Mermaid Ariel and witch. Charming magical voice

The funny fish is the best friend of the little mermaid Ariel. He is yellow-blue in color with a very good-natured expression of the muzzle, an upturned nose and a sweet smile. Together, friends experienced many different adventures, came up with an incredible number of games and fun. They constantly teased the eternally serious crab Sebastian and ran away from the palace, which more than once deserved severe punishment from King Triton.

Friends met when both were still very young. Flau then studied at a school for fish and was the most cowardly of his classmates: he was afraid of everything and constantly hid behind snags and corals. When he first saw the princess, the fish was horrified, because he thought that she wanted to eat him. Ariel had to calm down the little coward for a long time and convince him that he did not belong to her gastronomic preferences. They were only tried on by the fact that both of them love delicious vanilla ice cream with pieces of fresh and juicy plankton.

Although little Flounder is a little cowardly and indecisive, he has always been an accomplice of the little mermaid in various tricks and adventures, and when she was in danger, he was the first to defend her, even in some cases risking her own life.

More than anything, the nimble fish loves to give gifts to his beautiful girlfriend. To do this, he collects the most beautiful pearls along the seabed and wholeheartedly presents them as a gift to the little mermaid. In , you too can join the search for pearls, from which Princess Ariel will make herself a necklace.

The little mermaid Ariel lives between the sea and the land, these two elements are equally dear to her - in one she was born and raised, in the other she found female happiness. The funny and resourceful crab Sebastian and the goldfish Flounder help the young mermaid in dangerous adventures. The project of the studio "" will soon turn 30 years old, but it never ceases to delight the children.

History of creation

The main prototype of the Disney little mermaid was, of course, the inhabitant of the seas from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. But the Danish writer's story is too dark to be loved by today's kids. Screenwriter Ron Clements decided to fill the fairy tale with colors, cheerfulness and new details, and at the same time updated the plot.

But all this happened much later than the day the cartoon was conceived. The idea to make a colorful animated film arose in the 30s of the last century. Then the representatives of Disney were not going to change the tragic ending of Andersen, and they wanted to stretch the plot into several mini-stories about the little mermaid. However, the project had to be suspended, and it was remembered only after half a century.

In the image of a charming little mermaid, the features and characteristics of several people are mixed. The princess of the underwater kingdom borrowed the appearance and facial expressions from the young actress, who shone in the television series Charmed. The girl at the time of the character's creation was 16 years old, and Ariel's age in the first cartoon was the same. Disney chief animator Glen Keane has said that some of the features are based on his wife Linda.

Model Sherri Stoner contributed to the creation of the image - the little mermaid owes her graceful movements to the worker of the catwalks. Stoner had to play the role of Ariel in front of the animators, and they, in turn, tried to convey the manners of the model on the sketches. Astronaut Sally Ride is considered the most amazing prototype: the fiery hair of the little mermaid under water repeated the movements of the hair of the conqueror of the universe when she was in space.

When creating the daughter of the sea lord, disputes broke out over the colors in the guise of the heroine. The authors for a long time could not come to a unanimous decision on what the hair would be like. Part of the animators and management of the studio voted for the blonde. But the opponents who insisted on the idea of ​​a contrasting tail and hair won. So Ariel got a red mop of hair. For the tail, they created a special shade of emerald color, which was called “Ariel”.

The appearance was supposed to convey the eccentric and masterful nature of the character. Therefore, the little mermaid "walks" with eternally disheveled hair and a bra that does not harmonize with the color of the tail, while her sisters always have perfectly styled hairstyles, and the shades of their bodices blend perfectly with the colors of the lower parts of the body.

Children received four cartoons about the adventures of Ariel:

• "The Little Mermaid" (1989)
• "The Little Mermaid" (animated series in three seasons - 1992, 1993, 1994)
• The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000)
• "The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story" (2008)

The chronology of the character's life in cartoons is broken. The first in the story is the last film adaptation, then comes the second film, a description of further events is in the first cartoon.

Mermaid Ariel lit up in a couple of tapes. In the cartoon "House of Mouse" (2001-2003), the girl is visiting. In 2011, the television series Once Upon a Time was released, where the role of Ariel is played by actress Joanna Garcia.

Biography and plot

Ariel was born the last daughter in the family of the sea king Triton and Queen Athena. The girl played pranks from childhood, allowed herself not to obey her father, leaving far from home. And the little mermaid loved to sing. One day my mother died at the hands of pirates. The father, stricken with grief, became gloomy and cold, and later imposed a ban on music in the subject state. Ariel did not want to put up with this situation, but fate threw a lucky chance - the girl stumbled upon an underground music club run by her friend and the right hand of the sea lord, the crab Sebastian.

Even more interesting adventures awaited the little mermaid in the future. In the animated series, Ariel captures a whirlpool of events - the girl manages to anger the sorcerer fish with laughter, adopts a killer whale cub, makes friends with the mermaid Gabriella, who is deaf and mute from birth. There was also a place for dangerous adventures. Among them - the battle with the army of the evil lobster, the war with the witch of the ocean expanses Ursula and the Evil Skat. The audience also gets acquainted with the future husband of the heroine, Prince Eric, but the couple is not yet aware of the existence of each other.

Curious Ariel dreamed of exploring the mysterious worlds beyond the ocean, but her father strictly forbade her to swim further into the blue distance than necessary. The naughty daughter nevertheless went on an “expedition” to the sunken ship, where unknown treasures were found in the form of a fork, which the mermaid takes for a comb, a smoking pipe and other amazing little things. A little later, she discovered a sailing ship. So the biography of the little mermaid in the original cartoon was enriched with a love line.

