This article is about the character from The Little Mermaid. For articles that share the same name, see Ariel.
- “A girl rescued me. She was singing. She had the most beautiful voice.”
- ―Prince Eric talking about Ariel[src]
Princess Ariel is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid. She is the seventh and youngest daughter of King Triton and Queen Athena, rulers of the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. Ariel lived through much of her young life with a passionate - yet forbidden - admiration of the human world and longed to someday experience life on the surface.
Ariel is loosely based on the nameless protagonist of the Danish fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, but unlike the Andersen fairy tale in which the mermaid loses her prince, dies, and gains an immortal soul, the Disney adaptation has a happy ending.
Ariel is the fourth official member of the Disney Princess line-up. She is notable for being the first Disney Princess to be developed after the death of Walt Disney, who incidentally made efforts to adapt The Little Mermaid during his lifetime. She is the first Disney Princess to be developed during the Disney Renaissance.
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Background
Official Description
- Ariel is an independent, headstrong, and determined young mermaid. She is the youngest and prettiest princess of the sea, but spends most of her time outside the palace walls of Atlantica singing, daydreaming, and adventuring with her best friend, Flounder the guppy fish, and sometimes Sebastian the crab, who is also the royal adviser to Ariel's father. At the age of 16, she unexpectedly becomes deeply infatuated with a young and handsome human prince named Eric and sacrifices all things dear to her for the chance of being with her one true love.
Development
Walt Disney himself and artist Kay Nielsen began work on the story of The Little Mermaid in the 1930s and early 40s. The feature was to be a very faithful adaption to Hans Christian Andersen's tale with the Mermaid dying and turning into sea foam in the end. However, after writing the script and illustrating the storyboard, the project was shelved to focus on other projects also in the works, such as Dumbo, Bambi, and Fantasia. There have been alternate statements, however, that indicated that Disney may have intended to go for the happy-ending route.[3][4]
In the mid-1980s, the project was finally reopened, yet Disney decided to disregard the dark and grimy aspects of Andersen's story and make the film a more child-friendly version with a much happier ending which worked better for the company's brand. However, the development team indicated that the changes given for the film coincidentally matched up with the changes Walt Disney made during his attempted take on the film.[3][4] During development, the studio officially gave their Little Mermaid the aquatic-like name of "Ariel".
Ariel's original design was developed by animator Glen Keane, who had reportedly said in an animation lecture that she was based on his own wife. Her appearance was also based on model Sherri Stoner, who provided live-action references for the animators during the development of the film and also inspired the look for Belle. A challenge in animating her for the film was the color required to show her in the changing environments, both under the sea and on land, for which the animators required 32-color models, not including costume changes. The sea-green color of her mermaid tail was a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab; the color was named "Ariel" after the character. She has been compared to past Disney heroines from Walt Disney's lifetime, but is more physically similar to Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Belle from Beauty and the Beast, as they all have big eyes, a broad forehead, and a small mouth and chin.
Voice
Jodi Benson, who was predominantly a stage actress when she was cast, was chosen to voice Ariel because the directors felt "it was really important to have the same person doing the singing and speaking voice." Co-director Ron Clements remarked that her voice had "sweetness" and "youthfulness" that was unique. When recording the vocals for Ariel's theme song "Part of Your World", she consented to Howard Ashman's suggestion that the lights in the studio be dimmed, to "feel a bit more enclosed" and create the feeling of being deep under the sea. She was also encouraged to soften her singing voice almost to the point of speaking so that the song would feel more intimate. Benson has remained as the main voice of Ariel since.
Voice actress Melissa Fahn auditioned for the role and was called back many times but was turned down because she sounded slightly too young.
Personality
Ariel is a bright, spirited, and headstrong mermaid princess with a strong passion for adventure and exploration. Her tendency to explore the more mysterious depths of the ocean (or more importantly, the world beyond the ocean) can lead to an array of problems for both herself and her friends, and in the confines of her personal life - as seen when she gets into an argument with her overprotective father, King Triton. Despite this, Ariel's selflessness, compassion, and intuitive way of thinking often resolve such problems, as she always takes full responsibility for her actions.
At the start of the original film, Ariel is shown to have a burning obsession with the human world and a desire to learn more about their culture. Unlike her father at first, she views humans as aspiring creatures, astonished by their ability to constantly create, and heavily goes against the idea of them being "barbaric" and selfish as a result of this. This passion is revealed to have been prominent throughout Ariel's life years before the events of the film, as seen in the television series. By the point of the film, as seen through her lament, "Part of Your World", Ariel's obsession with the human world has reached unimaginable heights, as she spends most of her time focusing on finding, observing, and collecting various human objects that have sunk into the sea. Her obsession has also taken a toll on her emotionally, as the song begins with a sense of wonder and enchantment, but ultimately climaxes with a soft end, filled with hopelessness and despair, representing Ariel's dying hopes of ever experiencing life upon the surface. These feelings of desperation and despair are the prime motive behind Ariel's eventual deal with the sea witch Ursula, to become human and experience the world above the surface. Despite not having the best relationship with her father, especially regarding their respective views on humanity, she nonetheless is very loyal to him as well as her sisters. After Ursula explained the deal to her, Ariel expressed some hesitance as she realized that if she succeeded in the deal (never mind if she failed her end of the bargain), she wouldn't be able to see Triton or her sisters again, and later when Ursula cursed Triton, Ariel's first action was to attack Ursula to avenge him, even calling the sea witch a monster for what she did and for the sea witch not fulfilling her end of the bargain.
Ariel is extremely compassionate and loving towards almost all living things; more so platonically than romantically. This is most notably seen through her friendship with her closest companion, Flounder, and even her father's court composer, Sebastian, who, despite being against Ariel's recklessness and overly adventurous nature, is given a considerably large amount of love and respect from the princess, which is often reciprocated. With Flounder, she is comforting and patient, as well as protective, with the tendency to risk her own life for the guppy on various occasions.
Her ability to befriend various creatures, including an abandoned killer whale, an irrationally feared sea creature, and even the son of one of her nemeses is displayed throughout the franchise. She is also one of the very few to be patient with Scuttle as she barely gets annoyed with the seagull's absent-mindedness and quarks. Before she met Eric, she was rarely interested in romantic relationships, not even with any of the merman princes that Triton tried to get her to marry. The only known exception was Prince Waverly of the Pacifica Kingdom, with whom she was infatuated.
However, after meeting Eric, Ariel is revealed to be a romantic, willing to make daring sacrifices for the sake of true love. Her love for him is validated by Eric's returned selflessness and sacrificial actions for the sake of love; notably seen during the climax of the film.
Like Ariel's father, Triton, she has a bad temper if she is ever provoked, although her temper is not as short as his. Although spirited, even she has had some degree of self-doubts about herself, as she actually at one point considered her father might have been correct and that she may have been a freak for having any fascination for humanity. She also had a degree of seeing the good in things, as she also doubted that humans could have been pure evil from their tools and artworks.
Also, despite her usual naivety and impulsiveness, Ariel has shown to be serious, careful, and very intuitive on many occasions. One example of her occasionally showing intuitiveness was just before exploring the sunken ship, where she suggested that Flounder stay outside and be on the lookout for sharks in the area when the latter tried to fake illness.
In The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, as an adult, Ariel has matured into a sophisticated and distinguished woman, fully embracing her responsibilities as a mother and the princess consort of Eric's kingdom and fully adapting to her human body that she has had for some time now thanks to her father's magic. However, when Morgana threatens Melody at her christening, Ariel becomes overprotective of her daughter similar to how she was treated by Triton in the first film. As a result, she severs all ties with Atlantica and the ocean in hopes of preventing Morgana from using Melody's heritage to her advantage. Despite being happy with her new life as a human mother and wife, she misses her father and sisters but keeps this hidden from Melody for the latter's own safety. Later, she comes to realize that this decision does more harm than good.
However, at one point, Ariel subtly alludes to her true heritage, as she mentions to Melody when sympathizing with her about not fitting in that she was "a fish out of water", with Melody not quite believing her.
Regardless of Ariel's few flaws, she is very much selfless, sweet-natured, and inspirational. However, her most notable trait was her deep love and fascination for humans, having desired to become human during the first film's events, even before meeting her future husband, Eric. However, she did not always have this trait; until she was 15 years old, she expressed a deep fear of humans similar to Triton's prejudice towards humans, although her witnessing a human saving a beached dolphin changed her views on the matter. Ironically, the human responsible for saving the dolphin was Eric, although she never knew it.
Physical appearance
Ariel is a beautiful adolescent mermaid with an hourglass figure, fair skin, red lips, red hair, and large, aqua-blue eyes. In stark contrast to the three previous Disney Princesses created before her (Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora), who were drawn with smaller eyes and smaller heads in proportion to their bodies similar to adult women, Ariel is drawn with somewhat semi-neotenous features, with larger eyes and with a head more similar to a child's than an adult's in proportion to her body, giving her an appearance of youth rather than maturity. This suggests the combination of youthful innocence and physical maturity that Ariel represents and it eventually became the design basis of most Disney Princesses created after her in recent years, such as Jasmine, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, and Moana.
From childhood to her teenage years, she wore a lavender seashell bikini top. As a child, her lips were the same color as her skin, and as a teenager, they are bright red. Ariel's most defining feature is her long, flowing, thick, bright red hair. From the waist down, she has a green horizontal fish-like tail with sea-green scales and sea-foam green fins and a matching V-shaped waistline resembling fish lips that reveals her stomach. She most likely has the reproductive organs of a cetacean. In Little Mermaid's Island, her seashell top looks more like a strapless top that covers all of her torso. She is also fairly tall in human form, being only a few inches shorter than Eric, himself a fairly tall human.
When Ariel becomes a human, the only article of clothing she wore was her seashell bikini top, leftover from her mermaid form. She eventually wears an old sail from a shipwreck with some rope to keep it closed, fashioned by her friend Scuttle. Being prepared for dinner, she wears a pink-and-white gown, silver barrettes in her hair, and pearl white earrings. Getting ready for bedtime, she wears a pink nightgown. After being taken in by Prince Eric, she wears a multi-shade-of-blue dress consisting of a powder-blue blouse with long sleeves, a midnight-blue bodice, and a cobalt-blue foot-length skirt, along with black heels with gray soles. She wears a big royal blue bow in her hair. While wearing the outfit when she swims through the boat to stop the wedding between Eric and Vanessa (Ursula in disguise) before her feet revert to her mermaid tail, her hair is worn loose and she does not wear the heels. After she's turned into a human once again, she wears a periwinkle, glittering dress. After she kisses Eric and during their wedding, she wears a white wedding dress with pale green trimming, big puffy sleeves, and a sparkling golden tiara on her veil.
During and after her daughter Melody's christening, she wears a gold-and-white dress and has her hair in a low ponytail decorated with a white bow. She also wears a periwinkle gown with an up-do decorated, a golden tiara with green and white gems, a golden necklace and earrings with a green gem, and periwinkle heels with a yellow ornament during Melody's 12th birthday party with her hair being a bit shorter due to it being adjusted and pulled in a bun. She still wears the same up-do with a green peasant dress, with black ballet flats, when she's on Eric's ship and a blue-and-white dress with light blue earrings in the song "Here on the Land and Sea" in the second movie. In one of the video games, she wears an aqua-colored gown with a matching flower on the side of her hair.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Mermaid Physiology: As a mermaid, Ariel possesses superhuman attributes. Although she acquired the appearance of a human, she is still a mermaid by nature, allowing her to retain certain mermaid attributes.
