The Little Mermaid (1989)

The film begins on a foggy morning out on open sea. A ship

then comes from the fog, filled ith sailors singing stories of
the legendary merfol!. ("#athoms $elo") Aboard that ship is
a young prince, named %ric, his dog Ma&, and his ad'isor
(rimsby. (rimsby denounces the merfol! as, "nautical
nonsense", but one sailor insists them to be real. )hile
distracted by (rimsby, a fish the sailor as holding, slips from
him, and falls into the ocean.
The fish breathes a sigh of relief before simming aay from
the ship. The opening credits play as the fish crosses the deep
ocean, until at last, e see merfol!. The merfol! then ma!e
their ay through the ocean toards a shining underater
castle. The castle is the domain of *ing Triton, and is here he
as holding a concert in his name, performed by his se'en
daughters and the crab court composer, +ebastian.
(",aughters of *ing Triton")
The concert goes as planned until it is disco'ered that Triton-s
youngest, .rincess Ariel, is not there, much to his chagrin. /n
truth, Ariel as out e&ca'ating a ship gra'eyard ith her best
fishy friend, #lounder. /nside one rec!, she finds a pipe and a
for!, hich fascinates her curiosity, all the hile unaare of a
shar! atching her and #lounder from outside. The shar!
bursts into the room Ariel and #lounder are in and gi'es chase
to them, all across the gra'eyard, until the to manage to get
the shar! ensnared in an anchor ring. They then ma!e their
ay to the surface, here their friend, a seagull named +cuttle,
li'es. Ariel as!s +cuttle to tell her hat the items she collected
are. 0e describes the for! as a dinglehopper, an item humans
use to style hair1 and the pipe as a snarfblat, an ob2ect for
ma!ing music.
3pon hearing the ord, "music", Ariel is 4uic!ly reminded of
the concert she missed and ma!es haste bac! home. 0oe'er,
Ariel fails to reali5e she is being atched by to suspicious eels
by the names, #lotsam and 6etsam. The to ere spies under
the employ of 3rsula The +ea )itch a former member of *ing
Triton-s court before being banished. 3rsula hates Triton ith
a passion for his atrocities toards her, and constantly schemes
of ays to e&act re'enge. The moment Ariel caught her eye,
3rsula commands her cronies to atch her, hoping to use her
to get to the *ing.
The film then mo'es to the royal palace, here Triton and
+ebastian are scorning Ariel for missing the concert. $ut
#lounder mo'es in to defend her, accidentally letting slip the
encounter ith +cuttle, hich 4uic!ly angers Triton. The la
of his !ingdom forbids going to the surface orld, for fears of
merfol! being caught by humans. $ut Ariel belie'es humans
not to be all that bad, hich angers Triton to the point of
sending Ariel aay crying, ith #lounder folloing after.
)hen they-'e left, Triton as!s +ebastian if he as too hard on
Ariel, to hich +ebastian replies, "definitely not". +ebastian
suggests that Ariel needs constant super'ision, hich gi'es
Triton the idea to send +ebastian to !eep an eye on her.
+ebastian complies ith the *ing-s demands but feels
dissatisfied ith the idea of, "tagging along some headstrong
teenager." 0oe'er, +ebastian-s thoughts are interrupted hen
he sees Ariel and #lounder simming off elsehere, prompting
him to follo her. 0e is led to a hidden grotto here he
disco'ers a 'ariety of human ob2ects gathered together. Ariel,
still hurt by her father-s ords, sings of her collection of
human ob2ects, and ho she desires to 'isit the orld of
humans, despite hat her father had to say of them. (".art of
7our )orld") The mood is 4uic!ly bro!en by +ebastian
crashing in, and threatening to re'eal Ariel-s grotto to the !ing.
Ariel attempts to reason ith him, but before anything could
be resol'ed in the conflict, a large ob2ect is seen floating
o'erhead bloc!ing moonlight from the grotto roof. Ariel, being
e'er curious, sam to the surface to figure out hat this
massi'e ob2ect as. The ob2ect pro'es to be a human ship,
shooting fireor!s into the night s!y. Ariel sims toards the
'essel, in spite of +ebastian-s protests, and climbs aboard to
behold dancing seamen. Ariel learns that the humans aboard
are celebrating the birthday of their prince1 one creature that
catches her eye is Ma&, the sheepdog ho ta!es a li!ing to
Ariel. $ut Ariel is left enamored hen she sees the dog-s
master, prince %ric.
%ric is gi'en a large statue of himself as a birthday present, by
(rimsby, ho sourly proclaims that he hoped it ould be a
edding present. %ric protests that he 2ust hadn-t found the
right girl yet, but insists that hen he does it ill hit him, li!e
lightning. /t as then, that the sounds of thunder echoed in the
distance, folloed by an e'er groing gust of ind.