A handsome prince was sailing on the ship, who fell in love with a mermaid, but on the same day he almost died during a storm. Ariel saved Eric by dragging him ashore and singing a beautiful song. At home, the wrath of her father fell upon the little mermaid, but the girl's heart remained on the shore. In desperation, she rushed with a request for help to the old witch Ursula, and she offered to exchange a wonderful voice for human legs. The deal had one more nuance - if in three days the little mermaid fails to make the prince fall in love with herself and receive a kiss from him, then the soul will become the property of the witch.

Agreeing with the conditions, Ariel put on a dress and went to the shore, where Prince Eric finally strengthened his tender feelings for the girl. The insidious Ursula did not want to miss the chance to take possession of a young soul, so in the guise of a young and beautiful Vanessa, she tried to charm the prince with angelic singing. Vaguely remembering his savior and the wonderful song after the storm, the young man was going to marry the deceiver.

But Ariel has great friends! Fish Flounder in company with crab Sebastian upset the wedding, took away the voice, and the little mermaid was finally able to tell the truth to her lover. However, the three-day period has expired, and now the girl is at the mercy of the evil witch. A war broke out between Triton and Ursula, in which the king decided to sacrifice himself for his daughter. The sorceress was delighted, because in her dreams she saw herself on the sea throne. The celebration did not last long, as a result, Prince Eric defeated the evil old woman. And Triton, seeing his daughter's longing for the earth, gave her legs instead of a tail. The story ended with the wedding of the lovers.

A year after the marriage, the young couple had a daughter, who was named Melody. Motherhood turned Ariel into a serious and reasonable woman, although there was still an adventurous fuse. The heiress is all in her mother - the same obstinate, wayward and curious. Melody has an enemy in the person of the sister of the witch Ursula - Morgana, who made diabolical plans for the girl. To protect the child, the parents decided not to tell the baby about mermaid roots, and also erected a high wall around the castle, just to protect their daughter from the sea.

But the genes have taken their toll: Melody dreams of turning into a mermaid and swimming through the amazing depths of the sea. The insidious and power-hungry Morgana fulfilled the desire of the girl, harboring the hope that she would steal Triton's trident for her. Ariel became a mermaid again to find her missing young daughter.

• The cartoon became the winner of a whole scattering of prizes and awards. In 1990, The Little Mermaid won two Oscars - for Best Song and Best Music. The musical arrangement of the picture was presented by the composer Alan Menken. The film also has a Grammy Award and several Golden Globes.
• The writers planned to make the villain of the underwater world Ursula the sister of King Triton and even created several plots that talk about this fact. However, at the council they suddenly decided that relatives in the fairy-tale world should not be so cruel and vicious - this is a bad example for the younger generation.

• The song "Part of Your World" was recorded in unusual conditions: in order to imagine being underwater, Jodi Benson asked to turn off the lights in the studio.
• The names of the sisters of the main cartoon mermaid begin with the letter "A". The sea king had seven daughters: Aquata, Alana, Arista, Attina, Adela, Andrina and Ariel.

The Little Mermaid Ariel is one of the main characters of the Walt Disney Studios and the heroine of the cartoon "The Little Mermaid" in 1989. The cartoon about Ariel is based on the fairy tale of the same name by the famous Swedish writer Hans Christian Andersen, but the character of the Little Mermaid is presented in a new way, as well as the final part of the story. Disney's Ariel is the fourth official Disney princess. She is the only princess who is not of human origin. A young freedom-loving mermaid of 16 years old, she spends her days dreaming, singing songs and looking for adventure on her scaly tail. Companions in Ariel's games and undertakings are the Flounder fish and Sebastian the crab - the latter, however, is not enthusiastic about adventures and looks after his ward more. Ariel falls in love with a man named Eric and risks everything for love.

character design

The original design of Ariel the Little Mermaid was created by Disney's in-house animator Glen Keane. In an interview, Keane claims that for the image of Ariel, he was inspired by his wife, as well as a little appearance of the model Sherry Stoner and the young actress Alyssa Milano. Stoner, by the way, was the main model for the cartoon character. Studio animators observed her movements and the movements of her hair in a special water tank in order to draw Ariel. The Little Mermaid's facial features (high forehead, large eyes, small mouth, narrow chin) end up subtly reminiscent of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, as well as Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

character voice

Young theater actress Jodi Benson was invited to voice the Little Mermaid Ariel. Moreover, the creators of the cartoon necessarily wanted Benson not only to perform musical parts, but also to speak for the heroine of the cartoon. When recording the main theme song of the cartoon "Part of your world" (Part of your World), Jodie asked to turn off the lights in the studio to feel like she was deep under water.

Mermaid Ariel has a fragile physique. She has long, straight fiery-red hair, loose as usual over her shoulders, pale skin, a small, bright mouth, and expressive sea-blue eyes. She has a mermaid tail below her waist.

Ariel's appearance

Under water, the Little Mermaid costume is a lavender-colored bra, instead of legs, a scaly green fishtail. For the first time getting out on land, Ariel, for lack of a better one, dresses in a piece of canvas and ties it with twine instead of a belt. Once in the castle of Prince Eric, she changes the canvas outfit for a fluffy pink dress with a wide hem, a pale pink underskirt and puffed sleeves that open the shoulders. White satin peeks through the slits in the sleeves. Also in the palace, the girl is given a pink nightgown with ruffles. For the first walk with the prince, Ariel dresses in a wide long blue skirt, a blue shirt with loose sleeves, a dark blue, almost black lace-up corset and black shoes with a small heel. Her head is adorned with a blue bow. Also, the girl can be seen in a long sparkling blue dress with a slit, which her father, King Triton, gave her before her wedding to Eric. The Little Mermaid wedding costume consists of a puffy white satin dress with a blue piping along the neckline and bottom of the corset and tight sleeves gathered into large puffs at the shoulders. On the girl's head is a golden tiara with a transparent long veil. In the ears are white pearl earrings.

