Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
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| Ariel | |
|---|---|
| Image:Kingdom Hearts Ariel.jpg | |
Ariel as portrayed in the Kingdom Hearts video game | |
| First appearance | The Little Mermaid (1989) |
| Created by | Hans Christian Andersen |
| Voiced by | Jodi Benson |
| Also known as | Princess Ariel |
Princess Ariel is a fictional character, a mermaid who appeared in Disney's popular 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid and its direct-to-video sequels The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea & The Little Mermaid III as well as an animated TV-series that was produced between the first film and its two sequels. The youngest of King Triton and Queen Athena's seven daughters, she lives (prior to the events in the first film) in the underwater city of Atlantica with her friends Flounder and Sebastian. She has long, flowing red hair, a green tail and wears a purple seashell bikini top. In Alantica, she is well-known for her extremely beautiful voice. She is voiced by Jodi Benson in the original movie and all its animated spin-offs, and Benson has said that Ariel is both her most famous and all-time favorite character. In the 2007 stage musical version, Ariel is originally portrayed by Sierra Boggess. In all of the Japanese versions, she is voiced by Mayumi Suzuki and in Latin Spanish she is voiced by Gabriela Leon as well as Johanna Nurmimaa in Finnish and by Sissel Kyrkjebo in Danish,Norwegian and Swedish. Ariel also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.
- Ariel is the first and only Disney Princess to have a child.
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[edit] The Little Mermaid TV series
The show takes place about a year before the first movie, with Ariel as the main character. Some of the episodes feature Ariel adopting a whale, accidentally annoying a blowfish with giggles, meeting other mermaids, and dealing with lobster mobs, Ursula the sea witch, and the Evil Manta.
Prince Eric is sometime shown in the TV show, in events prior to the first movie. However, Ariel always just misses meeting him, preserving the continuity that she sees him first in the original movie.
[edit] The Little Mermaid
In this movie, the beautiful Ariel has a long-standing interest in the world above the sea. At the beginning of the film, she and her best friend Flounder are exploring the ruins of a sunken ship. After discovering a fork and a pipe (the fork known to Ariel as a dinglehopper, and the pipe a snarfblatt), Ariel and Flounder go to the ocean surface to ask Scuttle about the items. Scuttle unintentionally reminds Ariel that she is supposed to be singing in her father's concert and she swims back home only to find out that she's too late. In trying to defend Ariel from King Triton's anger, Flounder accidentally lets slip that they had gone to the surface, making Triton even angrier.
Ariel goes to her grotto to calm down, but is followed by Sebastian, who was ordered to watch over her by Triton. Before she can fully explain herself, she sees a ship go by overhead and goes to the surface to check it out. She sees Prince Eric on the ship and falls in love with him. When a bad storm causes the ship to sink and Eric nearly drowns, Ariel saves his life and drags him on shore. She sings to him until he begins to regain consciousness, then she leaves vowing that she'll find a way to "be part of his world." King Triton finds out about this and her love for Eric and destroys her whole collection of human artifacts in her grotto. Heartbroken, Ariel submits to a suggestion made by Ursula's eels Flotsam and Jetsam that Ursula can make her dreams come true.
Ultimately, Ariel trades her voice to Ursula the Sea Witch in order to obtain legs and be human, though if she can't make Eric fall in love with her in three days, her soul will be Ursula's. Prince Eric's dog Max finds her on shore and leads Eric to her. Eric takes her in and she lives at his palace, all the while trying to make Eric fall in love with her, with the help of Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle. When it seems like she may actually succeed, Ursula disguises herself as a human and uses Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric into marrying her. But Ariel and her friends manage to stop the wedding and free Ariel's voice.
Ariel is able to speak again and Eric now knows that she was the one who saved his life. Ursula attempts to destroy them, but is killed by Eric, who impales her with the edge of his ship. King Triton finally realizes that Ariel must be free to live her own life and makes her a human permanently. Ariel and Eric are then wed as the movie ends.
[edit] The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Years after the wedding to Prince Eric, Ariel has given birth to Princess Melody, her daughter. Ursula's sister, Morgana, acts as the villain in this film. To protect Melody from Morgana's evil intentions, Ariel and Eric decide they must keep Melody from the sea, and to this effect, build a large wall separating the castle from it. Melody's love of the sea proves too strong, however, and when Melody falls into Morgana's clutches, Ariel is forced to temporarily resume her mermaid form in order to rescue her. This film presents a more mature, adult version of Ariel, though her strong spirit is still very much evident. Ariel seems to recognize her daughter inherited much of her own personality.