)ithout arning, a hurricane ble in, seeping up both ship
and cre 'iolently in a 'olley of ind and ater. Ariel is
thron off the 'essel but managed to catch sight of the ship
being struc! by lightning. )hen the ship crashes into a gaggle
of roc!s, the cre is sent o'erboard, along ith the statue of
%ric. Though they all made it to the lifeboats, %ric disco'ers
that Ma& is still on the burning 'essel, and goes off to rescue
him. )hile %ric managed to get Ma& to safety, he is unable to
sa'e himself hen a massi'e e&plosion blos him aay. Ariel
sees this and rushes toards his aid1 barely managing to rescue
him and ta!e him bac! to shore.
8nce at the shore, Ariel sings of her desire to 2oin %ric-s orld
(".art of 7our )orld (9eprise) "), before fleeing at the sounds
of (rimsby and Ma& approaching. )hile Ariel sung, %ric only
managed to catch a glimpse of her before she left1 but as
(rimsby raises him up, %ric 'i'idly remembers a girl ho had
sa'ed him, and is determined to find her. As Ariel atches
them from a nearby roc!, +ebastian tells her that the situation
must be !ept secret from her father, but Ariel doesn-t pay
attention. )ith 'igor and determination1 Ariel ma!es a bold
proclamation that she ill be a part of %ric-s orld.
)hat Ariel doesn-t reali5e hoe'er, is that she-s being atched
by 3rsula-s eels. 3rsula is gleeful of the situation, and eerily
loo!s to a gaggle of polyps in her lair1 all of them, former
dreamers ho came under her poer. +he then mutters about
Ariel becoming a charming addition to the group. The scene
ends there.
A fe days later, Ariel spends her time day dreaming of %ric,
hich pi4ues the curiosity of her father, ho belie'es Ariel to
be in lo'e ith another merman. All the hile, +ebastian is a
ner'ous rec! trying to !eep the secret from being found out.
Ariel then decides that she ants to 'isit %ric, but +ebastian is
ha'ing none of that. 0e attempts to bring her don to earth
ith a musical number about ho the sea is better than the
land. ("3nder the +ea")
+ebastian manages to bring a bunch of fish together to sing
along, but as this party is happening, #lounder shos up and
manages to slip Ariel aay unnoticed. The song ends ith Ariel
nohere to be seen, and +ebastian left alone to grumble about
her. +uddenly, the royal herald calls for +ebastian to report to
the *ing about Ariel. +ebastian, afraid that Triton figured out
hat had happened, accidentally slips the truth during the
interrogation, and is forced to tell the *ing e'erything.$ac! at
Ariel-s grotto, #lounder re'eals that he had sa'ed the statue of
%ric from the rec!, much to Ariel-s delight. 0oe'er, the
pleasantries are interrupted by Triton being led to the grotto
by +ebastian. After a short argument, Ariel lets slip that she
lo'es %ric and Triton, in his anger, reduces Ariel-s grotto of
treasure to a 2un! pile, lea'ing Ariel in tears. +he shoos
+ebastian and #lounder aay and is left alone to grie'e.
0oe'er, unbe!nonst to her, #lotsam and 6etsam enter the
grotto and seet tal! Ariel into going to 3rsula to achie'e her
dreams of being ith %ric. As they lea'e, +ebastian and
#lounder follo after Ariel all the ay to 3rsula-s lair. 3rsula
e&plains that she can grant Ariel-s ish to be human for three
days, but she must gi'e %ric the !iss of true lo'e before the
sunset on the third day, or she belongs to 3rsula. (".oor
3nfortunate +ouls") /n e&change for legs though, she must gi'e
aay her 'oice. Ariel agrees to these terms and signs the
contract, trapping her 'oice in a nec!lace 3rsula ore, and
gi'ing her human legs.
8nce Ariel has been transformed into a human, +ebastian and
#lounder ta!e her to the surface, here the group meet up ith
+cuttle on a beach near %ric-s castle. +ebastian threatens to tell
*ing Triton about the deal beteen Ariel made ith 3rsula,
but Ariel manages to con'ince him to help the group. +cuttle
then tells Ariel about ho to blend in ith humans, and the
first step as to dress li!e them. +cuttle ta!es a portion of a sail
for Ariel to ear, 2ust as .rince %ric arri'es at their location.
Though %ric doesn-t !no she-s the girl ho sa'ed his life, he
is illing to bring her to his castle to be ta!en care of, ith
+ebastian tagging along in a poc!et in Ariel-s cloth.
Later, inside the palace, hile Ariel is ta!ing a bath, +ebastian
is sent, through a series of misfortunate e'ents, to the castle
!itchen. /t-s there that +ebastian encounters a fish coo!ing
obsessed chef that attempts to murder him. ("Les .oissons ")
As this conflict goes on in the !itchen, Ariel meets ith %ric
and (rimsby in the dining hall for dinner. There, %ric and
(rimsby discuss gi'ing Ariel a tour of the !ingdom, to hich
she agrees to.
Later that night, +ebastian discusses plans to get %ric to !iss
Ariel, though Ariel doesn-t listen, being too enamored in the
human orld-s splendors. $ut don in *ing Triton-s palace,
the situation is grim. *ing Triton has sent se'eral search
parties e'eryhere loo!ing for Ariel and +ebastian but hasn-t
found a trace of both of them. 0e is left depressed1 blaming
himself for their disappearance. The ne&t morning, Ariel and
%ric begin their tour of the !ingdom, starting ith the nearby
ton. Ariel is enamored by e'ery single thing she sees, hether
it is puppets, horses, or dancing. The day passes into e'ening
hen %ric ta!es Ariel on a lagoon cruise. +ebastian, seeing this
as the perfect moment, decides to ta!e matters into his on
clas, and plays a song to e&cite the to into !issing. ("*iss the
(irl ") 0oe'er, the song is 4uic!ly interrupted by #lotsam
and 6etsam o'erturning the boat, successi'ely ruining the
mood.
3rsula, frustrated ith the progress Ariel-s ma!ing, decides to
ta!e matters into her on tentacles, and transforms herself
into a beautiful young maiden called :anessa. +he then uses
Ariel-s 'oice to hypnoti5e %ric 2ust before he could announce
his true feelings to her. And the ne&t morning, %ric and
:anessa ere announced to be ed by sunset, lea'ing poor
Ariel heartbro!en as the edding ship departed from port,
lea'ing her and her friends behind hile :anessa con'incingly
plays her role as a lo'e;struc! young oman, clinging
constantly to %ric-s side and raises no suspicion.
Little does anyone !no, +cuttle happens to fly o'er the
edding ship hen he hears Ariel-s 'oice coming from the
bride-s dressing room. (":anessa-s +ong") 0e spies from a
porthole, and once :anessa ta!es a loo! at the dressing room-s
mirror, 3rsula-s reflection for shon. +cuttle flies off to inform
Ariel and the group about :anessa. The group then ma!es a
plan, Ariel and #lounder go after the edding ship on a barrel,
+ebastian goes to tell *ing Triton of hat-s happening, hile
+cuttle goes off to stall the edding.
+cuttle gathers sea creatures of all sorts to con'erse on the
edding ship as the edding is 2ust under ay. There is little
arning for :anessa hen the attac! begins, and the ship is
sent into disarray, gi'ing Ariel the time she needed to get
aboard. Moreo'er, :anessa is utterly flustered, disoriented and
sidelined from being able to do anything. Than!s to the help of
Ma&, +cuttle manages to snap the nec!lace off :anessa-s nec!,
shattering it across the dec!1 freeing Ariel-s 'oice, and
releasing %ric from the spell. $ut before the to could !iss, the
sun sets and :anessa transforms into 3rsula again1 ta!ing
Ariel bac! ith her under the sea.
/t isn-t long before 3rsula and Ariel run into Triton and
+ebastian, and a conflict occurs. Triton attempts to destroy the
contract Ariel signed, binding her to 3rsula, but finds that he-s
unable to do so because it-s magically enhanced by being legal.
+o, to sa'e his daughter, Triton sacrifices his soul to 3rsula,
and becomes a polyp, thus losing his cron, trident, and
!ingdom to 3rsula. Meanhile, %ric ta!es a roboat from the
edding ship and speeds off toards the location here Ariel
is. 0e goes underater and attac!s 3rsula, ho then
commands #lotsam and 6etsam to go after him. /n the midst of
the chaos, 3rsula attempts to !ill %ric ith the Trident, but
Ariel pulls on her hair, causing her to miss and !ill her eels.
This enrages 3rsula, pro'o!ing her to become a giant and
lea'ing %ric and Ariel helpless to her poer. $ut in the midst of
her rampage, 3rsula created a hirlpool, raising shiprec!s
from the ocean floor. And it is ith these shiprec!s that %ric
is able to finish off 3rsula by ramming its splintered bo into
her. As a result, 3rsula blos up into a scattered mass of
organs hile %ric falls unconscious on the shore. 3rsula-s curse
is remo'ed from the merfol! in her garden, as ell as *ing
Triton, and peace is once again restored to the ocean.
$ac! on the surface, Triton decides that he has to let Ariel be
free to lead her on life and tells +ebastian that he is going to
miss her. 0e then transforms her once more into a human ; this
time permanently. Ariel goes to %ric, they finally !iss, and the
to are immediately ed shortly after. And at this ceremony,
Ariel says goodbye to all her friends and family to li'e her ne
life in %ric-s orld. (".art of 7our )orld (#inale) ")