- Aquapathy: Ariel is capable of understanding and communicating with other aquatic creatures, albeit only with the sentient creatures.
- Superhuman Durability: Ariel is far more durable than normal humans and certain aquatic creatures, being able to withstand immense underwater pressures. Ariel can also withstand great impacts, such as surviving falls from tremendous heights that would have severely injured or killed a normal human.
- Underwater Eyesight: Ariel's mermaid eyesight is far superior and more developed than that of humans, which enables her to see clearly in dark underwater depths and is even able to see in the dark on the surface, as she was able to navigate her way towards Eric's ship in the middle of night.
- Siren Call: As with all mermaids, Ariel's voice is magical in nature, manifested as a glowing orb in her throat, and is capable of emitting an immensely beautiful angelic voice and allows her to talk underwater. She retains her voice in human form, but not her ability to talk underwater.
Former powers
- Magic: In the episode "T'ank You For Dat, Ariel", Ariel briefly becomes a sea witch and learns how to use magic. She used her newfound talents to grant Sebastian's wish to be bigger. Unfortunately, it continuously worked, making him continue to grow to the point that he surfaced while standing and it was fueled by the light of the full moon. She lost her magic and status as a sea witch when she wished the whole mess never happened and her magic did just that, erasing the entire event and influencing her so it wouldn't happen in the reset timeline.
- Superhuman Speed: Ariel is much faster than normal humans and certain aquatic creatures. She can move at blur-like speeds while underwater and was able to outpace Glut (a great white shark) with relative ease. Ariel was also able to get from Eric's kingdom to Atlantica as well as getting from Atlantica to Norway in less than a day. According to Sebastian, Ariel is the fastest mermaid in all of Atlantica.
- Aquatic Breathing: Ariel is capable of breathing both on land and in the water indefinitely.
- Thermoendurance: Ariel is immune to extremely cold or hot temperatures and environments.
Abilities
- Adaptability: Ariel is capable of gaining knowledge very quickly. After becoming human via Ursula's magic potion, she was able to learn how to stand up in a few minutes, and walk right after. Ariel also quickly figured out how to run when Max appears and unintentionally frightens her. She quickly learned about human customs. Ariel was also able to master other skills on land at a much faster pace that would have taken normal humans months or years to learn, such as dancing, horse riding, etc.
- Expert Singer: Ariel is a highly skilled singer. According to Sebastian, she has the most beautiful voice in all of Atlantica. Ariel's voice is so beautiful that Eric fell in love with her just hearing her sing to him once while she was drawing him to consciousness after rescuing him from drowning at sea.
- Expert Dancer: Ariel is a highly skilled dancer. In her mermaid form, she is a very talented dancer and after becoming human she was able to dance with Eric as if she was human for years.
- Expert Swimmer: Ariel is a highly skilled swimmer. In her mermaid form, she is able to swim in a dolphin-like manner. But after becoming human via Ursula's magic potion, Ariel was initially not very good at swimming (due to her inability to breathe underwater and swim without her mermaid tail that she was accustomed to) so Flounder and Sebastian had to help Ariel get to the surface, otherwise she would have drowned. However, by the time of the events of The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Ariel has regained her swimming skills.
- Expert Rider: Ariel is a highly skilled rider, being capable of riding giant seahorses and also horses. She can easily ride Stormy and Seabiscuit, as well as command the reigns of a carriage controlled by Triton's dolphins. In Ariel's human form, she is able to ride horses in a similar way, which is seen when Eric attempts to teach her how to ride a carriage controlled by his horse. Initially, Ariel lost control of the horse, but she soon was able to gain control of the animal. In the storybook of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Baby Beau, sometime after Ariel's marriage to Eric, he gifted her a foal, whom she named Beau. Once Beau became an adult, she began to ride the horse very often with skill and enthusiasm similar to that of riding giant seahorses.
- Expert Musician: Ariel is a highly skilled musician, being capable of playing the bongo drums, guitar, harp, and piano with admirable skill. The only musical instrument that she is not proficient at is the sea calliope, the equivalent of the organ. Even when Sebastian tries his best to teach Ariel how to play the calliope, her skills with it don't improve at all. Her lack of skill with this musical instrument is so bad that it not only wakes up the Seaclops but also annoys the sea monster to the point that it tries to annihilate Ariel.
- Sign Language: Ariel knows sign language, as she is able to understand everything that Gabriella says.
Weaknesses
- Oxygen: When Ariel is in her human form, she cannot breathe underwater. If she remains underwater for too long, she will lose consciousness and eventually drown. Despite this, Ariel can at least hold her breath far longer than normal humans.
Former Weaknesses
- Limited Knowledge: Initially, Ariel had limited knowledge of the human world due to not traveling to the surface very often and not directly interacting with humans. She didn't know much about their culture and objects that are used by land-dwellers. This also led her to make up names for the human objects that she would find, such as calling a magnifying glass a "biggermajiger". She once also used a fork to comb her hair due to Scuttle telling her that is how to use that object. She later realized the mistake when she saw the confused looks of Eric and Grimsby's faces, much to her embarrassment. After marrying and starting to live in Eric's kingdom, her knowledge of humans and the land above water has greatly improved.
Appearances
The Little Mermaid
Ariel and Flounder exploring a shipwreck at the beginning of the film.
At the film's beginning, Ariel, and her fish friend Flounder swim through a shipwreck where they salvage human items. During their adventure, they are chased out of the sunken ship by a shark, but Ariel manages to outwit him. After escaping him, Ariel and Flounder swim up to the surface, where they speak to Scuttle to identify human objects. He misidentifies a fork as a "dinglehopper" used to straighten their hair and a pipe as a "snarfblatt" used to make music. The identification of the latter reminds her of the concert she was supposed to be a part of which she had forgotten about. Ariel hurries home to Triton and Sebastian, who both rebuke her for missing the concert. Hearing from Flounder about her encounter with a seagull, Triton reprimands Ariel for swimming up to the surface and demands that she never does so again, driving Ariel to tearfully swim off to her secret grotto.
Ariel singing the reprise of "Part of Your World".
There, Ariel's collection of human objects is kept, hidden away from the other merpeople. She feels that collecting them isn't enough and gets more curious about the human world, even expressing her desire to actually live in it. As Sebastian tries to talk Ariel out of her obsession, the mermaid spots a ship passing above. Curious, she quickly swims up to the surface and towards it. Among the humans aboard, Ariel's attention is drawn to a male human named Eric. Just then, a storm moves in and destroys the ship. Ariel looks around for Eric and finds him floating unconscious in the sea. She saves him from drowning and takes his body to shore, where Eric starts to breathe again. Ariel sings to Eric as he steadily regains his consciousness. Eric's manservant, Grimsby, suddenly arrives in search of the prince, though he fails to notice Ariel. As Eric is taken into care, Ariel watches on, even more determined to accomplish her dreams of living alongside humanity.
Ariel with Sebastian during "Under the Sea".
Back at Atlantica, Ariel's sisters watch her humming dreamily, causing them to realize she has fallen in love. Ariel comes up with a plan to somehow see Eric again, but Sebastian tries to talk her out of it, telling her how life under the sea is better than the world up above through the song "Under the Sea". Flounder arrives and takes Ariel away to show her a surprise at her grotto, the statue of Prince Eric that he somehow salvaged from the wrecked ship. Unfortunately, King Triton soon appears, having learned from Sebastian (when his anxiety gets the best of him) that Ariel had rescued a human from drowning and he berates her for breaking his rules of association with humans, though Ariel replies that Eric would have died if she hadn't saved him and he shouldn't be so quick to judge him. After Triton once again lectures Ariel on how bad humans are, she declares that she loves Eric and doesn't care if they are different species. Shocked and enraged at this display of blasphemy from his youngest daughter, Triton loses his temper and, in a blind rage, proceeds to destroy all the human objects in the grotto with his trident, including the statue of Eric. Devastated, Ariel breaks down in tears, and an ashamed Triton leaves while regretting what he has done. Sebastian, who has accompanied him, tries to console Ariel, only for her to tell him to leave her alone, blaming him for her grotto's destruction by squealing on her to Triton.
Ariel's voice being taken away by Ursula the Sea Witch.
After Sebastian and Flounder exit, Flotsam and Jetsam appear to convince Ariel to see their mistress, Ursula, who may have the power to make her dream come true. She, after initially attempting to refuse, reluctantly follows them to Ursula's Lair, while Sebastian and Flounder follow her, with Ariel making it clear to Sebastian that she is still upset with him for tattling on her regarding Eric. At the fortress, Ursula - who knows that Ariel is in love with a human through spying on her via Flotsam and Jetsam - makes a proposition: in exchange for her voice, Ariel will become a human for three days, during which she must get a kiss of true love from Eric before the sun sets on the third day. Should she succeed, she will remain human permanently; should she fail, she will turn back into a mermaid and will belong to Ursula forever, possibly becoming the latest polyp victim in her garden of other merpeople who made deals with Ursula and failed to fulfill their ends of the agreements. Ariel ponders over this, knowing that being a human would mean she would never be with her father or older sisters again, but eventually out of desperation and her love for Eric, she accepts the deal and signs a contract conjured by Ursula. Then Ursula started doing the spell and Ariel started singing, then the spell took Ariel's voice out of her throat and into Ursula's necklace. Ariel is then turned into a human and is brought to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian due to her now having the inability to swim and breathe underwater.
Ariel reunites with Eric.
At the shore, Sebastian goes into a nervous panic over the predicament and begins to trot home to seek help from the king. Ariel pleads for Sebastian to stay, giving him the most pleading look she can muster without her voice to talk him out of it, and out of sympathy and guilt for being responsible for her grotto's demise, he agrees reluctantly. Scuttle provides some "clothing" for Ariel in the meantime in the form of an old sail and rigging rope, just as they are discovered by Eric's dog, Max, who leads his master to them. Eric faintly recognizes Ariel, but doesn't believe her to be the girl who rescued him from the shipwreck due to her inability to speak. Nevertheless, he takes her to his castle, where Ariel is given a bath and proper clothing. At dinner, Ariel notices a fork and uses it to comb her hair, leaving Eric and his servants dumbfounded. Ariel then notices Grimsby's pipe and tries to use it as a musical instrument, covering Grimsby with soot. Despite Ariel's initial embarrassment, Eric finds her antics funny. Carlotta even notes that this is the first time Eric has smiled in quite some time, much to Ariel's delight. Eric then invites Ariel on a tour of the kingdom, which she accepts.
The first kiss attempt.
