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Mermaid Sierra
10-02-2014, 08:45 PM
Ok, so i had this crazy idea the other day so i thought i'd share it with you guys. So, a lot of people on here idolize Ariel, but i don't. and here's why:
Ariel may have been a mermaid and all, but she longed to be part of the human world. Yes, we may long to be part of the sea and she may have been what we want to be (that being a mermaid), but what about the most forgotten Disney princess?
Ariels daughter Melody was just like us. She was a human who was fascinated by the sea. She longed to be a part of it and would do anything to be a mermaid. and eventually, she did become a mermaid. so, why do we still idolize Ariel when her daughter is more relatable to us?

Mer-gal
10-02-2014, 09:40 PM
well said mermaid sierra.

Prince Calypso
10-02-2014, 09:59 PM
and also disney pretty much regrets every releasing the little mermaid two which is why they don't talk about melody.
for all intesive purposes she doesnt exist in the disney universe as far as Disney is concerned

deepblue
10-02-2014, 10:02 PM
I'd love to know where you heard that, Calypso. TLM is the film that breathed life back into Disney after years of losing money on other films in the post-Disney animated features heyday. It's one of their most successful modern films, brings in millions of dollars from not just the film but merchandising... I hear them speak of it well in articles, and they dedicated an entire section of California Adventure (the Disney theme park across from Disneyland) to The Little Mermaid. (see it here: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disney-california-adventure/little-mermaid-ariels-undersea-adventure/) Oh, and she's one of the Princesses featured in the many Disneyland daily parades.

Incidentally, I'm not a fan. :)

AniaR
10-02-2014, 10:50 PM
He means the sequel ;)

deepblue
10-02-2014, 11:30 PM
Ohh- I'm so sorry I did NOT even see the 'Two' there. :)

But it's still surprising to me, since I see it all over the place.

Also: I think I'd better be done with Internetting tonight. I am misunderstanding everything! G'night!

Genevieve
10-03-2014, 12:37 AM
I wish Melody had gotten a better movie. It could have been done. Maybe she's feeling the effects of being a "halfbreed", or has to undergo a merfolk rite of passage.

DexRicon
10-03-2014, 02:04 AM
Melody and Ariel both wanted to be part of different worlds and ran away to do so…but Ariel had two major differences that set her story apart from and above Melody's; she didn't act on that desire until another motivator came along and she had to sacrifice something to do get it. Melody only wanted to be some place she felt comfortable. Ariel wanted to be some place unfamiliar and strange. Melody only acted on that desire when she felt humiliated. Ariel acted on her desire when she fell in love with a human and then got humiliated on a deep way by her father. Melody believed her only price was stealing from a stranger or becoming human after three days. Ariel's price was the permanent loss of her ability to speak at best and complete loss of freedom if she failed.

True, Melody's desire is a little more in line with what merphiles want, but as a story and character Ariel is a little more…well…human.

Also, For a Moment is pretty well the first song I ever heard that was kind of good in English but really came into its own in Spanish.

Mer-Crazy
10-03-2014, 07:54 AM
Also, For a Moment is pretty well the first song I ever heard that was kind of good in English but really came into its own in Spanish.
After hearing this I went and found a Spanish version on youtube... oh my gosh! It's beautiful! Everyone must listen!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov8dYDrLqlg

Trident True
10-03-2014, 09:12 AM
for me its the story line, even though most people can relate to a human wanting to be a mermaid, I always but mylself in the merfolk fins, what would it be like to live under the sea instead of living on land. this is something that personally draws you to the Little Mermaid. not to mention Ariel's famous red Hair.... as apposed to being human and wanting to become a mermaid, however melody was born and raised on land so its only natural that she would be longing to have something different in her life, hence the ocean. even though its apart of her..... well that's what happens when your parents don't tell you the truth. Basically I find it more relatable for mermaids that wish to be human has it makes things so much more interesting.

Miyu
10-04-2014, 12:28 AM
...It's been a guilty pleasure of mine that I like TLM2 more than the original ever since it came out! (yes, even though I'm an '80s baby... so scandalous LOL) I really love Melody, and of course there's the whole wanting-to-be-a-mermaid thing. Also I love Melody's "outfit", and the fact that she's pretty awkward, and I love her name (I'm a choir nerd). Plus she was a little more badass, and her whole turning-into-a-mermaid had nothing to do with falling head-over-fins for a prince :P I always have a special place in my heart for the heroines who DON'T do it for romantic love!

Also, that Spanish version of For A Moment... So beautiful!!!

