Preview

The Little Mermaid

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1525 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Little Mermaid
Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Sara Drewery
November 15, 2013
Movie Review
Sara Drewery
November 11, 2013
Professor Miller
Movie Review

Disney’s The Little Mermaid Walt Disney’s The Little Mermaid is an underwater fantasy that will leave viewers young and old visually satisfied with the array of vibrant colors that appear during the opening scenes. First released in 1989 by Walt Disney, The Little Mermaid grossed $111 million in the US, making it 28th on the list of Disney’s best animated features. Winning two Oscars and two Golden Globes, the soundtrack of The Little Mermaid, is catchy and kid-friendly (IMDb). However visually appealing and heartwarming this Disney movie may seem, it is not enough to make up for the evident subliminal messages it sends to its audience. Disney’s The Little Mermaid’s storyline adds to gender stereotypes, teaches children that it is okay to act out and, differs very much from the original version written by Hans Christian Anderson. The Little Mermaid has served as quality entertainment for decades, but it is unfortunately not appropriate for vulnerable children due to the messages it sends.
Ariel appears to be a beautiful, curious and ambitious young mermaid in the opening scenes. With her fiery red hair and the attitude to match she is dissatisfied with her life at sea. After an argument with her father King Triton, king of the “merpeople”, she wanders off into the sea at night. Her attention is caught by sudden bursts of light that are identified as fireworks by her talking crustacean babysitter named Sebastian. Ariel is just in time to witness a storm that causes the boat to catch fire. As cliché as all Disney movies are, she rescues the dreamy prince from the raging sea and drags him to safety on the bank. Eric, the prince, wakes up to hear Ariel singing her famous “Part of Your World” melody and falls in love instantly because of her beautiful voice. Ariel is
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essay On Gender Roles In Disney Princess Films
    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essay On Gender Roles In Disney Princess Films

    The Little Mermaid (1989) is an animated, musical, fantasy based film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It was released on November 15th, 1989.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Legendary Merfolk In The Film, The Little Mermaid
    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Legendary Merfolk In The Film, The Little Mermaid

    At the beginning of the movie, “The Little Mermaid”, a group of sailors on a ship are telling stories about the legendary merfolk. A young prince named Prince Eric is also on the ship with his dog, Max, and advisor, Grimsby. Grimsby tells the sailors that merfolk are not real, but one of the sailors tells him that he is wrong. One of the sailors is holding a fish, but loses it and the fish falls back into the sea. After the opening credits, the merfolk are heading to the underwater castle for a concert. The kingdom is ruled by King Triton, who is holding the concert in his name. His seven daughters and Sebastian, the court composer, are performing a song for him. The concert is going well until King Triton notices that, Princess Ariel, his…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Two Bob Mermaid Sample Review
    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Two Bob Mermaid Sample Review

    Although only 14 minutes in length, Two Bob Mermaid explores Koorine’s (Carrie Prosser) struggle as a young fair skinned Koori girl growing up in a country town in 1957.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Disney Princess Effect Analysis
    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Disney Princess Effect Analysis

    Movies, books, costumes, and the toys on the shelves in almost every store have been consumed by the Disney Princess. For most little girls, princesses ranging from Cinderella to Elsa have become their biggest role models. Important lessons like learning to stand up for yourself, never giving up, following your heart, and finding the beauty in nature are just a few of the teachings throughout the Disney Princess movies. What parent in their right mind wouldn't want these things for their daughter? Author Stephanie Hanes explores a possible answer to this question in the article, “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” originally published on October 3, 2011 from the Christian Science Monitor. Hanes makes her argument by persuading…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Katie Lopreore Gender Roles Essay
    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Katie Lopreore Gender Roles Essay

    Transitioning on from the perspective of a communications graduate, we move on to see how gendered roles are portrayed in Disney Princess movies and how they affect young children, from the perspective of a psychology graduate. Katie Lopreore, the psychology graduate from Middle Tennessee State University, writes about how the influences of the Disney Princess films shape children through their gendered characteristics, in her journal Gender roles portrayals of modern Disney royalty: stereotypical or androgynous? Lopreore starts off with an evaluation on how many children are exposed to the Disney Princess culture, she writes “Disney brand, found that 97% of children they surveyed between ages 2-11 years old were familiar with Cinderella, one…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    King Triton: The Heroic Hero
    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    King Triton: The Heroic Hero

    Unfortunately, the sun set on the third day. This meant that Ariel now belonged to Ursula forever. But, King Triton stepped in. “To save his daughter, King Triton gave Ursula his great powers and became her prisoner” (Musker & Clements 13). I believe that King Triton is the heroic one in this fairytale because he was willing to give up his powers as king of the sea just to save his daughter that betrayed him in the first place. If anything, that is true love and not the blinded love Ariel felt for the prince. Of course, the story focuses more on Prince Eric saving Ariel by killing the sea-witch, Ursula. In the end, the Prince Eric and Ariel share true loves kiss and live happily ever after. But, the ending still leaves me questioning how true…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Disney The Little Mermaid Analysis
    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Disney The Little Mermaid Analysis

