In the 1989 animation, Ariel gives up her voice to Ursula the sea witch in exchange for legs. While Ariel is hesitant, Ursula reminds her that she will have no need for her voice above water.
Ariel gives up her voice repeatedly to become an outside observer of humans from the moment the movie starts; she skips a solo at a concert to poke around a shipwreck. She shows us right away where her values lie and outright tells us about them before she meets Eric.
Sebastian rushes to warn King Triton, who agrees to hand over his trident and take Ariel's place as Ursula's slave ("Poor Unfortuate Souls – Reprise"). When Prince Eric attempts to rescue Ariel, Ursula loses control of her magic shell and Ariel's voice is restored.
Ariel can't speak, having given up her voice in exchange for legs in a devious deal made with Ursula, the sea witch played by Melissa McCarthy in the remake. But Bailey's expressiveness (plus a new song that represents her internal monologue) conveys how she's feeling as she gets used to the human world.
In the movie The Little Mermaid (Clements & Musker, 1989), Ariel displays symptoms of disposophobia, which is defined as the fear of getting rid of things.
In her initial film, Ariel is referred to as having a “most beautiful voice” multiple times. She is known throughout Atlantica for her immense vocal prowess. Her temporary disability of muteness is more noticed by characters later.
Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” has been headcanoned as autistic, because no one who sings a song about wanting to not just learn about an interest, but literally be in that world, is neurotypical.
Triton confronts Ursula and agrees to give up himself and his magical trident in return for Ariel's freedom. Ursula then uses the trident to expand into monstrous proportions and attempts to kill Ariel and Eric, but Eric manages to impale Ursula with the splintered bowsprit of a wrecked ship, and she dies.
Ariel makes this deal because she falls in love with Prince Eric and desires to be with him. Ursula specifically targets Ariel because she sees an opportunity to exploit her curiosity about the human world and her fascination with Prince Eric.
Ariel kills the Sea Witch at the end of the movie.
At the end of the 1989 animated film, Eric saves the day and kills Ursula. But in the new movie, Ariel is no longer the damsel in distress. She takes matters into her own hands and kills Ursula herself.
Ariel's Voice - The Little Mermaid 2023 - YouTube. the complete scene of the scene where ariel loses her voice to ursula and transforms her into a human!
While it is known that her mother perished, there is no story attached to the event. However, much later, in 2008, an animated The Little Mermaid prequel revealed that Ariel's mother was crushed by a pirate ship during an altercation between humans and merpeople.
Triton is restored, but Ariel and Eric are both sad because they think they can no longer be together. However, Triton grants Ariel her wish to be human and she and Eric get married, uniting both their people.
In the animated film, Ursula was a villain who enjoyed messing with people and getting what she wanted. In The Little Mermaid live-action, however, Ursula's backstory gets an adjustment — she is upgraded to Triton's sister and Ariel's aunt, making her revenge and motivations all the more sinister.
Ariel was offered by Ursula to become a human for three days and would become human permanently if she shares a kiss of true love with Eric, but will turn back into a mermaid and be bound to Ursula for eternity if she fails to kiss Eric.
He uses his power to grant Ariel her wish to become a human, with zero strings attached. Almost immediately after getting her permanent land legs, Ariel and Eric finally reunite, sharing a long-overdue kiss of true love.
So, why the change? One theory is that each of Ariel's sisters represents different oceans that are home to various cultures and ethnicities. It's pretty problematic to have mermaids who all look the same representing such an expansive underwater world.
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.
Although Elsa's disability is encoded as a magical ice power, the language the film uses to talk about her condition maps on to the experiences of people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities in recognizable ways.
I'll start— Belle is obviously an Inattentive ADHD queen. I rewatch the opening scenes so many times with the “her head buried in a book/in the clouds” part, and end up in tears everytime. Maybe also Mulan with her taking notes on her arm, running into things, constantly late…
The video goes on to talk about how this original concept for Ariel was too close to the Splash mermaid and the designers wanted to differentiate Ariel, so her red hair was born. We can't imagine Ariel without her red hair, but not everyone felt the same way back in the 80s.
