Samiellovesmovies
The Little Mermaid is easily one of my favorite Disney films. It ranks up there with Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Hercules for my favorites. This is just one of the most beautiful animated films ever made. Brilliant songs, with brilliant visuals. I grew up with this movie. 8/10
hunterryanbelkin
This Disney classic that revived good Disney animation and gave birth to the Disney Renaissance era features stunning animation for the time and catchy musical numbers. Ariel has an interesting character, but other than that, there isn't much else to praise. It's far from being a bad film, it's actually good, but the third act is where it all falls apart, and the romance is not as strong or powerful as it should be.
Shelley Goodman
My mother bought the movie for me and I loved it. Ariel does persistently disobey her father, but I must say, her mother's death was at least as much her own fault as the sailor sailing the ship that killed her. Athena should NOT have swum back for that music box, but it has made King Triton hate and fear humans forever and so when he finds out that Ariel rescued a human from drowning he destroys her treasures and Ariel is (quite justifiably) heartbroken., and here we must mention one plot hole, Ariel says "You don't even know him", and they should have had Prince Eric and Ariel get to know each other Frankly, even to this day I hate King Triton, even though he does give in; his behaviour makes even that make him only the second-best Disney father, and that's being really generous
Hermione Granger
After not watching animated Disney movies for a long time, I am now coming back to them and re-watching them. At some, I ask myself, "Now, WHY did I think I disliked this?!" while with others, I say, "Now, how could I have LIKED this?" Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid turns out to be one of the latter.For one, like some parts in Cinderella dragged with how much was focused on the mice, some parts here dragged with how they were focused on the sea animals. Also, though Ariel is gorgeous and does have a point--humans aren't necessarily bad--she is extremely disobedient and a horrible example for girls. If you want a good Disney Princess role model, go with Tiana (who is hard working) or Belle (who judges people because of who they are on the inside). Here, Ariel is told by her father told not to go to the surface, hangs her head, and heads straight back to the surface! She is a poor role model, repeatedly disobeying her father, who is only trying to protect her, and keeping one of her deepest, darkest secrets (being in love with and seeing a human) a secret from him.I'm not saying I hate Ariel or think she's terrible. She's funny, spunky, has great hair that isn't soaked when she goes to the surface, is an incredible singer, and so on. It's just that she's a bad role model for girls. Though girls watching this may not think of Ariel as a role model, they may enjoy the movie and like Ariel, then want to be like her, so they do what she does.The backgrounds are gorgeous and almost as good as they are in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They look real--earnestly, real. However, the animation somehow looks a bit too blurry, and Ariel is gorgeous but is sometimes a bobble-head, and her eyes are way, way too big.The music is excellent, and so is the plot. Ariel is an incredible singer, and the plot is exciting, the sort that, even though it's cartoon, makes you tense by watching it.But one incredible thing I did not notice about this movie until recently was what an amazing dad King Triton is. He seems like the worst--grouchy, mean, ugly, old, and destroying Ariel's stuff for no reason. However, he questions himself if he should've destroyed her things. Later on, near the climax, as Ariel starts to become one of Ursula's poor unfortunate soul slaves, he catches her just in time. He makes a decision--he takes Ariel's place, him becoming one of Ursula's slaves. Now, think about that. Ariel disobeyed him. She repeatedly went to the surface. She watched humans on a ship. She came in contact with a human and rescued one. She went to the sea witch and became a human. But even after all of that, King Triton STILL loves her and wants to save her, taking her place. In the end, I'm not completely sure about why I didn't get much out of the movie. It could've been because I was too pumped about seeing it again and expected too much. It could be because Ariel is a horrible role model or that the animation looks blurry. However, the movie still has a great classic touch to it, and King Triton still loves his daughter after all she's done wrong. So who knows? Maybe I'll re- watch it sometime soon, this time having bad expectations, and then be thrilled with how wrong I was and how amazing the movie is.