Cerulean
10-04-2014, 12:49 AM
Well I think an easy answer as someone already pointed out is that Ariel has been around a considerable amount of time longer than Melody. Quite a few more people, including myself, grew up watching the first movie and identifying with Ariel in how she so badly longed to have a place in 'another world' which is the same idea as wanting to live under the sea just switched. I remember always thinking, "Sheesh you wanna live up here so badly? Ill switch you anytime Ariel."

Personally I thought the ending of Melody's movie was a little lame. It was just like... Oh hey Ive always wanted to be a part of the sea and now that I know theres really mermaids and a city etc down there.... Im totally happy with being a human~ -ends- I wouldve liked it better if shed at least said she was... having a summer vacation or spending some time as a mermaid at the end.

SeaGlass Siren
10-04-2014, 08:24 AM
I think they kind of left an open ending. Like she can visit Atlantica and be with her grandfather whenever she wants to but if she misses her parents she can become human also. Same w Ariel she can visit home whenever now too. They all family anyway why should she have to choose one or the other?

Rivertee
10-04-2014, 10:49 AM
Call me a hopeless romantic but I do so enjoy the fanfics and artworks of Melody as an adult/older teenager being with the blonde merman in the movie. There's even a fan comic of the young merman making a deal with a sea serpent to join melody. (basically Ariel's story but for a guy)

Mermaid Sierra
10-07-2014, 09:56 PM
i agree Mermaid Selene, the spanish version is amazing. it is so beautiful!

Fun123joker
10-08-2014, 04:44 PM
wait wait wait can someone pull up that one mermaid in the little mermaid show that spoke ASL and had an octopus translator. i think she's cool

SeaGlass Siren
10-08-2014, 05:23 PM
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Gabriella


YOURE WELCOME :)

SeaVixen
10-09-2014, 10:40 PM
I think Ariel appeals more because she's been around longer than Melody. She's more familiar. For the longest time I didn't even know there was a second and third because I didn't see them in stores. I saw them online when searching something else little mermaid related and those 2 sequels popped up in amazon. That's how I got them. From amazon and I was already in my 20s when I found them by accident. Ariel came about the same year I was born so she's as old as I am and she is who I grew up with. Melody was a stranger to me until recently.

Merlia
10-13-2014, 05:48 PM
I love her hair lol :P

Meronica
10-14-2014, 10:28 PM
Ariel was always my favorite princess when I was little. After all, little girls tend to pick the Disney princess who most resembles themselves as their favorite, and the only redhead we had was Ariel until Merida came around.

Once I hit my teenage years I kept the baby face, side bangs, and small frame and it just kind of stuck. As far as mermaids go, though, the Neverland mermaids in Disney's animated Peter Pan are my main inspiration because they're just fabulous. Haha.

Mermaid_Jordyn
12-30-2014, 01:00 AM
Well... Interesting fact my middle name is Arielle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maethor
12-31-2014, 11:53 AM
Ariel was always my favorite princess when I was little. After all, little girls tend to pick the Disney princess who most resembles themselves as their favorite, and the only redhead we had was Ariel until Merida came around.

Once I hit my teenage years I kept the baby face, side bangs, and small frame and it just kind of stuck. As far as mermaids go, though, the Neverland mermaids in Disney's animated Peter Pan are my main inspiration because they're just fabulous. Haha.
Same! Now I identify more with Anna since the red is natural and she has such an adorabley awkward personality. But I still love Ariel because she's the mermaid I've loved since I was little. :)

Mermaid Mhara
01-04-2015, 04:29 AM
I grew up with Ariel...and loved her, idolised her in some ways...which tbh if you REALLY think about it children really shouldn't be idolising her or seeing her as an inspiration of what they want to be in some aspects haha!

But I remember the second movie coming out, and yes I did connect more with Melody at that point and do have a complete soft spot for her.

However I'm odd in the fact that even though these mermaids played such a huge part of my childhood...it was probably h2o I owe my Merman side to...not the little mermaid. My mermaid obsession stems from birth really...but the desire to BECOME a merperson rather than just hopefully wishing didn't start till I watched h2o as I saw it a tad more realistic and more approachable than the cartoons.

To me today, Ariel is just a HUGE nostalgic link to my childhood and the beginning of my mersession but she doesn't really play a huge part in my mermaiding, neither does Madison nor many movie mermaids really. The ones I tend to obsess over lately are Hannah mermaid, the h2o and Mako mermaids, and people on here that make their own tails and such...hehe :)

-Annwyn-
01-04-2015, 05:16 AM
I despise Ariel. She's a whiny, rude, impatient brat who disobeys her parents, signs contracts without reading them, tricks her lover into believing she is a human then expects both her lover and her father to save her when the shit hits the fan and Ursula, who so far has done everything to legally protect herself wants to claim her end of the deal and Ariel reneges. She has no table manners, no social etiquette skills and no dress sense.

