Lady Appreciation Post: Ariel
Pretend it's Friday and this post is not in fact late.
I actually had a bit of trouble deciding who to do this week. Then I finally decided upon one of the ladies from my childhood. I give you... a Disney Princess.
"I wanna be where the people are... I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing..."
--"Part of Your World" by Alan Menken
I love the shit out of Ariel. I really do.
The Little Mermaid was probably the first movie I can remember seeing. I actually don't remember much, just that I was wee and at my friend's house and it was playing on the television. Ariel must have made quite the impression on me, because The Little Mermaid became my favorite Disney readalong to act out before bedtime in my ickle elementary years. Oh how I loved playing Ariel those nights and resented whenever it was my sister's turn to play her. (Dad would make us take turns playing the "main heroine" of whatever readalong we were acting out.) Ariel, I always felt, was my princess.
I still feel that way. I still feel like Ariel is my Disney Princess. It's not that I particularly saw myself in her, because I was and still am far too gentle to particularly relate to her fiesty free-spirit and her determination, but out of all the princesses and heroines in Disney's Animated Canon, Ariel was the one I always kept coming back to as my favorite.
So! The first thing to know about Ariel is that she loves human stuff.
Ariel is a bright, spunky girl with a thirst for adventure and endless curiosity, especially about the human world above. She spends a lot of time exploring old shipwrecks and collecting interesting trinkets and tidbits, which she keeps in a secret grotto.
As her I Want song reveals, she doesn't just have a deep affection for human culture, she actually longs to be human herself. There's a deep yearning in her heart to see the human world up close and in person, as a human. This desire also manifests in the TV series set before the film. Ariel spends a lot of time-and gets into a lot of peril and adventure-pursuing human things. The episode "Wish Upon A Starfish" stands out in my mind the most as an example of that. Having been blown close to shore by a storm, in pursuit of a music box, Ariel sees a ballet dancer practicing on the pier. There's this amazing, broken tone in her voice when she watches the grace and beauty of the woman's dance, and comments on the "two tails" required to do such an amazing thing. Ariel spends the rest of the episode going on a quest (with Flounder, Sebastian, her friend Gabriella and Ollie the octopus interpreter) to find the great magical wishing starfish, and wish for, "two tails, so I can dance".
Wow that makes this part HURT. She doesn't just "want to see 'em dancing", she wants to dance with them.
So yeah, by the time of The Little Mermaid film, Ariel has been longing to be a human for a good while. She's gotten into a lot of trouble going up to the surface, in fact, though not quite enough for her to fully break away and pursue humanity just yet.
It's kind of silly how much I love Ariel's troublemaker side. Ariel, unlike her predecessor Disney Princesses, is a tremendously flawed character. She's rebellious, she forgets important engagements and shirks off responsibilities, she talks back to her father, and she's just such a typical teenager, wanting to sneak out of the house and hang with people Daddy disapproves of and date a boy Daddy hates and just figure out how to be her own independent person. She's very relatable on that level. She's sixteen, she acts sixteen, and that means she makes impulsive, sometimes really bad decisions and trusts people she shouldn't and screws up massively and I love her for it.
Because she's just so endearing and adorable and determined to pursue her dream of being human that I can't help but love her.
Ariel winds up falling for a handsome human prince, though this isn't, contrary to what hater and detractors may think, what initially spurns her decision to go make a deal with Ursula the Sea Witch. No no, that came a little later, when Daddy Triton finds her secret grotto and proceeds to destroy everything precious to her.
Yeah, now that I'm older, this scene is even scarier. And kiiiind of abusive.
So after that blow-up, Ariel is easy pickings for the manipulations of Flotsam, Jetsam, and their mistress Ursula. And Ariel decides to take the risk, give up her voice (the thing she's most known for in the merworld), and trade her fins in for feet. She stakes it all on winning Eric's heart before the three day deadline.
And you know what? She does a pretty damn good job. Despite having no voice, Ariel's expressive face and body language perfectly convey every emotion and thought. She doesn't really have a problem communicating, or getting Eric to be attracted to her vibrant personality.
She doesn't quite understand forks though.
Anyone who says Ariel just changed herself entirely for a man clearly was not actually paying attention to the movie, especially the tour of the kingdom. Look at how she smiles! Look how much personality and emotion shines through, even though she has no voice! She's so giddy and excited and happy to finally be human and among humans. This is her dream come true.
WAAAAH AND SHE FINALLY GOT HER WISH TO DANCE WITH TWO TAILS ASFHALFHALKSFHALBLURBBLE!
Except for the untimely interference of Ursula, Ariel pretty much had Eric and her humanity in the bag, after only two days. That's pretty darn impressive.
Oh, and we can't forget, after shit has gone down and Triton has taken her place as Ursula's slave and Ursula has crowned herself queen, Ariel refuses to be a blubbering pansy. Because that's not how Ariel rolls. She is a fierce bitch and she WILL call the new supreme ruler of the oceans a monster and attempt to claw her face off for turning her daddy into a plant. And she WILL yank Ursula's hair to throw off her aim and protect Eric. This is not even going into all the numerous ways she was badass and awesome in the television series. (Those things include getting a giant killer octopus to tie himself in knots, facing off against sharks, escaping whirlpools, stuff like that.)
Ariel is a lot of things, but a submissive female she is not. She's brave, she has a strong sense of justice, she challenges her father's mistaken prejudices towards humans. She's reckless and daring. She's warm and caring. She's a loyal friend. She's an emotionally driven and determined and so very teenage girl.
She loves her daddy.
And I adore her with every fiber of my being.
