FAN ART: How Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' should have ended.....

[brendala]

I love this film as much as any other girl who was raised on a steady diet of Disney princess movies. However, upon watching it as a grown up, it becomes clear that Ariel is a totally stupid, selfish, awful person (er, fish or whatever species she technically is). And I have my doubts that her relationship with Eric would survive the resolution of her "Daddy Issues".

Sorry for ruining your childhood, everybody!

[Deviant Art Link]

Comments

[rezo-eris.livejournal.com]

I'm not enraged or anything, just irritated. Sorry if I scared you there. XD

Yeah, her decision was stupid even by teenager standards. But I don't think she really "loved" Eric, despite what she might have blurted out to her dad. She was in love with humans, their world, their things, and their culture. Eric was just her justification of getting there. THAT is selfish, I'll give you. But I think it started out as curiosity and turned into an obsession and a longing to leave her world behind BECAUSE her father forbade her from getting closer to the human world for reasons that were, to be blunt, racist. He and Ariel were equally at fault here: the writing just never made it clear since Ariel ends up getting everything she wanted while Triton has to just suck it up and deal with it.
And to be fair to Ariel and Eric, they did get to know each other better over the course of the two days we see them staying together. And Ariel couldn't even speak then, so that's quite the accomplishment.

I think things playing out differently from how she wanted and expected them to SHOWED her that it was a bad idea in the first place, especially when the person she made the deal with was explicitly showing that she had an evil plan behind it all along. Ursula was getting what she wanted at Triton's expense, and Ariel had helped her. I can totally buy that she WAS truthfully sorry for everything at that moment.
And before the shit hit the fan, the last time Ariel and her dad had interacted, he was a big jerk to her and destroyed her entire collection. She most likely thought she hated him at the time and naturally didn't give a crap if she was worrying him. Serves him right, she'd think. (This is just how she felt at the time, though, not how she REALLY felt deep down.) Sure she was an inconsiderate jerk, but only because her father had been an inconsiderate jerk to her. In the end, I sympathize with them both, which I think I'm meant to.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The tone came across as kinda strong. O_o

Honestly, I never intended to start a debate with this comic. It was just supposed to be a dumb parody of a dopey fairy tale movie.

Besides, it is totally possible to love something and still admit it has flaws. Just sayin'.

[rezo-eris.livejournal.com]

I guess some people just don't see the movie as "a dopey fairy tale movie". It DID spark the Disney rennaissance after all. And was a very personal project for the late Howard Ashman. It's got alot of worth for many people, more than we could give it credit for.

Oh of course I know that! I do it all the time!

[brendala.livejournal.com]

I love the little mermaid, too. I was just the right age when the movie came out and probably watched it at least 200 times throughout my childhood. And I adored Ariel as if she was real. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of seeing her out the window of Disneyland's old submarine ride and almost fainting with joy.
But that doesn't stop me from having fun with it. Because it's still just a movie at the end of the day.

[rezo-eris.livejournal.com]

Well all the same, sometimes "just movies" deserve more respect too. Like what the NC said about Dr Seuss books in his recent review. xD

I'm also bugged by the "feminist" reverse sexism that most people who decry Ariel's actions have. So it's sexist that a girl sells away her whole life for a man (when it wasn't even really about the man, it was about getting what she'd dreamed of: he was just her reason for finally taking action), so she ought to not think for herself or act independently, and should just obey her father, who is currently the most prominent man in her life. So...don't give up your life for a man, but conform to your current status quo because of a man's wishes? HUH?

Honestly, I sometimes wonder why Katzenburg DIDN'T just cut "Part Of Your World". Nobody seems to pay attention to that number if they think Ariel was JUST wanting to be human due to an obsessio with Prince Eric. (Incidentally, that song's antithesis is "Under Da Sea." No wonder people are against Ariel: Sebastian made a better point with a better song! XD)