The Little Mermaid: Part of Your World
This past weekend I saw The Little Mermaid with the beautiful Halle Bailey in the leading role and was enchanted by her voice. There was no one better to play the iconic mermaid with the siren’s song, an element they added to the live-action version that I loved. Halle naturally embodied the sweetness, innocence, and curiosity of Ariel—she looked and sounded the part. I thought her impressive voice was the best part of the film, and Scuttle’s song, “The Scuttlebutt,” was a great new additional song. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap lyrics are irresistible, and it’s so exciting to see a Latino involved in these massive productions. I enjoyed the film, but it’s hard to recreate the magic found in animation; it’s what was lacking from the new Lion King. However, I believe they did it right with The Jungle Book, and I consider it one of the best Disney live-action remakes. Everything they added to that movie made sense and provided more depth. Unfortunately, some of the things they added to The Little Mermaid, like Prince Eric’s new song and background and Ursula and King Triton being siblings, didn’t amount to anything; they were such subtle changes that they didn’t matter. I wish they would have used the sibling connection to give us a better backstory of Ursula, but they didn’t show us anything.
I thought introducing the siren’s song was genius because that goes with the mermaid folklore. It makes so much more sense that Ursula wants to take Ariel’s voice so that she can’t use her magical siren’s song to seduce Eric and break Ursula’s spell. In the cartoon, we see that Eric is hypnotized by Ursula, disguised as Vanessa wearing the necklace containing Ariel’s voice. I always just thought it was Ursula’s magic that hypnotized Eric. In the live-action, it’s so much more clear that she’s using Ariel’s siren song to brainwash him. It’s even mentioned that the magic of Ariel’s siren song brought Eric back to life after she saved him from the shipwreck. I really wish they would’ve gone more in that direction and talked more about the magic of the siren song. If they had used that more as something Ursula was after, it would’ve given the villainess more of a motivation and more to do. I thought Melissa McCarthy was fantastic as the sea witch and did a great job performing “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” I’ve been her fan since Gilmore Girls, so I was proud to see her in this huge movie. I didn’t think we got enough of Flounder, though. They didn’t have to make him look so realistic, and the film missed the playful and tight friendship between him and Ariel.
Overall, it was just fun to see The Little Mermaid in live-action/CGI. I’d been waiting for this moment since the day we found out James Cameron was making his sequel to Avatar underwater. I thought, finally, they would have the technology to make The Little Mermaid. Then Aquaman came out, which excited me even more for a live-action Little Mermaid. Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid doesn’t look as amazing as Avatar, as that technology is super expensive; we don’t even get a clear shot of Ursula’s face when she becomes a giant at the end. But everything looks really cool and colorful underwater and above. All the mermaids have distinctive looks and are really beautiful on screen. We also get the iconic scenes from the cartoon portrayed beautifully by Halle, like the big splash when she poses on the rock and where she ends “Part of Your World,” and the hair flip when she emerges from the water after becoming human. The new movie is set in the Caribbean, so the locs make even more sense. I think every girl, or at least a lot of girls, pretended to be a mermaid after watching the animated version. I know I pretended to be Ariel whenever I got in the pool or tried to replicate her pose on top of the rock. I fell in love with the magic of being a mermaid, but as I grew older, I realized the real reason I connected so much with Ariel. It had everything to do with her song.
“It took me a long time to find my voice and think independently, but once I did, I never stopped speaking up. I like that Ariel stands up to her dad and does what she wants. It makes for a better story.”
In “Part of Your World,” we learn why Ariel is so misunderstood by her overprotective and strict father: she’s yearning to be herself and is ready for the task. The life she wants isn’t in her native ocean but above it with a whole other species. She’s authentically true to herself, secretly collecting souvenirs of the human world because she wishes to be a part of it. But, relatably, her father doesn’t listen to his teenage daughter and enforces rules that only make her unhappy. In his view, she has no say in her life; her voice is silenced before she’s even put under a spell. Ariel’s at that precarious age where she’s not a child and not yet an adult but is fully capable of making her own decisions. My dad was overprotective and strict with my sisters and me growing up. We weren’t allowed to play on the block, so we stayed inside mostly. Getting permission to do things was hard, but I didn’t rebel because I was shy, introverted, and a homebody. I didn’t realize how oppressive it was to be told what you can and can’t do and have decisions made for you. It took me a long time to find my voice and think independently, but once I did, I never stopped speaking up. I like that Ariel stands up to her dad and does what she wants. It makes for a better story.
Even at a young age watching The Little Mermaid on repeat, I related to Ariel wanting to escape and get out of the sea. I always loved daydreaming and fantasizing about being somewhere else, so I was drawn to reading and creative writing. I understood her desire to be who she wanted to be. She had a genuine curiosity about a world she didn’t inhabit and didn’t care how weird it was that she went searching for human objects like a treasure hunt. That was my favorite thing about Disney princesses. They didn’t act as they were expected to and were often considered odd because they didn’t fit in. We see it with Mulan, who fails tragically with the matchmaker at meeting the standards of a housewife, and Belle, who prefers to have her head in a book than get swept away by Gaston. I love that these young women seemingly fail to meet the expectations of their society because they’re so rooted in their true selves. They won’t be who others want them to be because they’re too strong-willed for that. Ariel equates a pair of legs with freedom and the big open sea as suffocating. When the opportunity comes to fulfill her biggest wish, she takes it. For these Disney princesses, being themselves and following their hearts leads to freedom, adventure, and love. It’s the best rebellion.