During their outing, Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle anxiously watch on, awaiting the kiss. Ariel is more preoccupied with taking in the atmosphere of the human world; she even learns how to dance and ride a carriage. That evening, she and Eric go out for a boat ride in a lagoon. In hopes of initiating a kiss, Scuttle tries to provide some "vocal romantic stimulation". However, his terrible squawking (mistaken for singing) which embarrasses both Ariel and Eric prompts Sebastian to lead some animals of the lagoon to create a more fitting mood with his song "Kiss the Girl". Sebastian's plan seems to have a positive effect on Ariel and Eric, as they steadily draw closer to each other. Before they can kiss, however, Flotsam and Jetsam purposely tip the boat over by order of Ursula (who's been watching Ariel and Eric's development from her fortress). This ruins the moment, thus ending Ariel and Eric's date.
Ariel transforms back into a mermaid.
The next day (which is the third and last of Ariel being a human), Scuttle delivers the news that Eric is getting hitched. Believing herself to be the girl in question, Ariel excitedly runs downstairs, only to see Eric with a dark-haired girl named Vanessa, whom he intends to marry. Devastated, Ariel breaks down in tears and runs off. As the wedding ship departs with Eric aboard, Ariel is left at the port to mourn her losses as Sebastian and Flounder do the same. Meanwhile, Scuttle discovers that Vanessa is actually Ursula in disguise and flies back to warn Ariel. Determined to save both herself and Eric and retrieve her voice, Ariel swims to the wedding ship with help from Flounder, while Sebastian returns to Atlantica to receive help from King Triton. Scuttle, meanwhile, rallies the lagoon animals to stall the wedding by assaulting Vanessa. Eventually, Ursula's necklace is destroyed, releasing Ariel's voice and freeing Eric from his trance. Once her voice returns to her, Ariel calls out to Eric as her first ever word as a human and the two embrace each other as Eric finally realizes that Ariel is the girl who rescued him all along. Before they can kiss, however, the sun sets, and Ariel turns back into a mermaid.
Ariel witnessing her father after Ursula's spell was cast.
Vanessa transforms back into Ursula and returns to the sea, taking Ariel as her prisoner. Triton, having been alerted by Sebastian, confronts Ursula and orders Ariel's release, though his efforts are futile due to Ursula's legally binding contract. As Ariel is gradually transformed into a writhing polyp, Ursula offers the princess' freedom in exchange for Triton's soul. Triton surrenders, overwriting Ariel's signature on the contract with his own. While Ariel is freed and restored to her mermaid form unharmed, Ursula's black magic seizes control of the king, transforming him into a polyp almost immediately. Ursula then takes his crown and trident, declaring herself queen of the seas. Ariel retaliates by physically attacking the sea witch, though the mermaid is quickly overpowered. As Ursula threatens to kill Ariel, Eric intervenes by striking the sea witch with a harpoon. A battle ensues, in which Ursula orders Flotsam and Jetsam to capture the prince. As Ursula prepares to blasts Eric with her trident, Ariel redirects the shot, which instead kills Flotsam and Jetsam.
Ariel and Eric facing Ursula.
Mourning the loss of her eels, an enraged Ursula grows herself to massive size, determined to exact vengeance on Ariel. She urges Eric to escape while he still can, but the prince refuses to abandon her. They are then faced with Ursula, now giant and all-powerful. The sea witch declares herself as ruler of the ocean, commanding the waves, the sea, and all its spoils. Ursula creates a rainstorm and summons a whirlpool, within which she traps Ariel. Eric, meanwhile, takes control of a resurfaced shipwreck, directing it towards the witch. Ursula remains unaware of the prince, instead focusing her attention on the imprisoned Ariel, whom she attempts to strike with the trident. As Ursula prepares to deliver the killing blow, Eric steers the ship towards the witch and plunges its splintered bow through her abdomen, killing her. As Ursula's lifeless body sinks to the ocean floor, her spells upon the unfortunate merpeople are broken, freeing them from the binds. Among them is King Triton, who transforms back into a merman and reclaims the trident.
Ariel and Eric marry on their wedding day.
Eric manages to swim to shore, where he collapses from exhaustion. A crestfallen Ariel mourns the fact that she can't be with Eric because she is a mermaid again. Triton, realizing the love between them is true, uses the power of the trident to permanently transform Ariel into a human, granting his daughter's wish. After the transformation, Ariel walks up to the shore, where she is happily reunited with Eric, and the two share their first kiss. Sometime later, the two are married, holding a wedding ceremony at sea, which is attended by both humans and sea creatures. Ariel silently bids farewell to Scuttle and Flounder, while she also reconciles with her father; quietly proclaiming, "I love you, daddy," showing that she forgives him before the two part ways. As Ariel and Eric sail off into the horizon, Triton casts a rainbow over the sky to wish the couple well as they start their new future together.
The Little Mermaid: The Series
Ariel as she appears in The Little Mermaid series.
The prequel series, which had debuted in 1992, takes place during an indeterminate time chronologically before the 1989 film and revolves around Ariel's adventures as a 15 to 16-year-old mermaid living under the sea.
Most of her adventures involve her meeting various creatures, getting into trouble and usually getting out of it successfully. Her friends, Flounder and Sebastian, are also featured prominently. She is also shown to have mermaid friends named Urchin, an orphaned merboy, and Gabriella, a deaf-mute Latina mermaid.
It also has her meeting Hans Christian Andersen, which also hints at both her possible birth year (i.e. during his lifetime, yet at least 16 years before the writing of The Little Mermaid, which, in a manner of speaking, makes him her creator) and the possible chronological events of the series, due to her being a direct influence on the creation of the story. She also gets along well with Sebastian's young Crab Scouts, as she is shown cradling one of them when they're tired in "Tail of Two Crabs".
Ariel continues to be fascinated with human objects in the series and is shown collecting them for her grotto; she gives them strange names such as calling an ordinary telescope a "thingamabob", and giving many human objects as "majigers" in quite a number of episodes e.g. calling a magnifying glass a "biggermajiger" in "Charmed".
Many episodes show her working to foil enemies who would do harm to Atlantica. Eric is sometimes shown, but she always just misses seeing him, preserving the continuity that she sees him first in the 1989 film.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Ariel in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
In this 2000 direct-to-video sequel, Ariel serves as the deuteragonist. Here, she serves as the princess consort in Eric's kingdom following their marriage.
It is shown that she has given birth to a daughter named Melody (the new protagonist) prior to the start of the film. When we first see her playing with the beautiful newborn Melody, many toys of Flounder, Sebastian and other fish can be seen in the room, showing that she misses her old friends and family with how long she's been human thanks to Triton and living happily with Eric. When Melody's safety is threatened by a sea witch named Morgana (Ursula's younger sister), seeking revenge for her sister's demise, Ariel and Eric decide they must keep Melody away from the sea, and to this effect, they build a large wall separating the castle from it. It remains like this for Melody's first twelve years of her life, until her 12th birthday. Ariel also leaves the locket Triton gave Melody on her christening day with him to have released into the ocean to sink to where it would never be found, while also knowing that this may be the last time she would see her father while he sent out his royal guards to hunt down Morgana and bring her to justice.
As a consequence, this also meant Ariel couldn't visit her ancestral home, making her miss Triton and her sisters deeply, but only when alone so Melody doesn't learn the truth of her mermaid heritage. Unknown to her or Eric, however, Melody was secretly swimming out on shore while they weren't noticing.
On her daughter's 12th birthday, Ariel becomes homesick as she misses her family and friends, and she secretly puts her feet in the water, before she goes upstairs when Melody notices her. As she helps Melody get ready for the birthday party, Ariel hears from Melody that she doesn't want to attend the party since her peers think she is strange, to which Ariel sympathizes with, and tells her that she had a similar experience to hers. Melody looks at the sea and is about to tell her mother what she really wants, but is interrupted by Eric, who brings the girl to the party. Ariel decides to continue the conversation with Melody after the party.
It seemed like things were going well at the party, but Sebastian, who was accidentally tied up in Melody's dress while following her, bit Melody's partner and was sent up into the air, crashing into her birthday cake. Melody shows concern for Sebastian's safety but is laughed at by the other guests for talking to a crab. This causes Melody to be humiliated as she leaves the party and runs back to her room.
Ariel tries to comfort her crying daughter, before she is shocked to find out that Melody found the locket she gave back to Triton years earlier. This causes her to realize Melody was sneaking out into the ocean, despite that she wasn't supposed to. Melody confronts her mother about why she cannot go to the sea and about the locket. At first, Ariel considers telling the truth, but she hesitates and instead punishes her daughter for her disobedience and forbids her from going near the sea again since it is "dangerous". Angry and confused at her mother's refusal to give her proper answers, Melody snatches the locket from Ariel's hands and runs out of her room. Ariel realizes that she is only pushing herself away from her daughter and decides to tell her the truth.
When Melody goes out to the sea and falls into Morgana's clutches, Ariel is forced to temporarily resume her mermaid form in order to rescue and save Melody from Morgana's scheme, with Triton using his trident to revert the spell that turned Ariel human originally, returning her to her old mermaid body so she could return home to Atlantica after so long.
In this time, Ariel briefly returns to her grotto as seen in the first film, and studies the objects, (which we are left to presume survived Triton's anger in the first film) and keeps looking for Melody. This features Ariel becoming an overprotective parent for Melody, effectively taking over the role of Triton in the first film.
Ariel, alongside Flounder, Sebastian, and Triton, looks for Melody in Atlantica, before Ariel notices that Triton's trident is gone. In truth, after being tricked by Morgana, Melody took the trident to give it to her. Ariel then notices Melody's locket that she dropped and realizes that she was the one who took the trident, and wonders how she could have gotten in Atlantica. Just then, Ariel and Flounder see Cloak and Dagger, and Ariel recognizes them as Morgana's minions. The two decide to follow the manta rays, hoping they will lead them to Melody.
Meanwhile, Melody successfully arrives at Morgana's place with the trident. Before Melody can give Morgana the trident, Ariel stops her and warns her not to listen to Morgana, before they are both shocked to see themselves in mermaid forms. Melody is heartbroken that her mother has been keeping the truth from her, and Ariel attempts to explain why she did it, but it was too late. Melody ends up giving the trident to Morgana, who reveals her true colors and kidnaps Ariel while imprisoning Melody and Flounder inside an ice cave.
Soon, Triton, Sebastian, and Eric arrive, swearing to fight Morgana and rescue Ariel. Ariel is freed by Scuttle who grabs Morgana by her hair, thus giving her a chance to escape and rescue Eric after he is dragged underwater by Cloak and Dagger.
Melody and Flounder escape the cave thanks to Tip and Dash's help. However, Morgana, now powered with the trident, forces everyone (including Ariel and excluding Melody) to bow down to her. She is freed from Morgana's spell after Melody defeats her and gets the trident back to Triton.
Ariel apologizes to Melody for her overprotectiveness as she realizes it was for the best that Melody now knew about her true heritage. She is also seen to be proud of Melody for reuniting the land and the sea by destroying the wall that separated them with the trident by the end of the film.
Ariel is the first and only Disney Princess to date to become a mother.
House of Mouse
Ariel and Sebastian in House of Mouse.
Ariel appears as a regular guest in the animated television series House of Mouse and its specials, usually sitting with Sebastian and Scuttle and sometimes with Eric or Triton. Her appearance alternates irregularly between her human form and mermaid form (even at the same time in a few episodes), depending on what the situation requires. In her human form, she is mostly seen in her blue peasant gown, except in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse where she is instead seen in her pink-and-white ball gown.
Daisy Duck seems to be a big fan of her and her films, as shown in "Daisy's Debut" and "House of Genius". In the show's opening song, she is seen combing her hair with a fork, like in the original film.
In a stock clip recycled for many episodes, she, in her mermaid form, is seen sitting at a table with Scuttle and Sebastian, and she and Scuttle clap starting with "The Three Caballeros". In "Gone Goofy", she, in her human form, appears next to Prince Eric near the end.
In "Timon and Pumbaa", Scuttle perches on Ariel's head telling them that Timon is gonna lose something with the "dinglehopper".
In the episode "Jiminy Cricket", while Jiminy Cricket is sharing his wisdom, he states, "Never sell your voice to a giant sea witch just because you have a crush on some guy, it's just not worth it". Ariel sits there looking embarrassed and ashamed, and upon hearing this, she snatches the necklace containing her voice away from Ursula, much to her anger.
In "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner", Ariel is sitting next to Sebastian before Goofy takes him to cook for Mortimer, who is pretending to be a critic. She is later seen laughing with the rest of the audience after the crew calls him out and insults him.
Also in "Everybody Loves Mickey", Ariel wishes that Mickey could visit her under the sea.
In "Suddenly Hades", Pete attempted to flood the club to run out the customers, as he could shut down the club if there were no guests. Though he succeeded in flooding the club, he was stopped from closing the club as Ariel was still present, having returned after Hades bugged out in annoyance from the flooding.
In "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation", she is seen in the crowd when the Pink Elephants invade the house.
In "Music Day", when Ariel saw Huey, Dewey, and Louie reuniting, she waved her hands as she cheered.
In "House of Scrooge", Ariel is one of many Disney characters shoved at one table as Scrooge is trying to save money.
In "Ask Von Drake", Ariel is seen in Professor Von Drake's song, sitting next to a giant seashell where Ursula is hiding.
In "Salute to Sports", Ariel is sitting next to Triton when he creates a literal wave after Mickey tells the crowd to do the "wave".
In "Pluto vs. Figaro", Ariel tried to sing on stage, although the set ended up falling on top of her before she could sing due to Pluto and Figaro's antics.
Ariel was also briefly seen in "Pete's House of Villains" where she held up a sign that read "Somebody stole my voice again" since she lost her voice.
Ariel also appears in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. In the film, Ariel, along with Eric and other characters, are snowed in and trapped inside the club. Ariel is the first to openly have faith in Mickey Mouse, who she believes will have a plan.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
Ariel in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
Years before the events of the original film, Ariel and her sisters enjoy a music-filled life in Atlantica, with their father King Triton, and their mother, Queen Athena. One day the merpeople are shown relaxing in a lagoon above water, playing music for Triton and Athena's anniversary and Triton gives Athena a music box. Suddenly, a big pirate ship approaches attacks the merpeople, and snatches their musical instruments. Ariel, Arista, Aquata, and Adella are carried to safety by Triton while everyone else escapes except Athena, who is fatally crushed by the ship when she tries to save the music box after saving Attina due to the pirates losing control of the ship and run it aground, breaking the keel and sinking it. Devastated by her death, Triton throws it into the ocean and bans music from the kingdom.
10 years later, Ariel and her sisters live under a strict routine maintained by their governess Marina Del Rey and her assistant, Benjamin. Marina hates being the girls' governess and longs to be Triton's attaché, a job currently filled by Sebastian. Ariel is frustrated by their current lifestyle, which brings her into conflict with her father. One day, Ariel encounters Flounder, whom she later follows to an underground music club. She is overjoyed by the presence of music and is shocked when she sees Sebastian performing there. When her presence is revealed, the entire band stops playing and hides, believing Ariel will tell her father about them. Ariel sings a song explaining her love of music and the remembrance of her mother, and she joins the club with an oath.
Ariel returns to the palace, and the sisters confront her over her disappearance. She explains where she was, and the following night all seven girls go to the club to have fun. Marina secretly finds them, and she later reports their activities to Triton. Sebastian, Flounder and the band are sent to jail while Marina gets the job she wants.
Triton confines his daughters to the palace, which results in Ariel asking him why music isn't allowed. Triton refuses to answer and screams that he won't have music in his kingdom. Distraught, Ariel confronts Triton and says that Athena wouldn't have wanted music to be forbidden and angrily swims to the girls' bedroom, her saddened sisters soon following, while Marina, who is not the girls' governess anymore, is now Triton's new attaché. That night, she decides to leave Atlantica and frees the jailbirds. Sebastian leads them to a deserted place far from the palace where Ariel finds Athena's music box, as Sebastian hoped. Ariel and Sebastian decide to return to Atlantica to bring the music box to Triton, hoping that it will change his mind, as he has forgotten how to be happy after Athena's death.
On the way back, Marina and her electric eels confront Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian. Before music is restored to the kingdom, the final battle begins when Marina bans Ariel from going back to Atlantica. Marina wants to stop them, so she will retain her position of "power", and a struggle ensues. It ends when Marina barrels towards Sebastian, but Ariel pushes him away, getting hit in the process. Triton arrives in time to witness this, and he is remorseful for his actions. He sings the lyrics of "Athena's Song", and Ariel wakes up. The film ends with Triton restoring music to Atlantica and appointing Sebastian as the new court composer, much to everyone's glee with Ariel and Flounder. Everyone, including Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, and six older sisters, rejoices except Marina, who has been sent to prison.
In the original concept for Ariel's Beginning, then known as The Little Mermaid III, Ariel, alongside Sebastian, was supposed to accompany Eric and Melody in locating a white whale.
Sofia the First
Ariel in Sofia the First.
Ariel appeared in the special "The Floating Palace". She was the first princess to be seen twice in an episode, and the fourth princess to appear in the series, overall.
Ariel is summoned to help her new friend Sofia with her trouble of saving her mermaid friend and her family's ship in danger and sings "The Love We Share" to encourage Sofia to enlist Cora to help her save Oona. She is later seen at the end of the special by the floating palace jumping into the water.
In "Forever Royal" when Sofia is battling Vor inside her amulet, Ariel appears to Sofia in spirit form along with all the other princesses who have been summoned to help Sofia in her times of need, and they encourage her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
- “Of all the thingamabobs of this entire World, I never thought I'd get to wear a real... What's it called again? Oh, yeah... shirt! [singing] I once, had a dream that I might wear a shirt-”
- ―Ariel in her comfy attire
Ariel with Vanellope in Ralph Breaks the Internet.
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ariel appears as a netizen resident of Oh My Disney. She and the other Disney princesses work as cast members that meet-and-greet net users. When Vanellope von Schweetz is confronted by First Order Stormtroopers, she glitches into the princesses' backstage room; Ariel is seen combing her hair with a dinglehopper at her vanity. The princesses mistake Vanellope for a threat, either from their respective Disney Villain, or a user who broke the cardinal rule of trespassing in a "Cast Members Only" restricted area, and charge at her with various weapons at hand; Ariel wields a dinglehopper. Vanellope explains that she's actually a princess, as well, prompting Pocahontas to ask what kind of princess she is. Ariel questions if Vanellope made a deal with an underwater sea witch in exchange for human legs, but to Ariel's relief, Vanellope denies it. When Jasmine asks if Vanellope has "daddy issues", she notes that she doesn't even have a mom, to which Ariel relates. Only once Vanellope confirms Rapunzel's question about having a big strong man saving her all the time do the girls finally believe that Vanellope is a princess, stand down, and welcome her into their group.
Ariel singing in her comfy clothes.
Shortly after, Ariel and Cinderella take a liking to Vanellope's casual modern attire. As the other princesses take an interest, Ariel excitedly declares she also wants an outfit like Vanellope's. After Cinderella asks her mice to craft comfy modern outfits for each of the princesses, Ariel dons green shorts and a lavender shirt which reference the colors of her mermaid form and is seen lounging between Jasmine and Belle; unlike the majority of Disney Princesses, she is seen the whole time being barefoot when in modern clothes (another exception is Moana). Ariel is overwhelmingly delighted to finally have a shirt and expresses through song that she's always dreamed of someday wearing one before Vanellope cuts her off. Vanellope questions Ariel's singing, but the other princesses explain that they've all had songs that help them express their desires. They encourage Vanellope to find her song, but the results are not very impressive. Pocahontas advises Vanellope to find some water and stare at it. Though Vanellope isn't convinced, Ariel reaffirms that it's not merely water, but "important water".
During the climax of the film, Ariel and the Disney princesses spot Wreck-It Ralph falling to his doom. They rally together to rescue him. Moana summons the ocean, which Ariel dives into. She then swims upward, creating a spiral with the water. When Ariel emerges, she lands on Jasmine's magic carpet, from where Elsa freezes the water while in its spiral formation, creating a slide for Ralph to safely descend. After Ralph is safe, the princesses formally introduce themselves as friends of Vanellope as they befriend him as well.
LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest
Ariel appears in the crossover special, taking place sometime after the events of The Little Mermaid. She and four other princesses (Snow White, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana) are summoned to a mysterious castle, where King Triton has been imprisoned by the arrogant hunter Gaston in a plot to steal his trident. To save her father, Ariel must complete three challenges within the castle. Ariel chooses to face Gaston's challenges alone, but the other princesses vow to assist her. They split up into groups, with Ariel teaming up with Moana.
The duo is tasked by the Wardrobe to find the Magic Carpet, which has been plundered by pirates. While Moana battles the pirates, Ariel infiltrates their brig to free the Carpet, only to be confronted by the brig's captain, Iago. Ariel defeats the parrot by blasting him with a cannon (which she calls a "tuba-boom"), allowing her and Moana to escape with the Carpet in tow. After reuniting with the other princesses, the group faces Gaston and Maleficent as the final challenge. After being tamed by Snow White, the dragon turns against Gaston. The princesses escape, then Ariel reclaims the trident and, with support from her friends, frees King Triton. The princesses are dubbed heroines and learn from the Magic Mirror that the castle is theirs to claim.
Other appearances
"Ariel" made a cameo in The Return of Jafar. Genie makes himself look like Ariel and appears on the top of the treasure ship of Coeur du Mer to take Jafar's Lamp from Abis Mal and attempt to destroy it to eliminate Jafar.
In A Goofy Movie, Ariel is seen twice: once as a prop in Max's school auditorium and also as a lamp in Goofy and Max's hotel room with her iconic colors.
In the TV series Aladdin, Saleen at one point gave Jasmine a hairstyle resembling that of Ariel's, although she then complained that it makes Jasmine look like "every other Princess under the sea." In the same episode, Saleen also indirectly alludes to Ariel's goal with her line "Legs? Who needs them?"
In Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Ariel made a cameo on a poster (before Jessica Rabbit and Minnie Mouse) when the Genie tried to make Jasmine happy because she was sad about Aladdin's absence.
In the 101 Dalmatians: The Series episode "Home is Where the Bark Is", Ariel's silhouette can be seen as one of the passengers of a subway train the Dalmatians to ride on.
