Summary: As a child my over all idea of the Little Mermaid was about a mermaid princess named Ariel. Ariel is tired of living "under the sea" and wishes to be "apart of our world" when she meets two legged prince Eric and saves him from a boat crash and then falls deeply in love with him. Ariel then begins to despertley find a way to live on the surface. Ariel then seeks the help and strikes a deal with the sea-octupus-witch, Ursula, who worns her about "the poor unfortunate souls" that make bargins with her, Ariel agrees anyway and gives Ursula her voice and in return a new set of legs. Though in order for Ariel to gain her voice back and keep her new legs she must be able to make Prince Eric "kiss the girl" and live happily ever after.
(I'll break the movie down into at three catergories that make the movie the movie)
Child Point of View:
Who doesn't want to be a mermaid! The first time I watched this movie I was in the waiting room of my pediatrician (I was about five years old) and after it was done I wanted to jump in the ocean and live among the merpeople.
- Music: I loved singing to Apart of Your World and Kiss the Girl. From what I remember the music was very fun and catchy and it definitly caught the essence of living in the sea.
- Characters: Ariel was my favorite! I was rooting for her to end up with Prince Eric. She was pretty, brave, different, and she can sing! Ariel deserved to be with Prince Eric and she eventually was able to be with him and live among humans! Ariel kicked butt and she stayed with what she believed in!
- Message: Its okay to be different, and yearning and wanting to be apart of some other world where it makes you happy is awesome!
Expectation
Adult Point of View: I still love the movie but watching it as an adult, I can't help but see a lot of character faults through the protagonist, Ariel.
- Music: Rewatching the movie my new favorite song is still Apart of Your World and Poor Unfortunate Souls. The music still catchy and rememberable. WARNING - offending opinions are about to follow.
- Characters: Ariel is my least favorite. Really watching and observing her character made me dislike her 16 year old mentality (though I did admire her love for the silly objects she collected). Also she was just 16 years old! As a child I thought Ariel was full grown women but guess what all Disney princess are at least in their teens they are just portrayed as being mature older women by their character designs. Ariel had an amazing talent but she gave up her talents for a guy! A guy she bearly even knew! They then all of a sudden get married and have a baby (shotgun wedding much). By the way Ariel was a teen mom (I'm also referring to the sequal).
- Message: Forget where you come from and become someone that you're not. Ariel was a mermaid and abandones her mermaid self to become a human and marry some guy she just met. Sorry Diseny, people in the real world can't forget where they come from to pretend to be something they're not.
Reality
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ReplyDeleteI also really enjoy The Little Mermaid! I didn't watch very many Disney princess classics as a child, but I do remember this one. I think I'm going to go watch this movie again soon sometime. I like the points you brought up about Ariel. Its interesting to revisit these movies as we get older because we understand so many more things than before. I was wondering if you have considered revisiting The Lion King? I think that would be a cool movie to rewatch now.
DeleteI love the GIFs by the way! They make your blog so fun and interesting!