I need to start paying better attention hehe.
Without further ado, however, it's once again time to dig out our fins and dust them off. If you've got any shell bras then you best put them on, too.
Because The Little Mermaid is calling from the deep again.
Now, considering the fact that we've heard this story time and time again, I won't be going through it for the hundredth time.
Here's how it goes.
Ariel, who focuses the musical talents of Jodi Benson, is the youngest daughter of King Triton (in this version unfortunately not portrayed by Javier Bardem, which is actually a shame) and basically the flightiest teenage mermaid to ever grace the seas. She'd rather be exploring human shipwrecks than spending time with her family, so her dad forbids her from ever going to the surface again.
Of course she defies him, sees Prince Eric, falls in love, and is absolutely devastated when Triton destroys her cave of trinkets, including the life-size statue of said prince. This prompts her to go to Ursula, the sea witch, who in this original story isn't actually a family relation, but just someone who was banished from the palace (probably because she turned too many of her subjects into little sad worms).
Ursula takes Ariel's voice as payment for turning her into a human, giving her three days to get the prince to kiss her (true love's kiss, y'all, just like Once Upon a Time), otherwise she belongs to the witch forever. Thus begin the topside shenanigans as our group try to get Eric to kiss the silly girl, but of course Ursula was never going to honour her bargain anyway.
She uses Ariel's voice to enchant Eric and ALMOST gets away with it, but again, Ariel and her animal companions thwart her plans ... except the deadline's there and, to save his daughter, Triton signs himself over to Ursula, giving her his trident and the crown.
Eric and Ariel then take on the sea witch, kill her, and get married as Triton realizes that his sixteen-year-old REALLY loves this human kid, so he makes her permanently human this time around.
And they all lived happily ever after, humans and mermaids, to the end of their days!
Unlike the 2023 live-action remake, the original cartoon doesn't focus so much on what Ariel wants to learn as a human and her curiosity with our race as a whole, but simply on the fact that the girl fell in love and wanted to be with the guy. The moral of the story here is the one people have criticized Disney for in the past, which is that girls don't need the kind of visual representation wherein they lose their marbles over a guy the first time they meet him (Frozen's response to this is still one of the best, IMO).
The side characters are also a little more developed in the 2023 one but, this doesn't actually make the 1989 version BAD.
It's actually very colourful, very beautiful, and of course the musical numbers are on point (as they usually are with Disney movies, although it's to be noted that the composition of Part of Your World WAS changed slightly for 2023, because the tonal shifts between Jodi Benson's voice and Halle Bailey's definitely sound different). I completely forgot about the little seahorse court announcer, who's hysterical considering his teeny tiny voice is ridiculous when calling for anyone!
I will admit that I enjoyed the changes to Ursula in the 2023 version, because it then makes more sense as to why she was banished in the first place - however, you don't really NEED those explanations as a child. You just need to know she's the bad guy of the movie.
I don't know, I feel like any iteration you look at, The Little Mermaid holds its own, and you can't go wrong if you want a fun-filled, musically inclined movie, no matter which year you pick.
They're all pretty great!
xx
*images and video not mine
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