Little Mermaid Dresses

Ariel is a very energetic and determined young mermaid with a penchant for play and adventure. Together with her friend, the fish Flounder, the Little Mermaid explores the depths of the ocean with the real passion of a discoverer. For the most part, the girl is interested in sunken ships, as there you can find things from the world of people. Mermaid Ariel takes a variety of human objects into her collection. She is obsessed with everything human and especially longs to get into the world of people - in this regard, the girl often rises to the surface, makes friends with Scuttle the seagull and follows the passing ships with her eyes. Ariel is impulsive, impulsive, but ready to be responsible for her actions, which often lead to all sorts of misunderstandings and problems. Stubborn by nature, she is not content with the quiet pleasures of a collector. In order to achieve her goal (get on land and reunite with Prince Eric, whom she fell in love with), the girl goes to the lair of the sea witch and concludes an agreement according to which she receives a pair of legs instead of a mermaid tail and a chance to build happiness with her lover in the world of people.

Despite her adventurous spirit, the girl is compassionate, her heart is full of kindness and love for friends and loved ones. In addition, Ariel has remarkable courage and selflessness, she sacrifices everything for the sake of true love and saves her lover more than once.

In The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Ariel has matured. She is little Melody's mother. At the time of the events taking place in the cartoon, the Little Mermaid is about 28 years old. Ariel is still very attractive, pulling her red hair into a high updo or ponytail, and wearing voluminous gold and white dresses, a crown, and jewelry. Her movements are distinguished by sedateness, although sometimes she secretly misses the sea very much and allows herself to throw off her shoes and wander barefoot on the water.

Mermaid character

Ariel has several superpowers:

The Power of the Atlanteans

Apparently, Ariel partially inherited the power of the Atlanteans from her paternal ancestors. She is able to move a rather imposing underwater boulder blocking the entrance to her treasure grotto. In addition, Ariel effortlessly climbs Prince Eric's ship with the help of his hands. And when the prince is drowning, the girl raises him, apparently, by no means a light body, to the surface and even pulls him ashore. In the third part of The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of the Story, Ariel is even able to knock down a heavy door to free her friends. It is not known whether she retained her remarkable strength in her human form, however, it is believed that of all the Disney princesses, Ariel is physically the most powerful. Only Rapunzel with her frying pan can compete with her.

Atlantean Fortitude

In the final battle with Ursula in the original cartoon, the Little Mermaid falls into a giant whirlpool several miles deep. Such a fall would have killed an ordinary person, but not a scratch on Ariel. It is believed that in human form, the Little Mermaid retained this ability. This can be confirmed by the moment in the lair of the sea witch, when Ariel turned into a person at great depths, but was not crushed by pressure and did not choke while Flounder and Sebastian dragged her to the surface. This ability of hers is briefly mentioned in the game Kingdom Hearts, where she can quickly recover from a blow inflicted by an opponent. This also includes resistance to extreme temperatures - both high and low. First of all, this ability is manifested in video games. Ariel, without any visible consequences, swam both in icy water (Morgana's lair in an iceberg) and near underwater volcanoes (Ursula's lair in a volcanic area).

Underwater breathing, or the ability to breathe underwater

Like all mermaids, Ariel is able to breathe both on land and underwater.

Ariel in her underwater hiding place

Super fast swimming

Ariel swims much faster than humans and even faster than some underwater creatures. She is also able to jump high out of the water, like dolphins.

The ability to speak with sea creatures

Ariel understands the language of fish and can speak to them. She retains this ability in her human form. This talent was also inherited by Ariel's daughter Melody.

Aquakinesis or water control

In her mermaid form, Ariel is able to control water on a small scale. This ability is actively exploited in computer games, in particular in the game "The Little Mermaid" from Sega. It is believed that aquakinesis is closely related to Ariel's emotions - just like Elsa's freezing in Frozen.

Ariel and Flounder run away from the shark

Agility

This can be seen in Ariel's carriage driving on the first walk with the prince, as well as in the second part of the cartoon "The Little Mermaid: Return to the Sea", when the younger sister of the sea witch Ursula Morgana tries to steal baby Melody. Then Ariel grabs the prince's saber and cuts the rope with a clear movement to knock the witch into the water and prevent the child from harming.

High adaptability

Which confirms how quickly she learned to stand and walk on her freshly acquired human legs. While an ordinary person has to learn to use his lower limbs for much longer than a few minutes. In addition, Ariel very quickly adopted human traditions and learned to use household items correctly. In any case, after the first incident, she no longer combed her hair with a fork in public and did not try to blow a smoking pipe in front of an astonished audience.

Charming magical voice

Like the voices of the ancient Greek sirens, the voice and singing of Ariel, by all indications, has magical properties. She awakened Prince Eric by singing when he was unconscious from a shipwreck. The hypnotic power of the mermaid's voice was used by the witch Ursula to bewitch the prince. Ariel herself never used her voice for dark purposes.

Ariel singing

The Little Mermaid: Animation 1989 (The Little Mermaid 1989)

The Little Mermaid, or "The Little Mermaid" is a 1989 cartoon from Disney Studios. This is a reworked fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen about the most egregious misalliance: a mermaid in love with a man. The tale ends tragically, but the creators of the cartoon decided that the ending of the literary source was too harsh, and adapted the script for the little ones, writing a happy ending.