You're part of my world, Ariel.
I actually had a bit of trouble deciding who to do this week. Then I finally decided upon one of the ladies from my childhood. I give you... a Disney Princess.
"I wanna be where the people are... I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing..."
--"Part of Your World" by Alan Menken
I love the shit out of Ariel. I really do.
The Little Mermaid was probably the first movie I can remember seeing. I actually don't remember much, just that I was wee and at my friend's house and it was playing on the television. Ariel must have made quite the impression on me, because The Little Mermaid became my favorite Disney readalong to act out before bedtime in my ickle elementary years. Oh how I loved playing Ariel those nights and resented whenever it was my sister's turn to play her. (Dad would make us take turns playing the "main heroine" of whatever readalong we were acting out.) Ariel, I always felt, was my princess.
I still feel that way. I still feel like Ariel is my Disney Princess. It's not that I particularly saw myself in her, because I was and still am far too gentle to particularly relate to her fiesty free-spirit and her determination, but out of all the princesses and heroines in Disney's Animated Canon, Ariel was the one I always kept coming back to as my favorite.
So! The first thing to know about Ariel is that she loves human stuff.
Ariel is a bright, spunky girl with a thirst for adventure and endless curiosity, especially about the human world above. She spends a lot of time exploring old shipwrecks and collecting interesting trinkets and tidbits, which she keeps in a secret grotto.
As her I Want song reveals, she doesn't just have a deep affection for human culture, she actually longs to be human herself. There's a deep yearning in her heart to see the human world up close and in person, as a human. This desire also manifests in the TV series set before the film. Ariel spends a lot of time-and gets into a lot of peril and adventure-pursuing human things. The episode "Wish Upon A Starfish" stands out in my mind the most as an example of that. Having been blown close to shore by a storm, in pursuit of a music box, Ariel sees a ballet dancer practicing on the pier. There's this amazing, broken tone in her voice when she watches the grace and beauty of the woman's dance, and comments on the "two tails" required to do such an amazing thing. Ariel spends the rest of the episode going on a quest (with Flounder, Sebastian, her friend Gabriella and Ollie the octopus interpreter) to find the great magical wishing starfish, and wish for, "two tails, so I can dance".
Wow that makes this part HURT. She doesn't just "want to see 'em dancing", she wants to dance with them.
So yeah, by the time of The Little Mermaid film, Ariel has been longing to be a human for a good while. She's gotten into a lot of trouble going up to the surface, in fact, though not quite enough for her to fully break away and pursue humanity just yet.
It's kind of silly how much I love Ariel's troublemaker side. Ariel, unlike her predecessor Disney Princesses, is a tremendously flawed character. She's rebellious, she forgets important engagements and shirks off responsibilities, she talks back to her father, and she's just such a typical teenager, wanting to sneak out of the house and hang with people Daddy disapproves of and date a boy Daddy hates and just figure out how to be her own independent person. She's very relatable on that level. She's sixteen, she acts sixteen, and that means she makes impulsive, sometimes really bad decisions and trusts people she shouldn't and screws up massively and I love her for it.
Because she's just so endearing and adorable and determined to pursue her dream of being human that I can't help but love her.
Ariel winds up falling for a handsome human prince, though this isn't, contrary to what hater and detractors may think, what initially spurns her decision to go make a deal with Ursula the Sea Witch. No no, that came a little later, when Daddy Triton finds her secret grotto and proceeds to destroy everything precious to her.
Yeah, now that I'm older, this scene is even scarier. And kiiiind of abusive.
So after that blow-up, Ariel is easy pickings for the manipulations of Flotsam, Jetsam, and their mistress Ursula. And Ariel decides to take the risk, give up her voice (the thing she's most known for in the merworld), and trade her fins in for feet. She stakes it all on winning Eric's heart before the three day deadline.
And you know what? She does a pretty damn good job. Despite having no voice, Ariel's expressive face and body language perfectly convey every emotion and thought. She doesn't really have a problem communicating, or getting Eric to be attracted to her vibrant personality.
She doesn't quite understand forks though.
Anyone who says Ariel just changed herself entirely for a man clearly was not actually paying attention to the movie, especially the tour of the kingdom. Look at how she smiles! Look how much personality and emotion shines through, even though she has no voice! She's so giddy and excited and happy to finally be human and among humans. This is her dream come true.
WAAAAH AND SHE FINALLY GOT HER WISH TO DANCE WITH TWO TAILS ASFHALFHALKSFHALBLURBBLE!
Except for the untimely interference of Ursula, Ariel pretty much had Eric and her humanity in the bag, after only two days. That's pretty darn impressive.
Oh, and we can't forget, after shit has gone down and Triton has taken her place as Ursula's slave and Ursula has crowned herself queen, Ariel refuses to be a blubbering pansy. Because that's not how Ariel rolls. She is a fierce bitch and she WILL call the new supreme ruler of the oceans a monster and attempt to claw her face off for turning her daddy into a plant. And she WILL yank Ursula's hair to throw off her aim and protect Eric. This is not even going into all the numerous ways she was badass and awesome in the television series. (Those things include getting a giant killer octopus to tie himself in knots, facing off against sharks, escaping whirlpools, stuff like that.)
Ariel is a lot of things, but a submissive female she is not. She's brave, she has a strong sense of justice, she challenges her father's mistaken prejudices towards humans. She's reckless and daring. She's warm and caring. She's a loyal friend. She's an emotionally driven and determined and so very teenage girl.
She loves her daddy.
And I adore her with every fiber of my being.
You're part of my world, Ariel.