[edit] The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is an animated feature film, a second direct-to-video sequel to the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid after 2000's The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. It was once thought to be cancelled, but the rumor was debunked after the October 2006 Platinum Edition DVD release of The Little Mermaid was revealed to include a sneak peek of the film. [1] It is slated for a August 26, 2008 release.
The movie will be the final direct-to-video sequel produced by Disney, as, on June 22, 2007, the Walt Disney Co. announced a major restructuring of its animation department, which included a decision to stop producing their "lucrative yet lower quality" direct-to-DVD sequels spawned by the studio's most successful feature titles.
[edit] Disney's House of Mouse
Ariel appears as a regular guest at Disney's House of Mouse along with her sea friends. Her appearance alternates irregularly between her human form and her mermaid form, depending on what fits the situation. These appearances are not in The Little Mermaid continuity and have no explanation.
She appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts series
[edit] Kingdom Hearts
Ariel lives in the water world of Atlantica and deals with Ursula's attempt to use the Heartless to defeat King Triton. As in the movie, she is a stubborn individual who wants to see the world above the ocean and she often goes against her father's wishes. Ariel can be one of Sora's party members for this world. In this game, she encounters Sora as a Dolphin, Donald Duck as an Octopus, and Goofy as a Turtle. She is the only Disney Princess featured in the game who is not one of the Princesses of Heart and also the only female fighter to join the party.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Ariel is a character in Atlantica — but one in Sora's mind. In this time, Ursula The Sea Witch kidnaps Flounder — and baits Ariel into stealing her father's trident. Ariel brings Ursula the trident, believing that Flounder has been taken to the human world, and learns the truth when she does. After helping Sora defeat Ursula, she resolves to tell her father what happened.
She can be acquired as a Friend card after visiting the Key of Guidance room. Using the card causes her to swim across the arena, injuring any enemies she strikes.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts II
Ariel's plot is almost a mirror of the movie's plot. Songs in this world are "Swim This Way", "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", "Ursula's Revenge", and "A New Day is Dawning". There are some slight changes from the film, among them being:
- The musical numbers, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Kiss the Girl" are removed.
- Instead of Ursula's cave, the deal is made in the Courtyard.
- Sora, Donald and Goofy push the human Ariel to the surface instead of Sebastian and Flounder.
- Ariel already has clothes on immediately after her human transformation, in contrast to the film in which she appears completely naked with the exception of her seashell bikini top.
- Eric throws the trident — as originally storyboarded for the film — to defeat Ursula.
- Eric is conscious after Ursula is defeated, speaks with Ariel as a mermaid for a longer time, and eventually asks her if she'd teach him how to swim. (Although in the movie, Eric knows how to swim).
[edit] Stage musical
A stage musical version of the film has premiered in Denver, Colorado, where it had its pre-Broadway tryout. Ariel is portrayed by Sierra Boggess, and sings a few new songs in addition to the songs in the film. "That World Above" is Ariel's introductory song, replacing the entire shark-chase sequence in the film. In Act 2, although Ariel has become mute, she sings two songs expressing her thoughts and feelings, these songs being "Beyond My Wildest Dreams", where Ariel explores the human world for the first time, and "If Only", in which Ariel bemoans that she cannot express her feelings to Eric. Additionally, Ariel's voice can be heard in the extended opening of "Fathoms Below", although she is not seen on-stage. In the stage musical Ariel has inherited her mother's singing voice which gives Triton a reason to want to protect her although the musical never gives indication on how Ariel's mother died. Another element that is different from the movie is that Ariel (not Eric) is the one destroys Ursula by smashing Ursula's magic shell. The reason behind that is the creative team for the musical did not want Ariel to come off as passive. There is also more depth to Ariel and Eric's romance.
The Little Mermaid | |
|---|---|
| Television and Films | The Little Mermaid · The Little Mermaid (TV series) · The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea |
| Characters | Princess Ariel · King Triton · Prince Eric · Flounder · Sebastian · Ursula · Flotsam and Jetsam · Scuttle · Max · Other characters · Princess Melody · Morgana |
| Songs | Part of Your World · Under the Sea · Poor Unfortunate Souls · Kiss the Girl |
| See Also | The Little Mermaid · The Little Mermaid (musical) · Hans Christian Andersen |
it:Ariel (Disney) nl:Ariël (zeemeermin) ru:Русалочка Ариэль l