The Disney Little Mermaid is the youngest of the seven daughters of King Triton, ruler of the Atlantic. Ariel is 16 years old. She is very interested in the world of people, and, despite the strict prohibitions of her father, often pops up to the surface.

Ariel and Sebastian

At the beginning of the cartoon, the little mermaid Ariel and her friend, the fish Flounder, explore the sunken ship in search of human things that Ariel is passionate about collecting. There, the heroes are attacked by a shark, however, avoiding sharp teeth, they swim away with prey (a fork and a smoking pipe). Having risen to the surface, the Little Mermaid turns to Scuttle, a familiar seagull, with a request to identify objects found underwater. Scuttle says that the fork is a tool for combing hair and creating hairstyles, and the smoking pipe is a musical instrument. The last item reminds Ariel that she was supposed to perform at a concert in honor of her father. She hurries home to the castle, where she receives a severe reprimand both for being late and for rising to the surface. King Triton strictly forbids his daughter to float up. However, Ariel, with the obstinacy characteristic of teenagers, does not want to obey her father. She goes to her secret shelter - a grotto, where a huge collection of things from the world of people is kept. Dreams of land are interrupted by a ship sailing over the head of the little mermaid. She rises to the surface and looks at the ship. There she sees Prince Eric, who is celebrating his birthday. Ariel falls hopelessly in love with a human man. Meanwhile, a terrible storm breaks out at sea, and the ship sinks. The little mermaid saves her lover and drags him ashore. Waking him up with her charming singing, she hides in the water.

Ariel sings

King Triton, having learned that his daughter is in love with a man, destroys the entire collection of Ariel in a secret grotto. In desperation, the girl turns to the sea witch Ursula to help her. Ursula turns Ariel into a human with one condition: Prince Eric must give the girl a kiss of love within three days. If this does not happen, Ariel's soul will belong to the sea witch. In addition, the witch takes the girl's wonderful voice as a pledge, leaving her mute. The contract is sealed with a signature.

Once on the shore, wrapped in a sail, the Little Mermaid meets her prince. Erik seems familiar with the girl's face, and he takes her to his castle to help and warm her. The little mermaid begins a mission to seduce the prince. Eric takes Ariel for a walk around the kingdom, the spontaneity and sweet disposition of the girl conquer him and he wants to kiss her, but this is prevented by the minions of the sea sorceress - electric eels. They overturn the boat in which the Prince and the Little Mermaid took a romantic walk.

On the last day of the pact with the witch, Ariel wakes up to the news that Prince Eric is about to marry. But not on her. The sea witch, disguised as the dark-haired young girl Vanessa, decided to take matters into her own hands and hypnotized the prince using the voice of the Little Mermaid, enclosed in a nautilus shell. The ship with the guests and the bride and groom sails away, leaving the grieving Ariel on the shore. Meanwhile, Scuttle peeks through the window and sees that Vanessa is a sea witch, which Ariel hurries to inform about. The little mermaid jumps into the water to catch up with the ship and save the prince from the witch's clutches. The girl's friends (seagulls, seals, fish) interfere with the wedding. In the process of the turmoil, the shell amulet containing the mermaid's voice breaks. The besotted Prince Eric regains his sight, Ariel's voice returns, but too late. The sun is setting and with its last ray, the pact with the sea witch comes into effect. Ariel becomes a Mermaid again, and Ursula takes her with her to the depths of the sea. Her path is blocked by King Triton, who was informed about everything by the crab Sebastian. When Triton realizes that he is unable to influence the contract signed by his daughter's hand, he sacrifices himself for Ariel and offers himself instead of her. The witch takes possession of the magical royal trident. However, Prince Eric is not ready to part with his barely found lover, even a mermaid, and tries to kill the witch with a harpoon. In the ensuing fight, the witch's pets, electric eels, die, in a rage she wants to destroy both Ariel and the prince, turning into a giant and making a storm. However, Eric kills the sorceress by piercing her stomach with the sharp nose of a ship raised by a whirlpool from the bottom of the sea.

King Triton, realizing that his daughter is suffering from love for a mortal, turns her into a human. The lovers are reunited and married.

Ariel and Eric's wedding

The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea

The sequel to the Ariel story, The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, shows the events that took place a year after Ariel and Eric's wedding. The couple have a daughter, Melody. The safety of the baby is threatened by the insane younger sister of the deceased witch Ursula. So that nothing threatens little Melody, Ariel and her husband decide to keep their daughter away from the sea and its inhabitants. To this end, they build a high wall on the shore and do not tell the maturing Melody about her sea relatives. However, the voice of the sea turns out to be stronger, and the girl, having reached the age of 12, unable to overcome her love for the water element, finds herself in the clutches of the witch Morgana and her minions. Ariel is forced to temporarily transform back into a mermaid in order to find and save her daughter.

The cartoon "The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea" is somewhat different from the canonical version. However, this part is the official continuation of the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" from Disney.

Ariel, Melody's mom, in The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea

The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series

The Little Mermaid is a prequel to the 1989 Disney cartoon Ariel. It was released in 1992 and tells about the events that take place a year before the story shown in the original Disney cartoon. Ariel is 15 years old and hasn't met Prince Eric yet. She lives carelessly in the sea and seeks adventure on her mermaid tail. Getting into trouble, she, as a rule, comes out dry from the water. Ariel's friends, Flounder the flounder and Sebastian the crab, accompany her on all her adventures.

