5 Reasons why Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" is the Most Misunderstood Disney Princess

5 Reasons why Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” is the Most Misunderstood Disney Princess

By: Brian Cotnoir

     A while back, I asked my friends to tell me who they thought was the Worst Disney Princess Ever.  The Most Popular responses I got were for Aurora (the eventual winner of the title) and Snow White.  However, I was surprised at the amount of people who told me that they felt Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” was the Worst Disney Princess.  I can understand why some of them felt that way because for me, personally, I always felt like Ariel was more misunderstood rather a bad princess.  And here are 5 Reasons why Ariel from the “Little Mermaid” is the Most Misunderstood Disney Princess.

1.) She wants more from Life...but is not ungrateful

Ariel is a mermaid princess.  She is one of the most fortunate creatures who lives under the sea.  So I think it’s a bit strange that she wants so desperately to be a human.  She wants to be a human so badly that she is even willing to give up her Princess Status.  Think about this:  do you recall any point in the film (or songs) where she sings about wanting to find a Human Prince to marry?  No, she only says that she wants to be human.  Who’s to say that she wouldn’t have fallen in love with a human fisherman or a sailor?  To me Ariel just got lucky and landed herself a Prince. She wasn’t waiting for her Prince to come like Snow White or Aurora, she went out and found one on her own.  Now true, Jasmine from “Aladdin” was a Princess who wanted more out of life, but the major difference is she did not want to sacrifice her Royal status.  Ariel doesn’t seem to care either way if she’s a Mermaid Princess or not, she just wants to be human and to be with a human.  I don’t see what’s so really wrong with that.

2.) She’s a Fan Girl

A little fan girl-ism never hurt anyone

Ariel is a Fan Girl, people.  Have you ever met a Fan Girl that is not a little bit weird or crazy?  She has a vast collection of possessions from the Human World.  Even though she doesn’t know the name or purpose of all her little trinkets she still finds them fascinating. So, is it weird that she collects things from the Human world?  I don’t think so.  It’s no weirder than girls her obsessive fans over things like “Harry Potter” and “Twilight”.  So we can’t fault Ariel for being a Fan Girl. By the way morbid thought:  I think it’s more than safe to assume that she acquired most of those things via shipwrecks, and more than likely some of those humans drowned.

3.) She Rescues the Prince

Ariel to the Rescue

Yeah, that’s right.  Ariel saved Prince Eric.  I bet you forgot about that part, huh?  Yeah, after his ship sinks in a storm, and he’s facing a certain death by drowning, he is rescued by Ariel and swam safely to shore.  That’s pretty bad a$$, if you ask me. I can’t recall any Disney film up to that point where the Princess had to rescue the Prince.  So right there, Prince Eric had more of a reason to want to be with Ariel because she saved his life and not just because she’s hot and can sing. 

4.) She learns that her actions have consequences

No Ariel if you sign it, Ursula gets all your song royalties

Ariel wants so desperately to be amongst the Humans that she agrees to trade her voice (and soul ultimately) to the Sea Witch, Ursula.  Ariel has 3-days to receive a kiss from her True Love (aka Prince Eric) and if she does not receive that kiss after 3-days, she will be turned back into mermaid and she will belong to Ursula.  After some sabotage, Ursula is now in possession of Ariel’s soul, and so it’s up to Ariel’s father, King Triton, to come to the rescue.  The King agrees to take Ariel’s place and is turned into a polyp by Ursula.  Now, seeing the damage that her selfishness has caused, Ariel is devastated, and wants nothing more than make it up to her father and save his life. She and Eric team up to vanquish Ursula and save the King’s life (as well as the others mermaids).  Wow, a Disney Princess that learns an actual lesson, that’s so rare in most early Disney animated films.  Usually, the rule of thumb is that the Princess is supposed to do nothing except look pretty and helpless, and wait for the Prince to come along in rescue her; but you’ve got to give Ariel credit, she proves herself capable of fighting her own battles (with a little help of course).

5.) She is a transgender advocate

And I’m not talking about how she goes to Ursula—whose character design was inspired by a Drag Queen named “Divine”—for help. I’m talking about Ariel herself.  What have I been saying this entire review; “Ariel is a mermaid who wants so desperately to be a human”.  We live in a more open-minded time.  Today the idea of a person dressing as the opposite sex or undergoing gender reassignment surgery isn’t that big of a deal for some people.  How is Ariel wanting to be human any different than a person who wants to change their gender?  I’m actually surprised that more Transgender Groups don’t talk about or use Ariel to help relay their message.  She was unhappy as a Mermaid and wanted to become a Human so she made it happen.  Some people feel that they are born the wrong gender and want to change that.  Now, true Ariel had magic used to turn her into a human and for people it usually requires multiple and expensive surgeries and hormone therapies, but you can’t deny that they are somewhat similar.

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