The Disney adaptation makes many changes to Hans Christian Andersen's original fairytale, but Ariel's age is consistent as she's depicted as a teenager in the original tale too. The decision to fix Ariel's age at 16 years old was also likely to appeal to the target audience of Disney's version of The Little Mermaid.
Ariel is 16 years old in the animated film, which certainly lends to her willfully young behavior, but makes her quick marriage to Eric a little worrying. The live-action remake ages the mermaid by two years, noting the change in the production notes by pointing out that Ariel's a "spirited 18-year-old."
The primary events of the film take place over the span of a few days, and I assume that the ruined Eric/”Vanessa” wedding was immediately repurposed to Eric and Ariel's, so she was at most 17 when she married Eric (if she had a birthday during that time and we didn't see it), but more likely still 16.
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.
In the animated movie, when King Triton gives Ariel back her human form, she walks right into Eric's arms. But, for the new version, Eric can be seen missing Ariel at the palace while playing with Max, and she sneaks up on him. It's such a small change, but really shows how much Eric loves Ariel as he hugs her.
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.
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.
"When I chose Halle for the role, it was literally because she was the best person for the role," Marshall says. "It's about who claims a role, who brings a role to life in a way you could never have imagined."
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.
In The Little Mermaid, the chef scene from the animated version. wasn't included in the live action remake. This is because marine animals. like founder and Sebastian are photorealistic, and it would have been too much to see them.
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. I was curious to see how the live action adaptation would navigate this complex plot line.
In the animated film, Ariel's 16, something which made her quick marriage to Eric within a few days of meeting him cringeworthy. Disney's production notes for the live-action film note that Ariel's a "spirited 18-year-old."
At the end of the film, after King Triton uses his magical trident to transform Ariel into a human, she leaves the sea to live in the human world. She and Eric marry and live happily ever after.
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.
Even the smallest of details point towards Ariel being autistic, such as her toe-walking and her discomfort in human clothes, a struggle that resonates with autistic people all around the world.
Alice. Alice from Alice in Wonderland clearly suffers from Schizophrenia whihc is a serious mental illness that interfers an individual's ability to thi k clearly and manage emotions.
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.
In this novel, Ursula is King Triton's younger sister who was betrayed by him as a child for choosing a tentacled form instead of a mermaid's tail, and grew up as a human in the town of Ipswich with an adoptive human father.
Queen Athena is shown to be a stunningly beautiful and attractive mermaid with long, red hair tied in a partial ponytail, green eyes, and an aqua tail. Of all her daughters, her youngest, Ariel, resembles her the most.
Scuttle is not only changed from male to female but is also now a diving bird instead of a seagull. "This was done specifically so that Ariel would only meet Scuttle underwater, because, at the start of our story, Ariel has never dared go above the surface," director Rob Marshall said in production notes.
Ursula marries Eric and becomes Princess. This story brings us 6 years in the future when Vanessa is slowly using her new Kingdom to take over the surrounding land and start an all-out war. Ariel has taken over her father's rule as Queen of Atlantia.
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 classic, she falls in love with Eric because she's physically attracted to him, seeing him first as a literal statue, not a walking, talking, thinking human man. If you watch that movie, she's really, really into that statue!