The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story

The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story is a prequel to the 1989 Disney fairy tale The Little Mermaid. Long before the events of the original cartoon, little Ariel and her sisters enjoy life and music in the company of their father, Triton, and mother, Queen Athena. Mermaid folk are happily resting in the lagoon, playing musical instruments and singing. King Triton is in love with his wife, as in his youth, and gives her a beautiful music box as a gift. However, the idyll is interrupted by the appearance of pirates. The mermaids flee, but in the confusion, Queen Athena dies under the keel of a pirate ship. King Triton is heartbroken. Mourning descends on the kingdom of Atlantica. The ruler forbids music, dancing and fun as a sign of his endless sadness.

Little Ariel with her father in The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story

Ten years later, Ariel and her sisters live under the strict supervision of governess Marina del Rey and her assistant, Benjamin the manatee. Marina hates her job and longs for a promotion to King Triton's advisor. Ariel and her sisters are burdened by a sad and routine way of life, and she quarrels with her father because of the lack of music in the life of the kingdom. One day, Ariel sees Flounder stealthily swimming somewhere. Following him, the Little Mermaid discovers an underground music club where the fish have fun with all their might. To her surprise, the girl sees Sebastian, Triton's royal adviser, in the club. Ariel does not talk about her discovery, but Marina del Rey at some point also discovers an underground club and tells King Triton everything. The participants of the fun pastime are imprisoned, Ariel and her sisters are put under house arrest, and Marina del Rey receives the coveted post of adviser to Triton.

At some point, Ariel realizes that it cannot continue like this, and releases friends from the dungeon. They swim away to a secluded place away from King Triton's palace. By chance, Ariel finds a music box, once given to her mother by her father. She, along with Sebastian, wants to go back and remind her father that Athena would never let the music die down in the kingdom. Marina gets in their way, who does not want to lose her position. King Triton sees the wickedness of his adviser and repents that he did this to old friends, daughters and inhabitants of the sea. Music returns to the kingdom, Sebastian the crab gets the position of court composer, Ariel, Flounder and the rest of the sea people rejoice and prosper.

The original concept for The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story was that Ariel, along with Sebastian, should accompany Prince Eric in search of the white whale.

Ariel and sisters in The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story

Based on Andersen's fairy tale, the Soviet cartoon "The Little Mermaid" was created at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1968. Directed by Ivan Aksenchuk. In our version of the fairy tale, an innovative for that time technological method of making backgrounds was used - “photocollage”, and the musical accompaniment included fragments of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. In the 80s, the Soviet cartoon "The Little Mermaid" was released on video cassettes as part of a collection of cartoon fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. At the beginning of the 2000s, the Soviet "Mermaid" was restored and released on DVD.

The series "Once Upon a Time"

Ariel the Little Mermaid also makes multiple appearances on Once Upon a Time. The Little Mermaid was played by American TV star Joanna Garcia.

Joanna Garcia as Ariel, Once Upon a Time

The Little Mermaid movie with Chloë Grace Moretz

In 2017, the release of a feature film about the little mermaid Ariel from Universal Pictures and Working Title was announced. Starring young star Chloe Grace Moretz ("Kick-Ass", "500 Days of Summer"). In the director's chair, fans could see Sofia Coppola for some time, who, however, abandoned the project due to creative differences with the producers. Her version of the famous fairy tale could have been even darker than Andersen's. The transgender Andrea Pejic was expected to play the lead role. According to the latest news, Briton Joe Wright is currently at the helm of the project.

Film "The Little Mermaid" (Czechoslovakia)

The television film The Little Mermaid was filmed in Czechoslovakia in 1976. This is a film adaptation quite close to the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, directed by Karel Kahinya. The role of the Little Mermaid was taken by a young actress Miroslava Shafrankova. Her sister Libushe Shafrankova, known to viewers as Cinderella from Three Nuts for Cinderella, also starred in the Czech version of the famous fairy tale - as the lady of the prince's heart. The film "The Little Mermaid" by Karel Kahini is distinguished by an original approach to filming, make-up and costumes of the characters. The mermaids from the Czech film adaptation have multi-colored hair with fragments of human things stuck in them, and long flowing dresses in the color of the hair.

The Little Mermaid: Drama

There is a modern South Korean interpretation of Andersen's famous fairy tale - the serial comedy drama "The Little Mermaid". According to the plot, the Mermaid falls in love with a human youth and, in order to find happiness on land, she needs to get rid of her tail, find an apartment and get a job. For everything about everything, the South Korean version of Ariel is given 100 days. The little mermaid drama has 10 episodes.

Dorama "The Little Mermaid"

Ariel the Little Mermaid appears in a huge number of video games of various formats. Starting from flash games, which are presented in a variety on our resource, ending with games about the Little Mermaid for Sega consoles.

The Little Mermaid game of the same name

An alternate version of the original cartoon where the witch Ursula is alive and taking control of the ocean. Ariel, who was going to marry Prince Eric, is forced to become a mermaid again and go to sea to fight the sorceress. Most of the game takes place in the underwater world, where the Little Mermaid can shoot bubbles at enemies and imprison them in a bubble, throw them at each other, and look for treasure in secluded corners. In addition, the game has a feature when Ariel digs in the sand and finds pearls, shells or other treasures. Her old enemies - sharks and moray eels - returned to the game as bosses. After Ursula is defeated, Ariel needs to get to land and become human again. Her father, King Triton, helps her in this.

A series of games about the Little Mermaid Kingdom Hearts

Ariel the Little Mermaid appears in the Kingdom Hearts series of games. She is positioned not as one of the seven princesses (her place is taken by Alice in Wonderland), but as one of two female warriors, along with Mulan. Ariel joins Donald and Goofy in the fight against the enemies.

Ariel in Kingdom Hearts

Disney Princesses: Enchanted Journey game

For the first time in this game, we meet Ariel, sitting on a rock near the port, waiting for the blonde heroine of the game. The little mermaid convinces her that both the earth and the sea have lost their music, and takes her to the underwater kingdom in order to restore the voices of the sea people and keep human treasures intact. Later, they escort the blue crabs to safety and head to the lagoon to bring the choir of animals there.

Ariel the Little Mermaid at Disney Parks

Ariel the Little Mermaid is one of the permanent characters in Disney Parks. Disneyland Florida and Tokyo have a special grotto where the Little Mermaid meets guests in her underwater incarnation - with a fish tail. The character Ariel participates in the Mickey Mouse parades and other holiday and themed parades at Disneyland.

The Little Mermaid: Animation 1989 vs The Little Mermaid: Andersen's Tale

There are a number of fundamental differences between the book heroine (the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid") and the animated one ("The Little Mermaid", cartoon 1989).

• The original Little Mermaid had 5 sisters, the Disney Ariel had 6.
• Andersen's Little Mermaid didn't have a name as such, she was just a little sea maiden. Disney has named their little mermaid "Ariel".
• The book Mermaid is 15 years old, Ariel is 16.
• In the original story, the Little Mermaid has a grandmother with whom she constantly talks.
• In the book, mermaids are allowed to float to the surface and watch people as long as they are 15 years old. In the cartoon, Ariel the Little Mermaid, even at the age of 16, was not allowed to rise to the surface.
• The grandmother of the sea maiden said that despite the fact that mermaids live longer than people (sometimes up to 300 years), people do have a soul. So the main motivation of Andersen's Little Mermaid is to get an immortal human soul. Not the love of a prince.
• In exchange for a voice in a fairy tale, the witch gives the Little Mermaid a potion that makes her human and allows her to dance beautifully. The Witch warns the Little Mermaid that she will never be able to return to the sea. Besides, the poor thing is not supposed to have an immortal soul until she meets a man who loves her back and marries her. And at the dawn of the first day, if her beloved marries another, the Little Mermaid will turn into sea foam. Disney immediately put his soul into his heroine, this is confirmed by an agreement with Ursula, who gave Ariel legs in exchange for her soul and voice.
• The cartoon Ariel had more of an interest in humanity than her book counterpart. She collected a collection of objects created by people. While in the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" it was the sisters of the Little Mermaid who were fond of exploring sunken ships and searching for human things.
• When Andersen's Little Mermaid got legs, every step caused her unbearable pain - it was the price for being human. Disney's little mermaid just got legs and didn't experience any discomfort while using her new limbs.

Little Mermaid Ariel

In 2008, the musical The Little Mermaid was released on Broadway, a year before that, the premiere of the musical version of the famous Disney cartoon took place in Denver, but was soon closed due to a strike of Broadway workers. Several new songs have been added to the main songs of the Little Mermaid (Part of your World, Under the Sea, Kiss the Girl) from the cartoon. The role of Ariel in the musical "The Little Mermaid" was played by Broadway actresses Sierra Boggess and Chelsea Morgan Stock. On opening night, The Little Mermaid's theme song was sung by Jody Benson, who voiced Ariel in the original cartoon.

Musical The Little Mermaid

Mermaid Doll / Barbie Mermaid

A distinctive feature of the Mermaid doll is the color-changing hair. As a rule, under the influence of water from blond hair turns pink or purple. There are several variations of the Barbie Little Mermaid doll with different hair colors. There are also models that can change not only the hair, but also the color of the tail. In cold water, the tail acquires a pale pink hue, in hot water - bright purple. The tail of Barbie the Little Mermaid is also different. There are models in which the fabric tail is part of the costume and hides the legs. On sale you can find Mermaid dolls with a flexible tail that can bend and turn, but cannot transform into legs. Included with these dolls are a comb and a seahorse that can draw water and shoot in a thin stream.

Criticism and public perception

The Little Mermaid cartoon of 1989, like other canonical pictures of the studio (Snow White, some cartoons about Mickey Mouse, etc.), gave rise to a number of asymmetric views on its plot. For example, there is an opinion that in the kingdom of the Atlantic, in the homeland of Ariel, cheerful fascism rules the ball: some fish swim here easily and freely, while others are actively exploited by the ruling class, harnessed to chariots (Triton's dolphins and Sebastian's crab guppy fish) and use instead musical instruments.

The Little Mermaid herself is accused of pathological plushkinism, as well as immature feelings for the handsome prince. The patriarchal retrostyle of the fairy tale was also criticized. The main message of the children's cartoon, according to some critics, is as follows - be cute! And it doesn’t matter what you say and whether you say it at all - your appearance is with you ...

ariel hipster

• Ariel the Little Mermaid is the only official Disney princess who is not of human origin.
• Ariel is the only Disney princess to have a baby and become a mother.
• Unlike her sisters, Ariel the Little Mermaid does not wear hair accessories, with the exception of sea flowers.
• All of Ariel's sisters have names that start with the letter "A" and end with the same letter. Except Ariel.
• From Hebrew, the name Ariel is translated as "God's lion", and this is the name of the archangel Ariel.
• The Little Mermaid Ariel's pose towards the end of the cartoon, when she sat on a boulder and sadly looked at her lover, was inspired by the Little Mermaid monument in Sweden.
• Despite the fact that Ariel and her mother Athena are strikingly similar in appearance, Ariel's character went to her father. This is especially noticeable in The Little Mermaid 2, when Ariel reprimands her daughter Melody for disobeying orders and disobedience, just as King Triton once reprimanded Ariel herself.
• Ariel's daughter, Melody, is similar to Ariel, but her cherished desire is diametrically opposed. Ariel dreamed of becoming a human and living on land, while Melody wants to become a mermaid and swim underwater.
• Outwardly, Melody looks like her father - the color of her eyes and hair.
• The Little Mermaid last used a female villain before Rapunzel debuted in 2010.
• Ariel's The Little Mermaid nightgown is reminiscent of Princess Anna's nightgown from the movie Roman Holiday.
• According to the book Disneystrology, Ariel's birthday is October 8th.
• Ariel is right-handed, as seen when she signs Ursula's contract.
• The little mermaid Ariel has become an Internet meme: she is often depicted wearing oversized hipster glasses with thick frames, tattoos and an outfit to match.
• Ariel is the first character to have his own musical (the second is Beauty and the Beast).
• Ariel the Little Mermaid is the only Disney character who knows sign language.

"Mermaid"(Eng. The Little Mermaid), 1989.

Real feelings can go through any, even the most tragic trials. When the princess of the underwater world - the little mermaid Ariel, the youngest daughter of the sea king Triton accidentally saved a beautiful young man from death, her cherished dream was to see him again.

The girl turned for help to the sorceress, whose dark magic could grant legs to the marine inhabitant. The voice of the beauty was supposed to be a small payment, but if her lover does not experience sincere feelings for the heroine, she will have to die ...

Directed by: Ron Clements, John Musker. The roles were duplicated by: Svetlana Svetikova, Anastasia Mintskovskaya, Alexey Kolgan, Ilya Khvostikov, Vasily Dakhnenko. Vocal parts: Armen Pogosyan, Alexander Inshakov, Sergey Naumenko, Andrey Birin, Andrey Nikiforov, Egor Chernegov-Nomerov, Olga Vorozhtsova, Yulia Timoshenko, Olga Nadezhdina, Nonna Vinogradova, Elena Veremeenko, Anna Khazanova.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• Slogan: "Love has no boundaries".
• The Little Mermaid is the 28th animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Studios.
• The cartoon is based on the work of Hans Christian Andersen.
• The full name of Sebastian the crab is Horathio Thelonious Ignatius Crustatious Sebastian.
• Another innovation of the time was used: live actors were filmed to assist the animators.
• The director insisted that each air bubble be drawn by hand, and there are more than 1 million of them, which required a large number of animators and artists. To do this, Disney turned to an animation studio in Beijing, China.
• At the time of the film's release, he held the record for using various animation effects. 1,000 different colors and 1,100 backgrounds were used. In total, the artists made over 1 million drawings.
• The cartoon was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2007.
• The characters from the cartoon were used in the action of the National Marine Heritage Foundation (NMSF) and the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which was aimed at drawing attention to the problem of the negative technogenic and anthropogenic impact on the world ocean ecosystem.
• The cartoon set an absolute record for sales among collector's "platinum" publications.
• In the cartoon you can see Goofy (3:30 - in the lower left corner, among the crowd), also standing next to him are Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
• The wedding scene at the end of the film was the first to use digital technology.
• The scene that says Ursula is Ariel's aunt has been cut.
• The name of the girl Ursula has become is Vanessa.
• In the production of the tape, to help the animators, another novelty was used - shooting live actors, which was subsequently subject to processing.
• There was a scene in the picture from which it became clear that the witch was actually the aunt of the main character, but she was cut out during editing.
• Only Ariel did not have permanent jewelry in her hair, the rest of the sisters had them.
• When the witch turns into a beauty, for a moment you can see how her face becomes similar to Cruella De Vil from the cartoon "101 Dalmatians".
• The city where the main character walks with the prince is absolutely identical in terms of infrastructure to the place from Beauty and the Beast.
• The crab and eel of the sorceress can be glimpsed in the thirty-eighth series of the animated film "Hercules".
• Sebastian appears in the computer game "Aladdin" - he is chained to the wall in "Palace Dungeons".
• Awards:
  • Oscar 1990 - Winner - "Best Song" - "Under the Sea", "Best Original Score". Nominations - Best song - "Kiss the Girl".
  • Golden Globe, 1990 - Winner - "Best Song -" Under the Sea ". "Best Soundtrack" Nominations - L "Best Film (Comedy or Musical)", "Best Song" - "Kiss the Girl".
  • Grammy Award, 1991.

"Mermaid"(Eng. The Little Mermaid), series 1992 - 1994 - television animated series, which is a prequel to the full-length cartoon of the same name.

A colorful animated series based on a full-length cartoon based on the beautiful fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The ruler of the underwater world, King Triton, has many daughters, but the youngest Ariel is the most beloved. However, it is his pet who is least interested in life at the bottom of the ocean. Since childhood, Ariel has been drawn to people, so she collects all kinds of items from sunken ships and puts them in a secret cave, and she also dreams of having not one tail, but two, in order to walk on two limbs like people. Of course, Triton does not like such hobbies of his daughter. At the same time, it is here, in the underwater world, that Ariel's best friends live - the crab Sebastian and the charming yellow fish Flounder. Together they get into a variety of adventures every day and fight against the machinations of the witch Ursula and her minions.

Directed by: Jamie Mitchell, Mirchi Mantta. The roles were duplicated by: Svetlana Koroteeva, Tatyana Reshetnikova, Tatyana Kanaeva, Rogvold Sukhoverko, Vladimir Ferapontov.