    I do agree that Disney does follow a lot of the Gender stereotypes. In Disney, Women have to be really skinny and white to be beautiful, which is not true they focus on outer beauty and not inner beauty. They are teaching little girls beauty is being white and skinny that is resulting in an image and standards set for girls. I totally disagree with that and think Beauty should vary and not be just be white and skinny. In "The little Mermaid" many stereotypes are involved involving Ariel and her prince. They teach the idea of changing who you are to be with someone and not following the idea of "being yourself". They teach the idea that women are submissive. I think symbolically it even goes deeper to say that women give up their voice to be…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Little Mermaid Analysis
    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Little Mermaid Analysis

    that there are many forms of adaptions and different directors or producers will have their own unique perspective on it. Hutcheon explains that,“They use the same tools that storytellers have always used; they actualize or concretize ideas; they make simplifying selections, but also amplify and extrapolate, they make analogies; they critique or show their respect, and so on” (Hutcheon 3). Hutcheon then goes on to use The Little Mermaid as an example. The Little Mermaid was adapted into a musical, however the musical not only told the story but also changed certain…

    • 2087 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Snow White Gender Analysis
    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Snow White Gender Analysis

    For generations, Walt Disney films have been a “must watch” by parents, children and their families. However, these people may not see the hidden meanings behind Disney films. Currently, children are constantly exposed to media and opinions inherently presented within television, films, radio, books and more. Disney films are no exception. The films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty all reinforce traditional gender roles, and the idea that lightness is supreme and will help when it comes to goodness conquering evil.…

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Little Mermaid Hell
    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Little Mermaid Hell

    In Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” we witness that there is not an actual Heaven for the mermaid but a sub-heaven that is a reflection of Heaven. It goes to say that in “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread” also by Andersen, there is a sub-hell (not actual Hell), where she stands in the form of a statue in the entrance hall. Both these place are not where the characters expected to be, yet one scarified herself ending up in a sub-heaven and the other will suffer in the entrance hall of hell for using bread as a way to get over water.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Princess and Frog Analysis
    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Princess and Frog Analysis

    In “The Princess and the Frog” Walt Disney Animation Studios presents a musical set in the great city of New Orleans. "The Princess and the Frog" marks Disney's return to the warmth and gratefulness of hand drawn animation. The film teams Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" with Oscar winning composer Randy Newman. From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayouts and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a trumpet playing alligator, a love sick Cajun firefly, and a host of other charming characters in every part of the movie. The two main characters differ in so many ways including their life and upbringing that shapes them as a character. Tiana is a round character and Naveen is a static character.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Disney Films Should or Should Not be Shown To Children
    • 702 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Disney Films Should or Should Not be Shown To Children

    The greater young children loved the Disney films, the more influence the hidden messages the films have on us. While young children enjoy the courage of the little mermaid to give up her voice, her comfort and her family to marry the prince, they also accepted the idea that love is above everything. This was certainly a bad influence on girls because this was not how real society worked. Parents did not realize, the seed of conflict were embedded in their childrens mind just for watching a cartoon.…

    • 702 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Female Power in Hamlet
    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Female Power in Hamlet

    Griffith, Ellen Lee. The Tale of the Mermaid: An Essay on the Folklore and Mythology of the Mermaid, Accompanied by Illustrations of Objects from the Exhibition. Philadelphia, Pa: Philadelphia Maritime Museum, 1986. Print.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Connection Between the Little Mermaid and Hoarding
    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Connection Between the Little Mermaid and Hoarding

    The Little Mermaid is based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. The Little Mermaid is the story about a mermaid named Ariel who longs to be part of the human world. She lives in an underwater kingdom with her father King Triton. She falls in love with a human, Prince Eric and, by making a dangerous risk with the sea witch Ursula, she trades in her fins and her voice for human legs. Ariel has but three days to make Eric fall in love with her. If he does, she will live happily ever after in his world. If he doesn't, Ursula will enslave her.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ursula The Little Mermaid Research Paper
    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page

    Ursula The Little Mermaid Research Paper

    The best villain that comes to mind to me is Ursula from the little mermaid. Ursula makes the best villain because she appears to be kind by giving you something you want but really she's just setting you up to get what she wants. Some villains have that human side where you feel for them but you cant really see a human side in Ursula. Ursula never lets her guard down to show you her vulnerable side. I don't think anyone showed Ursula love, and so she didn't know how to give love.…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics