The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite animated Disney movies. As a little kid, my friends and I would sometimes wander around the playground singing Disney songs, and one of the constants was "Part of Your World." In order to sing that song to completion, I had to watch The Little Mermaid a gazilli𓆉on times. ꦍTo this day, it is my most-watched Disney movie.
Some may not remember this, but there was a time when Disney made a string of forgettable movies. Of course, now that Disney is Disney, even their worst animated movies (comparatively speaking) are lauded as classics. (Seriously, no one watches Oliver & Company anymore.) I don't think I would be remiss in saying that it was The Little Mermaid that changed the tides of Disney's fortune. It was a sweet story, hearkening back to Disney's "princess" roots, and the music was absolutely phenomenal. The Little Mermaid was the beginning of Disney' golden age of animated films. After Ariel's adventures, we got to meet Belle, Aladdin, and Simba in quick succession. It's because of that perfect formula of song and story that we have hits today like Frozen. And to think, it🌺 all started with a little mermaid under the sea.
Of course, The Little Mermaid is not without its flaws. (168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Every movie ever made has its flaws. I've yet to see a perfect movie.) There are moments w🌠hen the tale makes little💫 to no sense. I love the movie, yet I recognize its mistakes. Read on if you want to find out some of Ariel and company's most ridiculous blunders.
25 ♒ Learning To Accessorize
Mermaids don't need much in the way of clothing. Their large tails prevent them from wearing any apparel on their lower halves, and the only item we see them wear on their top halves are these 𓆏little clam-shaped bras. The mermen don't even have to wear that. They just go shirtless. But upon considering the mermaids' choice in clothing, I realized something kind of horrendous. The bras are clearly made of a split clam, and the sides are strapped around the mermaids' chest with a string. This is all fine and well, but when you're watching Sebastian lead a crowd of und𓃲ersea life sing "Under the Sea," there are a bunch of singing clams in the mix. They lend their vocal talents in the attempt to convince Ariel to stay beneath the waves.
So clearly these clams are sentient. Does that mean that Ariel is wearing the body of a former friend around her chest? This is one of the major problems that The Little Mermaid runs into. Actually, this is one of the major problems in any kids movie that takes place in a typical fish-eat-fish ecosystem. It's hard to imagine that Ariel and the other merfolk of Atlantica could survive in the ocean without utilizing the natural༺ res🎶ources at their disposal. But doing so would mean that they would have to be a little... vicious when it comes to finding things to eat and wear.
24 Who Left The Dog 🐠Out? ༺
Who doesn't love a Disney movie with an animal sidekick? And what better animal sidekick could you ask for than a dog? Ariel has her own animal companions under the waves, so it makes sense that Prince Eric has his animal companion on land. Max is an adorable shaggy dog that looks like he would have a bit of a slobbering issue in real life. He clearly loves ꧑Eric, and he's the only creature on Eric's ship that notices when Ariel is spying on them. And when Ursula strolls in to Eric's life disguised as Vanessa, Max can clearly tell that she is up to no good. (All good dogs can sense the presence of evil.) Unlike Ariel's friends though, Max is deficient in one regard.
He can't talk.
Flounder and Sebastian, a fish and a crab respectively, can use words to talk to Ariel and guide her on her mission, but Eric's dog remains sadly mute. He can't give Eric the same kind of help that Ar🎐iel receives from her animal friends. Sure, he can bark and growl, but wouldn't it have been really helpful if Max could have told Eric that Ariel was the girl who had rescued him? Or what if Max was able to warn Eric about Ursula? I guess it would have been a little too helpful. The story would have been resolved to quickly and too neatly. Are only marine animals allowed to speak? Is there something about residing in saltwater that makes it eas🌌ier on cartoon animals' vocal cords?
23 🌠Hold Your Breath
Ariel's n🔴ot the brightest starfish on the ocean floor, and she reveals her lack of intelligence when she makes that deal with Ursula. Even though the only knowledge she has of the hu🙈man world is from sunken garbage, Ariel gets it into her head that she's going to turn herself human and meet up with this guy she met once. (She's didn't even really "meet" him if you think about it.) She even goes to Ursula, a reputedly evil sea witch, to get some assistance in turning herself into a two-legged land-dweller. Unfortunately for Ariel, she doesn't seem to get it into her head that humans don't do well underwater. There's a reason humans live on land instead of below the waves: they can't breathe underwater!