Characters:

Positive:

• Ariel is a 19 year old mermaid princess of the Atlantic. He likes to collect human things that fell to the bottom of the ocean.
• Sebastian is a prim court crab who is Ariel's mentor.
• Flounder - fish, true friend of Ariel; sometimes comes into conflict with Sebastian.
• Triton is the father of Ariel, the king of the Atlantic. Triton is a wise and kind ruler, but sometimes he is cruel in dealing with Ariel. He hates people (in this he is very reminiscent of Grumpy Gummi, although he dislikes people no less).
• Urchin is a teenage mermaid, an orphan who once traded in petty theft. In love with Ariel.
• Pearl is a mermaid who is a friend of the Ariel sisters.
• Scuttle is a resilient seagull with some knowledge of humans.

Negative:

• Angry Skat is a cruel monster. He can't stand it when someone is having fun, therefore he is trying in every possible way to spoil the life of the inhabitants of the Atlantic. Has a son, not as evil as Skat himself.
• Ursula is a witch, expelled from the palace in the distant past, who first appeared in a full-length cartoon.
• Flotsam and Jetsam are twin eels who are Ursula's henchmen, providing her with an image in a crystal ball through their own vision fusion. When they are frightened, they get mixed up and sometimes do not get out without help.
• Omar Nightmare - A greedy lobster trying to engage in extortion, "he is wanted by the riot police of the seven seas."
• Sharks are anthropomorphic sharks, under the guise of a diplomatic rapprochement with the Atlantic, turning their dirty deeds.
• Big Louie is a huge bandit crab, the boss of Nightmare Lobster and Shrimp.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• The events of the animated series precede the events of the cartoon, although most of the characters in the series do not appear in the cartoon.
• In some episodes (season 1 episode 10, season 3 episode 1) Prince Eric appears, but Ariel either does not see him at that moment, or sees him from afar and therefore is not particularly interested in him.
• Some events of the animated series run counter to the feature-length prequel released in 2008, The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story.
• Ariel is never shown to humans throughout the series, except in the episode "Steelfish", where she helps a man named Hans Christian Andersen get to the surface of the water.
• A total of 31 episodes were released.

The Little Mermaid animated film was first released in 1989. The main character of the picture is the young girl Ariel. Disney has been thinking about making a cartoon since the founding of the studio, even before the release of Snow White. Its head decided to create an interpretation of the history of Hans Christian Andersen in 1930. At that time it was technically impossible, so the picture came out only after 59 years.

Character Creation

The Little Mermaid's appearance and style were created by animator Glen Keane. His wife inspired him to create the image. Alyssa Milano was also involved in the creation of Ariel. Disney collaborated with model Sherry Stoner, who mimicked the character's movements in real life while posing for animators. Ariel was voiced by a theater actress who admitted that the main character of the cartoon is her favorite character. In the Russian dubbing, the girl was voiced by Svetlana Svetikova.

The main difficulty in creating the cartoon was that Ariel (Disney) had to be shown in completely different scenes - at sea and on land. The animators created 32 color models. Just look at the variety of colors and shades shimmering luxurious castle of Ariel! Disney, or rather in-house artists, did a good job on the girl's tail - a special shade was created specifically for this, which was named after the main character. Red hair caused controversy among animators and studio executives - the latter wanted to see a blonde mermaid. The artists won: the red harmonized much better with the color of the tail.

The nature and appearance of the character

At 16, Ariel is very beautiful. Wears a chic and big green tail. The character of the girl is mischievous and rebellious. Ariel is the most naughty of all the sisters, it is she who is constantly embroiled in adventures. All her life the girl lives in the sea, but she is irresistibly drawn up, so she collects things that used to belong to people. Friendliness, kindness, love for friends and family - this is the whole Ariel. Disney is a company that has always created good and kind cartoons, and this time the creators endowed the main character with empathy: she constantly saves the inhabitants of the marine world who are in trouble.

Cartoon plot

Mermaid Ariel lives in a large sea kingdom with her father Triton and six sisters. Her best friends are the Sebastian crab and the Flounders fish. Together with him, she studies the sunken ship. Trying to find an answer to the question of what the objects they found mean, Ariel remembers that she must participate in the choir in honor of Triton. He scolds his daughter for being late, and the girl swims away to her collection of human things.

Suddenly, she and Sebastian see a large ship that crashes. The little mermaid Ariel rescues him and brings him ashore and sings a song. When he opens his eyes, she floats away. In order to become part of the human world, Ariel makes a deal with the sea witch Ursula - she gives her her vote.

Appearances in other cartoons

Ariel can be seen in the second part of the cartoon - "The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea." The plot tells about the events that took place a year after the adventures of the first part. Eric and Ariel are happy and have a beautiful daughter, Melody. Parents decide not to tell the girl their story in order to save her. But the naughty girl is still drawn to the sea. Under the influence of evil spells, Melody turns into a mermaid.

The next part - "The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story", is a prequel to the first cartoon. It tells about the girl's childhood. She also appears in the House of Mouse cartoon as a guest at Mickey Mouse's house.

• About a thousand colors and backgrounds were used in the cartoon. Artists have drawn over a million drawings. The directors required that each individual vial be hand-drawn. For this, additional animators were invited.
• For the first time in history, digital technologies were involved (the scene of the wedding of Ariel and the prince).
• To help the animators, live actors were filmed on camera.
• In Andersen's original fairy tale, things did not end so well - the prince married another, and the girl turned into sea foam. The writers found the story too tragic and rewrote the plot.
• Over the course of a year, 10 special effects specialists worked on the storm scene.

Like other Disney cartoons, Ariel has won the love of viewers around the globe. Until now, children are watching this legendary cartoon with interest, created by the studio of a unique and brilliant cartoonist.