Ariel was always a role model, but the live-action Little Mermaid makes her stronger
The Little Mermaid was a game-changing project for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ flagging animation department, but more than that, it completely redefined the idea of the Disney princess. When the animated movie reached theaters in 1989, it had been 30 years since the studio’s previous princess film, Sleeping Beauty. Previous Disney princesses, like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora, are kind and caring, but they’re mostly beautiful ciphers who take care of their households and flit around with cutesy forest animals encircling them. Ariel felt like something new for Disney: a daring, outspoken young woman who isn’t afraid to pursue what she wants, instead of sitting by a wishing well, patiently hoping her world will change. As Roger Ebert put it at the time, Ariel is a “fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny.”
Ariel saves the life of her love interest, Prince Eric, stands up to her tyrant father, and dares to face the Sea Witch. She has a genuine interest in something besides domestic skills: studying and collecting objects from the human world. But her trajectory eventually yields to the fairy-tale formula, with Prince Eric rescuing her from the villain and celebrating with a wedding.
A Century of Disney
The positive changes made in Rob Marshall’s live-action remake The Little Mermaidshow us what Ariel’s character looks like without those cliches. Halle Bailey’s luminescent performance is a large part of Ariel’s transformation into a more well-rounded character. Her interpretation of “Part of Your World,” in particular, induces goosebumps; her whole body vibrates with a desperate
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