When Ursula transforms Ariel into a human, she doesn't do it within easy reach of the ocean surface. The transformation occurs while Ariel is still inside Ursula's cave on the ocean floor. Ariel struggles to take her first gasps of air while she's still surrounded by the sea. You can see the panic on her face when you see her 🐟throat constricting with a lack of oxygen. Flounder and Sebastian are then seen helping her up to the surface so she can breathe. I'm calling bull-turkey on that. No way could a tiny fish and c🌼rab help up a human girl who has never swum with two legs before to the surface of the ocean from the sea bed in time for her to not drown. It is physically impossible.
22 𝐆 🎐 Nothing Wrong With A Little Odd Behavior
I would like to think that my long-time friends are able to tell when I'm not acting like myself. If, for example, I came over to their houses and told them I was going to marry someone I had just me🐻t that very evening, all the while with a stoic expression and a blank stare on my face, I hope they would know so꧑mething was amiss. (It's reassuring to think that my friends would never fall for an Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers situation.)
Prince Eric is not so lucky in his friends.
When Eric enters his palace with Vanessa disgustingly draped over his arm, Grimsby, Eric's longtime confidant, doesn't seem to find anything wrong with the situation. In fact, Grimsby is absolutely delighted by the whole thing. (It's Grimsby's fondest dream to see Eric married, for some weird reason.) He's ecstatic that Eric is going to marry some random stranger who he knows not𒀰hing about. Not only does that tickle his fancy, Grimsby can't even be bothered to notice that his friend is acting strangely. All the times we've seen Eric before, he has appeared to be a genialꦉ, friendly, and charming young man. Then, all of a sudden, when Vanessa appears beside him, Eric has turned into Mr. Roboto. And Grimsby just can't see these changes? Hmph. Some friend.
21 Danger, W🌜ill Robinson
I firmly believe that everyone has a little voice inside them that tells them when something is a bad idea. Some people call this voice their gut feeling. Other people just call it logical reasoning. I think that when people make bad decisions, it's because they couldn't hear or they didn't listen to this voice. Ariel must make a habit of ignoring this voice because she makes a string of bad decisions in The Little Mermaid. Her biggest would have to be not turning tail and fleeing from Ursula when she saw Ursula's little garden o🐷f seaweed people.
Those gross wisps of former merpeople were horrifying, and any sane person would have taken one look at them and realized that they were heading into a terrible situation. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that Ursula is into some shady stuff after seeing those guys. Even if you have no idea what those things are, they look abjectly miserable. I don't care how much you might want to be human or how much you want to be with a man you've only met once, you do not make a deal with a person who has creepy front lawn decorations. Let me offer up advice to anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation. If you ever see a collection of groping weeds with sad eyes in front of someone's house, just leave. Ariel should have jus📖t noped her way back home.
20 ღ A Bushel And A Peck 🌳
The trials and tribulations of kissing a person should not be understated. At the same time, they should not be blown out of proportion. Ariel makes a deal with Ursula that she will be human for three days, during which time she must kiss Prince Eric. If she fails to kiss Eric during that time, she will remain Ursula's prisoner forever, turned into one of those goopy creatures outside of Ursula's cave. As such, you would think that getting a quick peck would be more important to Ariel than spending time with Eric out on the town. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the two of them getting to know each other before jumping into marriage, but time𓆉 was clearly of the essence at that point.
It took Ariel way too long to get a kiss from Eric.
All she had to do was quickly m🐈ove her lips right next to his and give him a swift peck. That's it. As far as I'm aware, there were no stipulations in the contract Ariel signed for Ursula about how long the kiss had to be or in what manner it had to occur. The only thing that needed to happen was lip touching. That's it. If Ariel and leaned in more rapidly during that romantic boat ride instead of hesitating and leaning in as slow as molasses, Ariel would have been human just like that, no fuss, no muss. In my opinion, she could have even kissed him when the🍸y met on the beach after she first got her legs.