In a special trailer promoting the film Lilo & Stitch, Ariel was seen performing the reprise of "Part of Your World", when Stitch surfs a giant wave towards her, ruining the song. Ariel angrily throws a starfish at Stitch, exclaiming "I was singing here!". Jodi Benson reprises her role in this teaser and some new animation is used.
Ariel appears on the cover of a Little Mermaid book in the village scene in Tangled.
Ariel appears in the 2022 live-action Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers movie, being part of Sweet Pete's bootleg movie "The Small Fish Lady". However, her bootleg form is almost true to her original appearance, except her hair style slightly altered and wears a lavender bra instead the lavender seashell bikini top.
In Once Upon a Studio, Ariel appears standing next to Eric and Max where she joins in singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", only to be interrupted by Scuttle who squawks terribly; who is then cut off by Baloo. Ariel and Eric then sing the final line with of the other Disney characters as they successfully take the group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
In Wish, Ariel was among the Disney animated characters that appeared in constellation form during the credits.
Live-action appearances
Once Upon a Time
Ariel in Once Upon a Time.
Ariel is a recurring character on the hit show Once Upon a Time. She is portrayed by JoAnna Garcia.
In her debut episode, she saves Snow White from drowning after Snow jumps off a cliff to avoid the Evil Queen Regina's guards. Ariel tells Snow that once a year a mermaid can walk on land, though only for the twelve hours between high tides. She then tells Snow she saved Eric (played by Gil McKinney) a year before and has been in love with him ever since. Snow, knowing what love, at first sight, is like, understands the mermaid and convinces her to go to Eric's ball. At the ball, he is immediately drawn to Ariel and asks her to dance with him. While they dance he tells Ariel that he will be leaving the next morning on an adventure to see the world and asks Ariel to go with him. Ariel relays this information back to Snow, who tells Ariel to be honest with the prince. However, Ariel is reluctant as she does not want to be rejected by the prince by telling him she is a mermaid. Ariel is later seen at the seashore asking the Sea Goddess Ursula for guidance. After she seems to have given up, Ursula appears in front of Ariel.
However, this is not the true Ursula; this is Queen Regina in disguise. Regina gives Ariel a magical bracelet that will trade her tail to whomever she gives it to. Ariel gives the bracelet to Snow White, thinking that if Snow is a mermaid, she could escape into the sea and be free from the Queen. Regina then appears and reveals her deception. The Queen gives Ariel an ultimatum: either go and find her prince and let the Queen kill Snow White, or die along with her. Ariel, not willing to let her friend die, attacks the Queen with a fork, distracting her long enough for Ariel and Snow to get away. After Ariel and Snow have escaped to a nearby beach, Snow tells Ariel to go back to the Prince and tell him the truth. Ariel happily listens to Snow and returns to the dock by Eric's palace as she is about to yell Eric's name her voice vanishes. Regina appears on the dock and reveals that she took Ariel's voice so that she could never tell Eric how she felt, as vengeance for the mermaid's siding with Snow White against her. In tears, a muted Ariel heads back to the sea.
Ariel with Snow White.
28 years later in Neverland, Regina, working with Rumplestiltskin, returns Ariel's voice in exchange for her help. Ariel agrees to return to Storybrooke and retrieve a weapon from Rumplestiltskin's shop that will be strong enough to stop Peter Pan. If the mission succeeds, the Queen promises to make Ariel human permanently and be with Eric.
Ariel's next appearance in Once Upon a Time is titled "Dark Hollow". This episode immediately picks up after the events of "Ariel". Gold shows Ariel how to get to Storybrooke and tells her to find Belle and give her a sand dollar with a message from him. Though Regina chooses not to tell Ariel where to find Eric, she does warn her that she only has one hour. When Ariel arrives in Storybrooke, she meets with Grumpy, who takes her to Belle.
Ariel in Gold's shop.
After learning that Ariel was sent by Rumplestiltskin, Belle takes her to Gold's shop, where Belle deciphers Gold's coded message and retrieves the item that he requires: Pandora's Box. However, before they can do anything, they are ambushed by John and Michael Darling, who is now working for Peter Pan. John and Michael the two of them up and take the item to destroy it. To get out of the ropes, Belle removes Ariel's bracelet, which allows Ariel to wiggle free from the ropes and undo Belle's bindings. Ariel then puts the bracelet back on and goes after John and Michael.
Belle and Ariel find John and Michael just before they destroy the box. Belle is able to stop them by activating a mine cart on the tracks, which throws Michael and John off their feet. Using the time to her advantage, she grabs the box and kicks their gun away. John and Michael reveal that the only reason they are working for Pan is that he has been holding their sister Wendy hostage. Belle manages to convince them, however, that if they help her, the ones in Neverland will be able to use Pandora's box to defeat Pan.
Ariel returns to Neverland and gives Pandora's box to Gold. As a reward, Regina enchants the bracelet, so that Ariel can become a human whenever she wishes. Before Ariel departs, she tells Regina and Gold about Wendy's situation. Regina exhibits no concern about Wendy since she only cares about Henry. However, Ariel manages to convince her and Gold to do what they can to help Wendy. Upon returning to Storybrooke, Ariel finds Eric working as a fisherman. The two of them are then reunited and reconciled.
After the fairy-tale characters are sent back to the Enchanted Forest, Eric is captured by the pirate Blackbeard. Ariel, however, believes that Captain Hook is responsible and tracks him down. Upon learning that Blackbeard also has his ship, Ariel and Hook agree to work together. To take his ship back, Hook throws Blackbeard over the edge without learning where Eric is. Ariel is forced to rescue Blackbeard so that she can rescue Eric. She eventually relocates with Eric to Hangman's Island.
The guilt Hook still feels for his nearly sacrificing any attempt to rescue Eric is later exploited by the Wicked Witch of the West. She impersonates Ariel so that she can get Hook to admit he loves Emma Swan in a "plea for redemption." Using this, she is able to curse his lips. She also reveals that Ariel and Eric are alive on Hangman's Island.
It is later revealed that after Hook sold the Jolly Roger back to Blackbeard, he used it to terrorize people, including Princess Anna and her fiancé, Kristoff, of Arendelle. After her return to Arendelle, Queen Elsa is trapped it in a bottle and Ariel accidentally becomes trapped inside as well. She is freed after Hook restores his ship in Storybrooke. After Ursula throws Hook overboard, Ariel saves his life and helps him discover a new plan to help restore Ursula's happy ending. She later helps contact Ursula's father, Poseidon and brings him to Storybrooke so he can reconcile with his daughter.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Ariel, and Hook meet Jafar.
After this, Ariel returns to Hangman's Island. A while later, she enters her hut to discover Hook, Jasmine, and Aladdin have broken in and triggered a trap. She is pleased to see Hook and Jasmine again and soon also becomes acquainted with Aladdin. After learning of their plight and that they were led to her hut while tracking Jafar, she brings out a lamp which she believes to be Agrabah. Jasmine takes the lamp and, assured by the presence of Ariel, Hook, and Aladdin, who she believes to be heroes, prepares to face her fears and Jafar. However, when Jafar emerges, he is easily able to break the genie curse, much to Ariel's surprise, and proceeds to freeze Ariel, Aladdin, and Hook in place, before he faces Jasmine alone. After Jasmine has used magical dust to transform Jafar into a staff, the trio is freed from the sorcerer's magic and regains mobility. Jasmine then reveals that Agrabah is inside the ring she has been wearing, and she now knows how to bring it back with true love's kiss, and proceeds to kiss Aladdin, magically transporting Agrabah back to its proper place and the four heroes with it. Now that the ring no longer contains the kingdom, Ariel asks for permission to keep it as a trinket. Afterward, Hook asks Ariel if she can get back home, and she states that she will be able to use her mermaid powers by swimming in the nearby Agrabah Gulf. Realizing that she can help with Hook's problem of being separated from Emma, Ariel offers a magic conch shell that Hook can use to communicate as long as there's someone on the other end. Hook begins to speak into it, telling Emma the truth of what happened, though he is unsure if she is on the other end.
Other roles
Live versions of Ariel also appear in Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree, Sebastian's Party Gras, Beach Party at Walt Disney World (played by Jodi Benson), and Let's Go to Disneyland Paris.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Ariel in The Little Mermaid (live-action remake).
Ariel appears in the 2023 live-action remake of the 1989 film. She is portrayed by Halle Bailey, who is African-American.
Ariel is introduced at the beginning of the film where she swims with her fish companion Flounder at a sunken ship curiously interacting with a fork she found. As Flounder fears that there might be sharks coming, a great white shark, Glut, swims in front of Ariel and Flounder, chasing them and attempting to eat them. Throughout the chase, Ariel drops a barrel onto the shark, causing him to chase after her across the ship which she then leads Glut to crash into a mirror by using her reflection to her advantage, leaving him unable to move and allowing the two to escape. Ariel and Flounder then encounter Scuttle who dives underwater for a meal Ariel shows her a fork she found at the sunken ship which Scuttle incorrectly calls a "dinglehopper" and as Ariel attempts to show her another object she collected (a corkscrew), Sebastian who was out looking for her alerts Ariel to return to her father.
Ariel approaches King Triton, her father, who is very upset with his daughter because she missed the Coral Moon. Ariel was supposed to attend this event with her sisters and Triton scolds her for not attending the event. Ariel visits her grotto showing a collection of objects as she sings the musical number, "Part of Your World" to help her father understand. Later that night, Ariel hears explosions from above the surface, which she thinks is dangerous, much to Flounder's worry only to find out that she is seeing fireworks exploding into the sky because Prince Eric is celebrating his birthday on his ship. All of a sudden, Eric's ship crashes into a rock formation, causing Eric, the surviving crew, and his dog Max to retreat, Ariel then notices Eric sinking underwater, leading her to save him from drowning.
The next day, Ariel approaches an injured Eric where she sings a reprise of "Part of Your World", only for Ariel to retreat from a group of castle guards searching for Eric just as the guards bring him back home to safety. Back underwater, Ariel approaches Sebastian who tells her to stay under the sea, convincing her that the above world is very dangerous for mermaids, telling her that life under the sea is much better than anything they got up there. Throughout the musical number "Under the Sea", Sebastian tries to convince Ariel to stay out of the human world and feel comfortable living under the sea just as the sea creatures continue dancing, only for Ariel to disappear. Sebastian and the other sea creatures notice this, making Sebastian worry that Ariel left just as the other sea creatures leave.
Later, Ariel approaches King Triton, who learned from Sebastian that she saved a human from drowning. When Ariel genuinely refuses to promise her father to never see Eric again, Triton furiously destroys all the treasures in Ariel's grotto, much to Ariel's sadness. Ariel then plans to meet Ursula in her lair by following Flotsam and Jetsam to change her fate.