So when I stand there, baffled as to why she is so popular, I realise it is because she is an idiot. Just because moths are drawn to a light bulb, doesn't mean the light bulb has any value. Just as Ariel has no value.


Mulan is my favourite Disney character.

Mer-Crazy
01-04-2015, 05:22 AM
I despise Ariel. She's a whiny, rude, impatient brat who disobeys her parents, signs contracts without reading them, tricks her lover into believing she is a human then expects both her lover and her father to save her when the shit hits the fan and Ursula, who so far has done everything to legally protect herself wants to claim her end of the deal and Ariel reneges. She has no table manners, no social etiquette skills and no dress sense.

So when I stand there, baffled as to why she is so popular, I realise it is because she is an idiot. Just because moths are drawn to a light bulb, doesn't mean the light bulb has any value. Just as Ariel has no value.

^^^ See this ^^^ This right here ^^^ Is what I have to explain to my friends every time they go 'oh you like mermaids, therefore you must love Ariel' and I turn around and go 'Don't like Ariel.' Also I'd never suit red hair :/

Mermaid Mhara
01-04-2015, 12:36 PM
I despise Ariel. She's a whiny, rude, impatient brat who disobeys her parents, signs contracts without reading them, tricks her lover into believing she is a human then expects both her lover and her father to save her when the shit hits the fan and Ursula, who so far has done everything to legally protect herself wants to claim her end of the deal and Ariel reneges. She has no table manners, no social etiquette skills and no dress sense.

So when I stand there, baffled as to why she is so popular, I realise it is because she is an idiot. Just because moths are drawn to a light bulb, doesn't mean the light bulb has any value. Just as Ariel has no value.


Mulan is my favourite Disney character.


Yes yes!! This, this is how I now see Ariel in some ways past the Nostalgia that it brings me.

Tis why in fictional mer-terms my faves are the Mako mermaids girls as they're quite strong characters who are also independent and unique in their own ways. They don't become something they're not in order to gain affection or love from someone they don't even know...they use their magic in order to become human to kick some ass and get their pod back...of course things happen in between that stunts that from really happening...but they're still so much better to look at and go 'Ooooh I love them, I wanna be like them!' as a kid than saying you wish to be a whining and selfish hoarder who disobeys everything her loving and caring father sets out for her and then expects others to clean up the mess when shit goes down.

I also MUCH prefer Ursula to Ariel any day haha! She's great, and if I ever did drag...I'd totes do an Ursula inspired look.

In Disney terms, my fave princess is probably Merida...though I have a soft spot for Anna recently as she reminds me of myself and how stupid and foolish I was with my 'first love' yet Anna didn't change herself completely for that love she was simply naive, innocent and young as we all are at one point.

Wouldn't it be great if they made a new version of the Little mermaid where after she gains her legs she realises that her prince charming isn't so charming and she despises his personality? Ha.

DexRicon
01-06-2015, 10:07 PM
There is no question that Ariel -like many of the Disney princesses- is a bit of a shallow character. Demonstrations of how and explanations of why have been discussed at length by people far smarter than I'll ever be. I wonder, then, without changing the plot of the film significantly could she have been made a deeper character? I suppose she could have been shown to see Eric as merely an example of the life she wants, freedom that her protective father denies her. Or…I don't know. The Nostalgia Chick once did an episode on the film, essentially pasting her character…and yet like anyone who grew up on it she too fell to the allure of "Part of that World." Maybe we've all grown past it. We should, because like all the best fairy tales she's simple and the adult world is anything but. But even if my love of mermaids didn't start with Ariel, I owe her some love because I wouldn't have discovered Splash if not for it being played in order to hype up the upcoming film. For that matter, the Little Mermaid was the first movie I got excited for and the first I remember seeing all the way through in the theater.

That rambled a bit. She's a character I suppose I'm kind of passionate about if I think about it. So...I suppose if Ariel were real…no, that's not true. She may not be a real person but she's as real as any idea can get. So I say this to the spirit of Ariel, how ever it exists: Thank you for changing my life for the better.

Triton-Mahtlinnie
01-06-2015, 11:07 PM
I dunno about anyone else, but I have fond memories of watching The Little Mermaid cartoon when I was younger. This, I think, is what helped create a connection with Ariel, I didn't really watch much of the original movie. It's also the only mer show that I know of that really focuses on the undersea world and has very little set in the human world. There's also something about her impulsiveness and rebellious nature that I think appeals to the younger set.

I might also be the only person that really kinda likes the 3rd Little Mermaid movie. Probably because I'm really drawn to the whole "underground music club" idea.

As for what really influences my mer-self, it'll always be Cody from Thirteenth Year. That was and is my favorite mer-centric movie.