19 Villainous Behaviour Was Allᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚowed To Endure
Ursula clearly has a reputation for being evil. Sebastian gasps in horror at the mention of her name, King Triton is alarmed at the thought of her, and eve🍷n Ariel showed some initial trepidation at the idea of going to her for aid. (Of course, Ariel ignored her beܫtter judgment and decided to visit Ursula anyway, but I digress.) Ursula is no one to be trifled with. She's known as the sea witch, and she has a garden of former merpeople whom she has changed into seaweed creatures, forever trapped within a sedentary life-form. Now what I really want to know is why she has been allowed to exist and operate independently for so long without anyone stopping her from continuing her evil machinations. It's weird!
Everyone seems to know she's bad, yet they do nothing to hinder her.
Shouldn't King Triton have locked her up somewhere? I'm sure all those merpeople she has caught had family out and about. Weren't they worried about their missing family members? Wasn't Ursula the prime suspect for what happened to them? These crimes could be laid right at Ursula's tentacles. I honestly think something should have been done to stop her. Is there no such thing as merpeople prison in Atlantica?🧔 There's a first time for every♓thing, I suppose.
18 🤡 Crabꦡby Wisdom
Max, Prince Eric's dog, may not have been able to give Eric sound words of advice, but Ariel's animal friends should have been able to talk to Eric and help move the sဣituation along. Don't believe me? Remember the moment just before Sebastian starts singing "Kiss the Girl?" Eric is playing a guessing game with Ariel, trying to figure out her name since she's mute and can't tell it to him herself. Eric runs through a whole list of names, each more unlikely than the last, until finally, Sebastian, who has been hiding nearby the whole time, whispers into Eric's ear, "Ariel." Eric then says, "Ariel" himself, and Ariel nods excitedly in confirmation.
Hold the phone there. Are you trying to tell me that Sebastian can speak to Eric, and Eric can understand what Sebastian is saying? If that's the case, why hasn't Sebastian gone up to Eric and told him the whole story?! What are they doing on a rowboat playing guessing games?! Sebastian could h🌟avꦛe sidled up to Eric at any time and explained Ariel's predicament to him. None of the problems that ensued at the end of the movie would have happened if Sebastian had just spilled the beans to Eric. This is where problems arise when dealing with Disney movies that have talking animals. If the animals can talk and explain themselves to people, then there's no reason why they shouldn't do so when it would be really helpful.
17 Long Live The K𝐆ing
In most Disney movies, if our main characters are connected to royalty, they are either princes or princesses. Kings and queens are the parents in Disney movies, never the main characters (except for Elsa from Frozen). We don't always get to see the king and the queen in these scenarios, and The Little Mermaid is no exception. Even though Eric is called Prince Eric, we never get to see his parents. The only parental figure Eric seems to have is his manservant G🉐rimsby, and judging from how poorly Grimsby dealt wi♛th Eric when he was mind-controlled by Vanessa, I would say he doesn't exactly cut the best father figure.
However, if Eric is still referred to as a prince, why aren't his parents around? If his parents are still alive, you would think they would be very invested in who Eric chooses to spend the rest of his life with. They would care deeply about the fact that Er⭕ic intends to marry a girl he met only once. Despite all this, we don't hear squat from his parents. Does this mean they're no longer with us? If that's the case, then someone should definitely elevate Eric's status from prince to king. If he's in charge of an entire kingdom, he should definitely spend more time ruling and less 🐻time taking long walks on the beach with his dog while playing his flute.
16 ♏ Conditioner Hair
I love going to the beach. I'm awfully fond of wading out into the waves and letting them just push and pull me along however they will. The deeper I go, the higher the waves will lap against my body. As soon as the ocean water is chest high, any waves thaꩲt hit me will splash water all over my face and hair. (This is enjoyable for me, even though it may not soundℱ like it.) Needless to say, as soon as I step out of the water, my hair is a tangled, stringy mess. I could not dream of running my fingers through my hair after a prolonged encounter with salt water. It would be an exercise in pain. I don't believe I'm the only person to experience this after a trip to the beach.
Ariel is the exception to the rule.
No matter where Ariel is, even if she just emerged from the ocean, her hair looks fantastic. She could be a hair model after spending days submerged in the sea. Frankly, it's amazing Eric was not immediately taken with her after he saw her on land for the first time. He should have been properly astonished at how vibrant and luscious her hair looked. I think prime hair ꦜconditioning is a super power that all Disney princesses seem to share, but none of them can top Ariel in this regard. She was able to run her fingers through her hair after a dip in the ocean. It makes no sense, but that's the way Ariel's hair works.