As Ariel enters Ursula's lair, she encounters various merpeople who were turned into polyps. She encounters Ursula who gives her an opportunity to change her fate regarding her love interest Eric. During the number "Poor Unfortunate Souls", Ursula gives Ariel a deal to find true love's kiss in falling in love with Eric within three days or she will turn into a mermaid forever. Accepting the deal, Ariel trades her mermaid tail, her voice, and her ability to breathe underwater, causing Ariel to turn into a human. Ariel swims up to the surface where she is rescued by a fisherman who takes her to Eric's castle. Now in human form, Ariel sings in her thoughts during the musical number "For the First Time" as she adapts to her life living on land. Ariel, now wearing a dress, spends her first day in the castle attempting to fall in love with Eric whom he was searching for. Her attempt is a failure due to Ariel's inability to talk. On the second day, Eric gives Ariel a tour around the kingdom while Sebastian realizes that Ursula, the sea witch, was the one who put a spell on her, causing Ariel to forget that she has to kiss Eric before the last day. That night, Ariel and Eric sit on a boat sailing across the lagoon during the musical number "Kiss the Girl" where Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle sing to the couple for them to kiss, but Ariel's attempt to kiss Eric is unsuccessful, due to Ursula's eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, knocking them off the boat.
On the third day, Scuttle reports to Ariel what she heard about Ursula who is disguised as "Vanessa" planning to hypnotize and marry Eric. Ariel then arrives at the area where the wedding between Eric and "Vanessa" is taking place at Eric's castle. Ariel confronts "Vanessa" and shatters the shell necklace to reclaim her voice, causing "Vanessa" to be revealed to be Ursula as well as Eric freed from Ursula's spell. However, before Ariel and Eric can kiss, the sun goes down and Ariel suddenly regains her mermaid tail, transforming her from her human form back to her mermaid form just before Ursula reveals her true form and takes her hostage, diving back into the ocean.
During an underwater battle, Ursula attempts to attack Ariel, but her father King Triton confronts her for what she did to his daughter only for Ursula to destroy Triton. Throughout the battle, Flotsam and Jetsam strangle Ariel and attempt to kill her by generating electricity. Eric throws a harpoon to attack Ursula and as Ursula sees Eric escaping, Ariel defends Eric from getting struck by Ursula using Triton's trident, causing her blast to destroy Flotsam and Jetsam instead. As Ursula uses the trident, she transforms into the size of a gigantic sea monster and creates a storm to kill Ariel and Eric. Ariel pulls herself onto a surfaced ship where she steers the ship towards Ursula, causing the broken bowsprit on the ship to impale her, killing the sea witch.
After Ursula is defeated, Ariel reconciles with her father who is brought back to life just as the two recognize each other's sacrifice. Ariel feels unhappy that she cannot live without Eric just as Triton allows her to marry him by turning Ariel into a human so that she can reunite with him. Afterwards, Ariel marries Eric and the two fall in love just as Ariel bids a farewell to her father just as Ariel continues to live a happy life with Eric, starting with a travel around the world.
Printed media
The Little Mermaid Disney Comics serial
Ariel was the main character in a few of the comic stories in the four-issue serial. The timeframe takes place at least a year prior to the film, due to Ariel being referred to as 15. The first and second issues had her disposing of a creature called the Serpentine in a failed negotiation with the Moray people. She also ended up abducted by a metallic fish in the final issue.
The Little Mermaid Marvel serial comics
She was the main character in the 12-issue Marvel serial comics that, like the TV series, took place prior to the events of the first film. One of the issues also had her acting as a knight. She also saved Flounder from petrification in the penultimate issue. In the final issue, after a fight with Triton, she managed to learn the history of Atlantica and Atlantis from a wizard fish. She eventually told Triton this, but when she tried to find the wizard fish, he disappeared, although not before leaving a note.
Besides the main storyline, Ariel was also featured in the 12th Issue of the anthology series Disney Comic Hits!, which had been a previously unpublished story.
Novelizations
Ariel also appeared in several novelizations, both in human form and in mermaid form:
In Reflections of Arsulu, Ariel is suspicious of the newcomer mermaid named Arsulu and eventually uncovers that the latter was actually Ursula in disguise. She proceeded to expose Arsulu's true identity with a flock of reflecting scaled fish.
In Ariel and the Aquamarine Jewel, she, after becoming human, was requested by Triton to find several of Atlantica's treasures after a storm cast them out to sea, also necessitating that she return to mermaid form. She managed to retrieve them all, and Triton rewarded her by letting her keep one of the treasures and aquamarine necklace. It's implied in this story that she became much more well-versed in the knowledge of human behaviors and items, as she managed to politely correct Scuttle about what a human item was with some amusement.
Another story had her having a picnic with her sisters (herself sitting on an offshore rock, due to her being human during that time).
Another story, Ariel's Dolphin Adventure, had Ariel and Eric creating a wall so her old friends could be with her due to her missing them but unintentionally trapped a baby dolphin inside. The wall was eventually destroyed by Triton after Ariel requested his assistance.
Kilala Princess
Ariel in Kilala Princess.
In the manga series Kilala Princess, Ariel plays a prominent role in Kilala's adventure to become a princess. She is the second Disney Princess to be visited. While mistaking Kilala to be a fish, she helps her look for a young prince named Rei, who separated from her in a storm. After finding the prince and providing medicine, she becomes curious about love and hopes to find her own true love someday. It inspires her to sing.
After Rei is captured by Ursula, Flounder comes to inform Ariel. On their way to Ursula's lair, Flounder collapses due to exhaustion and injury. Ariel then inspires Kilala to fight using her singing voice to remind her of the strength of love. After Ursula is defeated, Ariel gives Kilala an aquamarine gem. Ariel is last seen handing an emerald to Kilala's Magic Tiara.
Kingdom Keepers
The mermaid first appears in Power Play when she helps Willa escape Claude Frollo by bringing her up to the Earful Tower to hide. She then teams up with the Keepers to defeat The Overtakers. It is revealed at the end of the book that she is friends with the captain of the Disney Magic, and that while she is close with Eric, she rarely ever gets to see him, as he's usually kept at the Magic Kingdom.
In the second book Disney at Dawn, Willa approaches a cast member of the park who's dressed up as Ariel for autographs. She tells Willa that Captain Hook is acting strange and leaving his usual meet-and-greet spot.
Unlike in the movies, where she needed magic to change between her mermaid and human forms, the books reveal that Ariel can change whenever she enters and exits a body of water. It's also revealed that she keeps a bikini bottom tucked in the strap of her bra that she can quickly don when she becomes human.
Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch
Ariel appears in the novel written by Serena Valentino, in a significantly reduced role, as Ursula's backstory is the main focus. She appears only in the events that are canon to the original film.
Within the novel, she appears officially three times but is mostly seen briefly or mentioned during the storyline. The three times she does officially debut takes on an interesting view of both the character in viewpoint (Ariel's perspective) and observation (Ursula's perspective).
The first time begins when she comes to Ursula to solve her problem of being a mermaid, as the scene unfolds through the chapter. It is revealed that Ariel was fully aware after signing the contract that she had made a serious mistake along with how terrified she was of the uncertain fate she placed herself in, and what the experience it was for Ariel to lose her voice, which turned out to be excruciatingly painful.
The second time in the story, she appears on the third day and unveils her thoughts during and after Eric will marry the mysterious girl of his dreams, Vanessa (Ursula in disguise). This shows how much Ariel wishes she could undo the damage she causes yet knows and is willing to face the consequences of her actions. It is revealed by Scuttle that she has been deceived all along by Ursula.
The last and final time, Ariel is seen rising off on her wedding ship with Eric. She is full of joy that things have worked out with her father and that she will be able to finally be a part of the human world with the man she loves.
Prince of Song & Sea
Ariel first appears saving Eric from a shipwreck. Her second appearance is when Eric finds her on the beach wrapped up in a ship after being turned into a human by Ursula. Eric gives her the nickname "Pearl" since Ariel is mute (due to her voice being the payment for her deal with the sea witch) until finding out her name during their boat ride in the lagoon. After sneaking onto Sauer's ship the Siebenhaut, Ariel helps Eric find the Isle of Serein by diving off the ship and tying a rope to the rowboat that the ghost of Queen Eleanora was rowing as well as finding out about Eric's curse. She even has an encounter with Vanessa (aka Ursula) after Eric announces his engagement to her. Eric even invites Ariel to their "wedding" on the wedding ship. However, Ariel is able to stop the wedding as well as get her voice back. After Ursula is defeated, Ariel (now human permanently) reunites with Eric on the beach as well as sharing their first kiss. Eric and Ariel then travel together for two years to help repair the destruction that Ursula had caused as well as making sure all of the souls that were trapped on the Isle Serein returned to their homes. Their wedding on the wedding ship happens a year later.
Video games
The Little Mermaid (NES)
After Ariel signed her contract in an alternate version of the original story, Ariel and Eric plan to wed, but the sea witch Ursula has taken control of the ocean. So Ariel becomes a mermaid once more and sets off to rescue the sea.
The game takes place from a side view, and Ariel (swimming most of the time, but hopping around on the land occasionally) can shoot bubbles to trap her foes and can then throw them at each other or into nooks and crannies (to potentially find treasure). She can also dig through sand to find treasure and pick up seashells to break open chests. Some of her old foes, such as the shark, Glut and moray eels, Flotsam, and Jetsam, have returned as stage bosses, while others are new.
After Ursula is defeated for good, Ariel attempts to return to the surface and become human, but she cannot return to being a human. Much like in the original film's ending, Triton then attempts to help Ariel out by transforming her back into a human, and their wedding continues as planned.
Although this game is not canon, this exact situation where Ariel had to be turned back into a mermaid would be duplicated in The Little Mermaid II, where she leaves a much larger boat (Eric's lead fleet ship) rather than his rowboat as in the NES game. In addition, her bubble attack is later referenced as a spell card in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
Ariel: The Little Mermaid
The Genesis game features Ariel (or Triton) on a quest to save the transformed Atlanteans (and either Triton or Ariel, depending on whom the player chooses to play as) from Ursula's spell. This game most likely takes place before Ariel saves Eric from the shipwreck.
The gameplay allows the player to move in 8 directions, with the goal being to locate and transform Ursula's polyps back into Merfolk. The player is given a "normal attack" and a "special attack". During the gameplay, the player can collect treasure, which after finding his icon, can trade with Scuttle for health, special characters (like Flounder and Sebastian), and special powers to aid them on their quest. After saving all the Atlanticans in a stage, the player must face a boss, the final encounter being Ursula herself, and the transformed Triton (or Ariel if the player chooses to play as Triton), the final polyp that must be rescued.
Kingdom Hearts series
Ariel appears in the Kingdom Hearts series. She is featured in the game, not as one of the seven Princesses of Heart (her spot is taken by Alice from Alice in Wonderland), but as one of two female warriors, along with Mulan, to join Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the fight against the Heartless.
She makes her series introduction in Kingdom Hearts, where she encounters Sora, Donald, and Goofy for the first time during her latest phase. The young mermaid expresses her desire to see the mysterious worlds beyond the sea, though her father forbids it. Even so, she's soon manipulated by Ursula into revealing the legendary keyhole of her world in exchange for her dream come true. Fortunately, enough, Sora and friends are able to defeat the sea witch with Ariel's help, restoring peace and unveiling the keyhole, which Sora must lock.
