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Thread: My Second Take on Disney's The Little Mermaid 1 and 2!

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    Senior Member Pod of New England MermanJamie's Avatar
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    My Second Take on Disney's The Little Mermaid 1 and 2!

    Ok, so revising my old thread, I really liked this movie.

    My main issue with the movies is not actually King Triton, but more Prince Eric, and the lack of action he gets, especially in the second movie, Return To The Sea. I really wish his role could be beefed up, especially since he seems to have this huge disconnect with the merfolk world. He just stands around while Ariel and Melody decide the fate of the merfolk world, and I wish something could be done with the plot to really link these two worlds, like show Atlantica to Eric, because I feel like this would really help! Ariel, who is from Atlantica, is now familiar with the human world, and if Eric could see Atlantica, or maybe visit with his wife and daughter, this would go both ways. This would truly unify their family! But maybe a conflict could arise while they were there! And thus, their love would have to stop it! Thoughts on this for a fourth Little Mermaid movie? I think this would solve a lot, and make Eric less of a one note prince. Tell me what you think!

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    Senior Member Pod of New England MermanJamie's Avatar
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    Oh, no, I didn't mean in the first movie. He had a lot to do there, like fighting Ursula, which was a great premise, and reminded me of the scene where Phillip fights Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. I meant in the second movie. It just feels like he is the piece of the family that is missing from Atlantica. I understand that they didn't want to make Ariel a one note princess, and that is amazing. I just feel bad. If it was my wife and daughter that were part of a mysterious other world, I would want in on their adventures. I feel like Eric might get lonely. The role of a bridge between the human and merfolk world should be shared by Ariel, Melody and Eric. I'm not saying he's a bad character, just that there is so much they can do to make him, along with Melody and Ariel outstanding characters, and further build on their family relationship. I have so many ideas of how they could do this in a fourth movie, if you want to talk more about it!

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    I just love Ariel's character and her voice is totally awesome! I actually named my daughter after her.

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    Senior Member Pod of Texas Mermaid Delphinidae's Avatar
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    I agree that Eric is a pretty bland character, but he does play an important part in saving the day. He goes out on the boat to rescue Ariel and stabs Ursula in the gut with a ship. Maybe he could have been more active, but the filmmakers wanted the focus to be on Ariel. Disney used to get a lot of rightful criticism about how their princess characters were kind of bland and passive, and Ariel was their first try at a princess lead who was active and had personality.

    Though I also agree that it would have been cool for Eric to visit the sea as a merman. Admittedly I haven't seen the second movie in a while, but from what I do remember, it's not particularly good and it has a lot of problems. In defense of this part of the film, though, wasn't the reasoning that he had to stay on land to look for her? They didn't actually know for sure if Melody went to the sea.

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    Senior Member Pod of New England MermanJamie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Delphinidae View Post
    I agree that Eric is a pretty bland character, but he does play an important part in saving the day. He goes out on the boat to rescue Ariel and stabs Ursula in the gut with a ship. Maybe he could have been more active, but the filmmakers wanted the focus to be on Ariel. Disney used to get a lot of rightful criticism about how their princess characters were kind of bland and passive, and Ariel was their first try at a princess lead who was active and had personality.

    Though I also agree that it would have been cool for Eric to visit the sea as a merman. Admittedly I haven't seen the second movie in a while, but from what I do remember, it's not particularly good and it has a lot of problems. In defense of this part of the film, though, wasn't the reasoning that he had to stay on land to look for her? They didn't actually know for sure if Melody went to the sea.
    Oh, I absolutely agree. One thing that I bring up, even though I have been trying to ease myself out of politics, though, is that in order to build up male or female characters in a relationship or dynamic in some form of media, the other does not necessarily have to be weak. This is especially apparent in old Disney Movies where the man was strong and the woman was weak. However I believe that the answer to empowering girls and creating strong female characters is not making the male characters weaker, but having an active balance of strengths.

    One of the best examples of this is Mulan, where a tough girl goes to war, and falls in love with the general's equally tough son. They're the type of couple who would go onto a battlefield and kill armies of zombies for a date! They both have equal strength, and are comfortable being equal in their relationship, and I think it is beautiful that their personalities are so similar.

    So while I said earlier, I really did like Eric in the first movie, but I'd like to see him and Ariel pursuing a more active relationship, where they share experiences and can relate to each other a little more. Maybe they could visit Atlantica together, and Ariel could show him her collection of human stuff! I think that would be a hilarious couple scene. Ariel has already gotten to see Eric's world, so I think it would also be fun to try it the other way around.

    So while I did love the movies, this thread is just a polite critique, and what I think they could do better if they were to make another movie, or some sort of project like that.

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    Senior Member Pod of New England MermanJamie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bizarre View Post
    I just love Ariel's character and her voice is totally awesome! I actually named my daughter after her.
    Wow, that's awesome! I'm so happy for you! Ariel's voice actress, Jodi Benson, is actually quite a talent, especially to me in my home sphere of theater. I'm not really trying to complain about Ariel here, as I love her character as well, I just wish she and Eric had a bit of a more balanced, open relationship, and right now it seems like their relationship might be a little complex with one of them always running off to save someone. If they could work together in these situations, it would be perfect! Kind of like if Ariel helped in some way while Eric was fighting Ursula. She was kind of in a tough position, though, so it's understandable, but I'd like to see stuff like that going forward.

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    Senior Member Pod of Texas Mermaid Delphinidae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MermanJamie View Post
    Oh, I absolutely agree. One thing that I bring up, even though I have been trying to ease myself out of politics, though, is that in order to build up male or female characters in a relationship or dynamic in some form of media, the other does not necessarily have to be weak. This is especially apparent in old Disney Movies where the man was strong and the woman was weak. However I believe that the answer to empowering girls and creating strong female characters is not making the male characters weaker, but having an active balance of strengths.

    One of the best examples of this is Mulan, where a tough girl goes to war, and falls in love with the general's equally tough son. They're the type of couple who would go onto a battlefield and kill armies of zombies for a date! They both have equal strength, and are comfortable being equal in their relationship, and I think it is beautiful that their personalities are so similar.

    So while I said earlier, I really did like Eric in the first movie, but I'd like to see him and Ariel pursuing a more active relationship, where they share experiences and can relate to each other a little more. Maybe they could visit Atlantica together, and Ariel could show him her collection of human stuff! I think that would be a hilarious couple scene. Ariel has already gotten to see Eric's world, so I think it would also be fun to try it the other way around.

    So while I did love the movies, this thread is just a polite critique, and what I think they could do better if they were to make another movie, or some sort of project like that.
    Yeah, Disney has definitely gotten a lot better in that area. Gotta give the studio credit, they definitely learn from their mistakes. (compare Pocahontas with Moana) The romances in recent movies definitely have more thought put into them and we don't really see the whole "get married after knowing each other for two days" thing. I imagine that the live-action remake is going to try and develop their romance more, and they might not get married immediately.

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