The Little Mermaid - Essay Example

number 2 May Critical Analysis of The Little Mermaid Reality serves as the raw material for stories. The outcome of such depiction is that we inculcate the same attributes as portrayed by the content. They serve as a bridge for combining our personal experiences with the ones that are portrayed in order to develop new feelings and perceptions of the world around us. Fairy tales not only play an integral role in childhood but also constitute to be an essential aspect of adult life as one generation narrates stories to the next. Today fairy tales provide fiction and non-fiction productions for visual communication like movies as they appeal to both children and adults. My aim in writing this paper is to present a critical analysis of the classic Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. This musical animation was an adaptation of the fairy tale authored by Hans Christian Anderson. When this movie was released, Disney was going through a crucial phase due to consistent commercial flops; however, The Little Mermaid topped box office charts. It is believed to have initiated the era of Disney Renaissance. Although this was an adaptation of the fairy tale, it had many dissimilarities in contrast to the literary work. For instance, the character of Ariel’s grandmother did not exist in the movie; similarly, the Merman King and the sea witch played a greater part in the movie as opposed to the inscribed fairy tale. Moving on, we see that Sebastian, the Jamaican Rastafarian, was originally Clarence, the English Butler crab. The story structure was revised and corresponded to a musical style. It was the last film for which the conventional hand-painted cell technique was employed. The resources and investment spent on this project was far more than any other film in decades. The Little Mermaid rouses our curiosity to the fullest extent by exploring the world that is beyond our eyes. Creativity and imagination are vivid throughout the film and animation helps in presenting the unique notion of a world under the sea (Dahlerup 144). It uses bright colours and funny images to portray every possible sea creature or plant to create a surreal world that normally kids imagine. Hence, it aims to trigger creativity and imagination amongst youth. The plot might be conventional but still relatable. At the time of its release, target audience majorly consisted of children. The film adhered to the values of the patriarchal society we live in as it advocated that triumphant women are those who direct their men. They serve as the object of desire; this also reflected the cultural norms of the epoch when this tale was written. The Little Mermaid sacrifices her legs for a pair of legs to marry the man of her dreams, this holds true for women in the so-called modern age (Stoll 16). The only difference is that in reality, plastic surgery assists them in accomplishing this goal rather than magical spells. It should be noted down how Disney films modify their narrative style and content in consideration of the changes in the target audience. A consistent pattern emerges from their earlier films such as Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1958) etc. This pattern depicts that heroines spent their entire life waiting to be rescued by prince charming, who ultimately showed up. Through a series of such animations, it is emphasised how only a man is the road of happiness for a woman (Stoll 33). This is in conformance with the patriarchal values of those ages. However, Arial emerges as slightly dissimilar and more defiant character than her earlier friends. In the film, she rebels against her father’s orders and falls in love with a human, which was against the norms of the Mer society. She also exhibits wit when she sighs, “I just don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things can be bad.” Like all heroes, the prince charming possesses endearing qualities; his affectionate nature is portrayed by the closeness with his dog. Therefore, Prince Eric is the stereotypical prince charming. The opening scene of the film revolves around the male world as the introductory scene starts with Eric’s boat and not surprisingly, everybody on the boat is a male. Then, Arial is enlightened with the requirements and characteristics of the ground people. As credits start appearing, we are taken under the sea and again all males! Thereby, the purpose and focus of the film are made explicit that males have a dominant part to play in this world. “Men must be strong, bold, and willing to inflict themselves on women to win them, Women must be beautiful, self-effacing, demure, and charming if they hope to land a man and marry him after a long engagement”, thus the film delineates the attributes of a patriarchal man. Throughout the film, we do not see neither Eric’s mother nor his father. It is accentuated that Eric must wed as soon as possible to continue his generation so that his kingdom can be safe (Stoll 52). Ursula, the witch presented as a stocky octopus sashaying a black gown played by Pat Carroll is a brilliant creation personifying mischief and harm. She replaces the role of Grandmother in the written text and is depicted as an old deceitful woman using crafty plans to attain power. She triumphantly deludes Arial by calling attention to her purpose as she snaps, “That’s right, but you’ll have your man” (Maslin). In the film, her first scene starts with applying makeup, implying to the heroine that she should appear gorgeous for men. Sebastian, the male crab on the other hand is always lecturing Ariel on appropriate behaviour. The ending of the movie also differs from the literary work as the bridegroom fights the devious witch to signify his affection for Ariel to the Mer King. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar term this kind of conduct as “inanimate objet d’art.” This denotes “killing into art” that is when a characteristic that makes a woman unique is subtracted to render her as an object of desire. They state that the plots of this story are parallel with the Chinese exercise of foot binding woman in which a woman modifies herself to attain a sense of beauty in an attempt to conform to a patriarchal society (Pullman 7). Nowadays, it is common for women to endure pain for the sake of beauty, which corresponds to the concept presented in the movie. Arial has to sacrifice her tail to appear acceptable according to societal values. On top of that, she also loses her voice that can be construed as voiceless or being deprived of the right of speech. As she cannot use her voice to attract Eric, her teary eyes reflect her beauty. This again supports the idea of women being objects of display and desire. Thus, Arial conforms to the concept of cinematic role model. CONCLUSION The underlying message is directed more to parents than children who are the primary audience. It illustrates real life arguments that often occur between father and daughter and sheds lights on the reasons in such confrontations. Parents can attain an enhanced understanding of the other side during these disputes but children might be too young to decipher this message. Nevertheless, they can profit from the example of Ursula-the Sea Witch. We can conclude that this is not only a picture for the kids but for the whole family to enjoy and learn from. The cast comprises likable characters, and Ursula especially comes out as a classic villain. The film gets fear provoking by the end and the director succeeds at forging the most appropriate climax. Throughout the film, women are particularly viewed as intellectually inferior, assigned with domestic obligations, and shy due to fear of castigation. The movie objectifies feminism and promotes the notion of a male dominant society. Such perceptions fail to correspond with real life, however, inculcate negative values and ideologies amongst children who will function according to these disapproving images of characters. Works Cited Dahlerup, Pi1. “Splash: Six Views of “The Little Mermaid.” Scandinavian Studies. Ed. Neilsand Faith Ingwersen. Berkeley : The University of Copenhagen, 1988. 141-163. Print. Maslin, Janet. “The Little Mermaid (1989) Review/Film; Andersen's 'Mermaid,' by Way of Disney.” The New York Times 15 November 1989. Print Pullman, Chey. “Movie analysis: Literary theory and The Little Mermaid.” Helium 17 May 2007. Print. Stoll, Hanna M. “Individual Otherness in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" with Regard to Social Hierarchy and Gender.” Berlin: Institut fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 2007. Print. The Little Mermaid. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Perf. Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jodi Benson, Jason Marin, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Right, and Kenneth Mars. Walt Disney Pictures, 1989. Read More