In the sequel Kingdom Hearts II, Ariel's dreams of traveling the worlds were put aside for the simpler dream of living upon the surface, as events in this game followed the original 1989 animated film more closely. A dream that was only pushed further upon discovering the handsome Prince Eric. With Sora, Donald, Goofy, Sebastian, and Flounder by her side, Ariel challenges her struggles and makes her dream a reality, with King Triton eventually giving his blessing, like in the film, after seeing Eric risk his life for Ariel's safety at the hands of a revived Ursula. Before leaving upon opening the keyhole, however, Sora and Ariel vow that they'll see each other again.
Ariel would also appear in the title Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, but as a fragment of Sora's memories and with a much smaller role.
Ariel appears in Kingdom Hearts III as a Link Summon. She has an ability called Lagoon Showtime, involving her summoned through a current of water where Sora will swing her overhead when she enters. Her initial attacks allow Sora to dive through platforms like water, while her last attack consists of Ariel and Sora entering an encore dance as water spouts from the ground akin to waterworks.
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey
In this game, Ariel is first seen sitting on a rock near the harbor waiting for the blonde-haired heroine of the game who has a bow on her head to befriend her. She convinces her that the land and the sea have lost their music, so she takes her under the sea to get the singing voices of the merpeople back and keep her human treasures from being broken. Later, they guide all the blue crabs to safety and go to the lagoon to bring in the chorus of animals.
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
Ariel appears as a meet-and-greet character in front of It's a Small World near the entrance to Mickey's Toontown and across from where Belle can be found in front of the Princess Fantasy Fair. She is also a participant in the Mickey's Soundsational Parade and Princess Fantasy Faire mini-games. Ariel asks the player to complete several tasks for her as well. One includes finding seashells for a collection. Another involves finding some décor to decorate her parade float with. At one point, Scuttle loses a load of dinglehoppers and Ariel asks the player to help retrieve them for her so that she can return them to Scuttle. Following the redesign of her dress she now wears around the parks in real life when in her human form, this game is one of the few to show her wearing the older dress before it was retired by Disney Imagineers and Cast Members to make room for her redesigned one and its winter variant.
Disney Sorcerer's Arena
Ariel appears in the game as a playable character being an ocean hero, she uses her trident which she never used at any time in the film, also her singing can heal allies to regenerate.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Ariel appears in the game, even in the early access, as a resident of Dreamlight Valley who was unknowingly transported away from the valley to protect her and her memories from The Forgetting by Prince Eric at the cost of him sacrificing himself to Ursula to be turned into a polyp to keep Ariel safe. Upon when the player opens up Dazzle Beach, crossing to the small island in front of a formation of rocks shaped like a skull, aptly named Skull Rock, they will find a wrecked raft and a mysterious oar lying on the sand near it. Picking up the oar will trigger a quest to deliver the oar to Goofy, who recognizes it and mentions hearing a beautiful voice out at sea. Agreeing with the player that the voice could need help, he suggests collecting iron, hardwood, rope, and clay to repair the raft, which then leads to using the repaired raft to travel to a mysterious island where they will find Ariel. Offering to provide a home for her back in Dreamlight Valley to guide her back there, once the house is placed, and built by Scrooge's construction firm, Ariel will return, and will mostly stick to traveling around Dreamlight Valley by the waterways and fishing ponds while as her mermaid self.
However, she is worried about Eric and wants to make sure he's okay, so her first friendship quest has her have the player ask Merlin, Maui, and Kristoff about Eric. Kristoff is able to provide some details, and after recovering something from his house, he directs the player to Skull Rock on Dazzle Beach to fish for a clue there. After finding a clue and showing it to Ariel, she directs them back to Kristoff, who then identifies it as part of Eric's statue and directs them to speak with Donald after finding another piece in Kristoff's house. Donald directs them to another piece in the Glade of Trust near the river, and then Scrooge has possession of the last piece, but will hand it over after the player mines up five peridots for him, easily found mining on Dazzle Beach and in the Peaceful Meadow. Once all the pieces are collected, Ariel has the player repair them at a crafting station by providing some glue for them to use to stick the pieces back together and place the statue in the Valley at the base of the steps leading to Dazzle Beach from the Peaceful Meadow. This causes a memory to appear, and upon viewing it, report it back to Ariel so she understands what happened to her beloved.
She is later part of the friendship quest to restore Eric to his human form after Ursula agrees to return him once the player is on her good side from helping her out and maxes out their Friendship Level with her, which includes recovering Eric's flute and rebuilding his castle with help from Scrooge's construction firm. Ariel provides the last piece when she gives Eric true love's kiss to break the polyp curse and restore him to his human self.
Once Prince Eric is restored after helping out Ursula, he'll have a friendship quest to provide Ariel a means to shapeshift between her mermaid and human forms that will require speaking to Remy and Maui to collect the necessary materials and craft them or give them to the character to make themselves. From there, use the Royal Fishing Rod to fish up a nautilus that Eric can use the shell of to create a necklace similar to what Ursula used to capture Ariel's voice, but enchanted with the shapeshifting potion to give to Ariel. Give the necklace to Ariel, and she'll put it on immediately, transforming her into her human self, wearing her clothes from the "Kiss the Girl" segment of the original 1989 animated film and making it easier to interact with her as she walks around the Valley on her human legs and see her from time to time having a meal at Remy's restaurant with the other characters. The player can willingly decide which form Ariel will use while in the Valley as her mermaid and human forms serve as her Dream Styles in the game, with her human form unlocked via a quest rather than through a Star Path reward or purchasing in the Premium Shop with Moonstones.
A new Dream Style of Ariel in her human form wearing a winter outfit was provided as a reward from the Royal Winter Star Path that took place between December 2023 and January 2024, which honored Ariel and her fellow Disney Princesses with many of the motif rewards representing them in some way, like an apple for Snow White, a glass slipper for Cinderella, a red rose for Belle, a bow and arrow for Merida, etc. Her trademark pink gown from her dinner scene with Eric and Grimsby in the original 1989 film became available in the Premium Shop with the May 1st, 2024 update for 1,750 Moonstones.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Ariel is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. Ariel is a Back-Line Support Hero. She uses her mermaid voice to sing to create large ripples that hit enemies, dealing damage to them. She also sings to heal allies and increase their Max HP. Ariel also summons a fish friend, that fish spits water at the closest enemy, knocking them back as well as slowing them down.
Ariel's friendship campaigns are with Hector Barbossa and Gerald, Marlin, and Nemo. She also has friendship campaigns with King Triton and Snow White.
Ariel appeared in the City before the events of meeting Ursula and didn't exchange her voice for legs, yet. One of the missions with Barbossa was Ariel seeking help from Tia Dalma to receive legs for a day, Tia did that to her in exchange for beautiful seashells.
Other games
A costume of Ariel is also available as an add-on feature in Disney Universe.
Ariel appears in Disney Infinity as a cameo. In the 3DS version, when she appears to the player, she will give you an Emblem.
Ariel appears in Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion where she has been sucked into Wasteland by Mizrabel, trapping her and the Other Toons in the Castle of Illusion.
Ariel appears in the V.Smile game The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Majestic Journey, which plays out similarly to the original film, plus four "Learning Zone" games. This marks the only instance where Ariel is voiced by Kathryn Haywood, as this was likely because Jodi Benson was unavailable to reprise her role as Ariel.
Musical
Sierra Boggess as Ariel.
A stage musical version of the 1989 film had its world premiere in Denver, Colorado in 2007 for its pre-Broadway tryout, and on January 10, 2008 debuted on Broadway. The character of Ariel for the stage adaptation was originated by Sierra Boggess. Jodi Benson, her original voice actor, attended the opening night.
A few new songs were added to the score, accompanying the songs in the film that were moved to the stage. "The World Above" is Ariel's introductory song, and in the revised book after closing on Broadway, the show's opening number, replacing the entire shark-chase sequence in the film. In Act II, although Ariel has become mute, she sings two songs expressing her thoughts and feelings, these songs being "Beyond My Wildest Dreams", where Ariel explores the human world for the first time, and "If Only", in which Ariel laments that she cannot express her feelings to Eric. Additionally, Ariel's voice can be heard in the extended opening of "Fathoms Below", although she is not seen on-stage.
The stage musical features new plot elements not seen in the film. It is explained through dialogue that Ariel inherited her mother's singing voice, adding another layer to Triton's protectiveness of her. Ariel and Eric's romance is expanded from the film, as explored in a musical sequence "One Step Closer" where the pair dances together. In the climactic battle, it is Ariel, not Eric, who destroys Ursula by smashing the magic shell. The reason for this change was that the musical's creative team did not want Ariel to come off as passive. It is to be noted that she also is labeled as Ursula's niece in the musical, based on a deleted concept in the film.
In the telecast version, she played by Auli'i Cravalho, who voiced another Disney princess in the 2016 film and is Eurasian ancestry.
Disney Parks
Ariel at Walt Disney World.
Ariel makes appearances as a face character in all the Disney parks. At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Tokyo DisneySea, she can be found for meet-and-greets at her own special location known as Ariel's Grotto in her mermaid form, while her human form is available for meet-and-greets at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland and the princess meet-and-greets at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. In her human form, she's often seen wearing a white dress similar to the one she wore at her wedding in the movie, sans the veil and tiara.
However, she has rarely held any meet-and-greets with Guests in her grotto in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom since it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and has not been reopened yet, but she has appeared in human form in her redesigned dress with Prince Eric outside the grotto for meet-and-greets during special events, such as Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. During the winter months, she'll wear a long-sleeved, coat-styled version of her redesigned dress in human form to keep warm in the colder weather. Her grotto reopened to welcome Guests to see her in her mermaid form somewhere between the end of 2022 and the start of 2023.
The 2023 live-action version of Ariel began making meet-and-greet appearances at Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents at Disney's Hollywood Studios on May 26 (the live-action film's release day), as well as at a limited-time celebration at Disneyland Paris on an unconfirmed date.
Interestingly, Ariel is rather common in terms of cameo appearances in a few attractions. She can be spotted in Peter Pan's Flight amongst the other mermaids of Mermaid Lagoon and in the Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland versions of It's a Small World.
Disneyland
In California, Ariel appears during Mickey's Soundsational Parade, and also takes center stage in her own segment of the Disney California Adventure nighttime spectacular World of Color, singing a rendition of "Part of Your World" that transitions into Sebastian's "Under the Sea" performance.
Walt Disney World
In animated form, Ariel takes part in Mickey's PhilharMagic, where she performs "Part of Your World" as Donald Duck tries to retrieve the newest addition to her human collection―Mickey's sorcerer hat. The duck also becomes smitten with the mermaid and her beauty and makes an attempt to kiss her, only to lock lips with a flirtatious electric eel.
She can also be seen in her own float of the Festival of Fantasy Parade at the Magic Kingdom.
In Disney's Hollywood Studios, Ariel appears in Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Fantasmic!
Ariel during the "Part of Your World" portion of her ride.
Ariel serves as the star of the dark ride The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure, which can be found at both Disney California Adventure and the Magic Kingdom. Ariel makes several appearances throughout the ride, mostly in audio-animatronic form. On the exterior of the Magic Kingdom version, she appears as a figurehead on a shipwrecked ship. In the queue area of the Magic Kingdom version, guests can help her organize her human treasures.
In Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Ariel assists Sebastian, Merlin the Wizard, and the park guests in stopping Ursula when Hades brings her back to life to assist the Underworld ruler in his attempts to take over the Magic Kingdom. Ursula even attempts to disguise herself as Ariel at one point to try to fool Merlin and the guests. Later on, the real Ariel happily congratulates the park guests after Ursula is defeated. Ariel also has her own spell card called "Ariel's Bubble Attack".
Tokyo Disney Resort
In Ariel's Seaside Treasures, after the marriage with Prince Eric, Ariel heard that her father King Triton had been feeling lonely for missing her. So she planned a big party at the seaside with both humans and mar-people for the king! This was the special event that took place at Tokyo Disney Sea in Summer 2003.
In the Mermaid Lagoon Theater, Ariel, Flounder, and other sea characters "swim" freely in this "undersea" theater, in a show featuring dazzling music and dynamic aerial performances. Here, Ariel and her undersea friends stand up to the evil sea witch Ursula, in a musical performance of courage and friendship.
In the Happiness is Here Parade, which celebrated Tokyo Disneyland's 30th Anniversary. Ariel appears as a podcast stamp on The Aristocats float featuring Duchess' three kittens Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz alongside a postcard stamp of Agrabah
Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Ariel is featured in The Little Mermaid display in Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, and during the Golden Fairytale Fanfare castle show. Inside the castle, Ariel appears alongside Sebastian and Flounder in one of the wall carving displays.
Ariel is also prominently featured during the fireworks show Ignite the Dream, where she performs "Part of Your World".
Disney Princess
Ariel is one of the twelve official members of the Disney Princess line―a prominent franchise directed at young girls. The franchise covers a wide variety of merchandise, including, but not limited to, magazines, music albums, toys, clothing, and stationery. Ariel is usually depicted in her mermaid form on merchandise, but also appears in her human form wearing her blue dress, white wedding dress, or pink dress. The Disney Princess magazine features comics and posters of Ariel, usually in her mermaid form, but also in her human form as well.
Redesign
With her new redesign, Ariel is less franchised in her mermaid form and is more focused on her human form.
Ariel's red hair is much wavier, and greater detail is shown as it also appears more glossy and voluminous, with her bangs being a bit smaller. She is clad in a beautiful off-the-shoulder gown with the same distinctive sea green color as her mermaid tail. The overskirt is a paler green that matches her tail fins, as do the long sleeves covering her arms (puffy on the upper half) and the petticoat under her dress. The overskirt hem has many elaborate swirly designs, which include designs of items found in the ocean like starfish and seashells. She wears lavender scallop seashell earrings with a matching brooch on her dress and a pair of sea-green pumps on her feet.
In early redesigns, Ariel had a pale pink dress that was a revamp of her previous pink-and-white gown.
The modified redesigns of her mermaid form have added a sparkly/metallic effect to her mermaid tail, giving either the impression of fish scales caught in a gradient light of yellow to green to blue or a similar shimmer to the patterns on her sea green dress with larger tail fins, along with lavender earrings that are similar to her seashell bra on her mermaid form.
Palace Pets
Ariel's Palace Pets are Treasure, Seashell, Matey, Sandy Pearl, Otto, and Waddles.
Differences from the source material
Disney's version of The Little Mermaid differs greatly from the original Hans Christian Andersen story:
- The mermaid is not named in the original story. She is also 15 years old instead of 16 and has five sisters instead of six.
- The mermaid has a grandmother who tells her about the human world, whereas Ariel learns inaccurate information from Scuttle.
- The mermaid does not have any sea creature friends.
- The mermaid is actually permitted to swim to the surface and observe the human world when she turns 15. This plot point was given a subtle reference in the song "Part of Your World" with the lyric "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above?"
- One of the mermaid's main motivations for becoming human is to gain an eternal soul that will live on after death, as mermaids dissolve into sea foam and cease to exist after a life span of 300 years.
- The sea witch has no ulterior motive for her deal with the mermaid. Part of the agreement is that the mermaid can never return to her old life and will turn to foam if she does not win the prince's love.
- The mermaid feels great pain from having legs, as if she were walking on knives. She also gains the ability to dance gracefully but this too is extremely painful.
- The prince falls in love with and marries a princess from a neighboring kingdom whom he believes saved him from drowning. This is similar to Vanessa in the film, but the princess is not the sea witch in disguise.
- In the original ending, the sisters trade their hair to the sea witch for a knife that the mermaid can use to kill the prince in order to turn back into a mermaid and live her full lifespan. She decides against this and throws herself in to the sea, but instead of ceasing to exist she becomes a spirit called a "daughter of the air". She can, over her 300-year lifetime, obtain an immortal soul through good deeds and eventually rise to Heaven.
Relationships
Gallery
Trivia
- Ariel's name means "lion of God" in Hebrew. Her name was likely inspired by William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, which features an air spirit named Ariel (a nod to the ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story).
- Ariel's creation in 1989 marked a new change in direction for subsequent Disney Princesses, as she is the first proactive Disney Princess whose characteristics are strong-willed, adventurous, feisty, cunning, and determined, and are fighters for their dreams, breaking away from the reactive nature of previous Disney Princesses created during Walt Disney's lifetime — Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. Many of Ariel's traits — such as her adventurous spirit, desires for freedom, and resourcefulness — provided the basis for later heroines in modern Disney fairy tales, such as Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Jasmine from Aladdin.
- Unlike her sisters, as a mermaid, Ariel doesn't wear any hair accessories except for the occasional sea flower, which she wears more often in the film's comic adaptation.
- This could possibly be a nod to the original Hans Christian Andersen story where her original book counterpart is only interested in tending to underwater red flowers.
- Ariel's jewelry in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is emerald green, the same color as her mermaid tail.
- Ariel is purposely made to stand out from her sisters. First, she's the only redhead and the only one who wears her hair down. Second, she's the only mermaid whose seashell top isn't the same color as her tail. And finally, although all of Triton's daughters have names that begin with the letter "A", Ariel's is the only one whose name doesn't also end with that letter. Ariel is the only one to have a name of Roman origin instead of Greek.
- Ariel's pose, while she was sitting on a rock looking at an unconscious Eric near the end of the movie, was inspired by the statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the story originated.
- Although Ariel and Athena bear a striking resemblance, her personality is more similar to that of her father, King Triton, as she becomes overprotective of her daughter Melody. This is especially noticeable in The Little Mermaid II when Ariel reprimands Melody for disobeying orders and venturing out into the sea, the same way Ariel disobeyed her father's orders and venturing up to the surface in the first film.
- Ariel's daughter, Melody, shares almost all of Ariel's personality traits from the first film. However, Ariel dreamt of becoming human and living on land, while Melody's dream was to swim beneath the waves. Melody also resembles her father, however, they only have the same eyes and hair texture.
- Ariel is the first Disney princess to save her love interest (in this case, Prince Eric). She saves Eric twice in the original film.
- In Enchanted, the animated troll hunted down by Prince Edward wears Ariel's seashells as earrings.
- Conveniently, her voice actress Jodi Benson cameos as Robert's secretary Sam.
- In Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety short, In the Water, Pumbaa briefly makes a reference about Ariel.
- The first real dress Ariel wears after she is a human is pink, similarly, the first dress her daughter is shown wearing is pink as well.
- Ariel speaks the last non-musical line of The Little Mermaid, which is: "I love you, Daddy".
- During the production of the first film, Ariel was originally going to be depicted with blonde hair but was changed into a redhead in order to distinguish her from another famous Disney mermaid, Madison from Touchstone Pictures' Splash.
- In Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Ariel is seen trapped in a crystal.
- Ariel's eyes are redesigned when she becomes a woman in Return to the Sea.
- Voice actress Melissa Fahn, known for voicing Gaz in Invader Zim and Rika Nonaka in Digimon, auditioned for the part of Ariel. However, she was called back several times and was turned down in favor of Jodi Benson because she sounded "too young."
- Ariel is right-handed as shown when she signs her name on Ursula's contract in the first film.
- The storyline of Ariel stealing King Triton's trident in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is taken from The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, where Ariel's daughter Melody, steals Triton's trident (although for completely several reasons).
- Ariel has the most songs sung by any Disney movie character, even though she only has one song in her original movie (not counting the reprise).
- Ariel was the subject of an internet meme called "Hipster Ariel", which depicted Ariel with horn-rimmed glasses and making a humorous statement.[5]
- Hipster Ariel also has her own Funko POP! figure as a Hot Topic exclusive.
- 1941 concept art of the original idea of The Little Mermaid (before shelved for nearly 50 years later) shows Ariel with long black hair and a bluish or greenish tail. It was also much closer to the original story. This artwork was done by Kay Nielsen.
- In some foreign-language versions of the film, her name is in the title.
- On the Marvel site, there was a "Create Your Own Marvel Superhero". One of these superhero concepts, "Little Mermaid", was based on Ariel.
- Alan Menken and Howard Ashman discovered similarities between Audrey II's song in Little Shop of Horrors and Ariel's song, and they were originally going to call it "Somewhere That's Dry". However, the music was already copyrighted, so the title was changed to "Part of Your World" and the music was also changed.
- A silhouette of Ariel can be seen in a book a young King Agnarr is reading in Frozen II.
- Ariel is the first Disney Princess who wasn't born as a human and is a mermaid by default, although she did eventually turn into a human, and would transform back into a mermaid on numerous occasions (via a spell).
- Ariel's voice actress, Jodi Benson, provided the voices for more Disney characters than any other original voice actress for a Disney Princess, having voiced numerous female Disney characters in various media since 1989, such as Helen of Troy from Hercules and Weebo from Flubber.
- Ariel is the first, and so far only, Disney Princess to have a child.
- She is also the only female protagonist to come from a Disney Animated Canon film released in the 1980s.
- Throughout the entire franchise, Ariel has never been called "The Little Mermaid". The closest she has been called that was during Vanessa's song, where the villainess sings "Soon I'll have that little mermaid and the ocean will be mine!"
- In Blue Sky's Ice Age: Continental Drift, Scrat is seen dressed up as Ariel (with a fish biting on his lower region and two clamshell halves stuck to his chest) while getting captured by the pirates.
References
- ↑ Campione, Katie (June 13, 2023). "Disney Greenlights Disney Junior's Ariel Animated Series Inspired By The Little Mermaid". Deadline.
- ↑ Palmer, Roger (August 18, 2023). "Disney Junior's "Ariel" Cast Announced". What's On Disney Plus.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 (2006) Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' [Documentary featurette]. Bonus material from The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition DVD. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Musker, John (2006). Audio Commentary from The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
- ↑ Gibson, Megan (February 10, 2011). "Hipster Ariel Meme Was On Tumblr Before You Were". Time.
External links
Ariel (The Little Mermaid) on WikipediaAriel (Disney) on Heroes Wiki
- Ariel on The Little Mermaid Wiki
- Ariel on Kingdom Hearts Wiki
- Ariel on Once Upon a Time Wiki
- Ariel on Disney.com
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