History TheLittleMermaid1989 / TropesAToD

* AllAccordingToPlan: Ursula the sea witch, transformed into the human woman "Vanessa," sings "''What a lovely little bride I'll make / My dear, I'll look divine / Everything is working out according to my ultimate design.''" This, however, is actually something of a subversion in that Ursula is experiencing a SanitySlippage because her original plan ''isn't'' working out. She had thought that she could just take Ariel's voice and this would be enough to keep her from ever getting Prince Eric to give her the [[TrueLovesKiss kiss of true love]]. After a [[NearMisses near-miss]] only just stopped by her eel henchmen, she hastily concocted this plan to put Prince Eric under her spell and marry him herself.

* AllAccordingToPlan: Ursula the sea witch, transformed into the human woman "Vanessa," sings "''What a lovely little bride I'll make / My dear, I'll look divine / Everything is working out according to my ultimate design.''" This, however, is actually something of a subversion in that Ursula is experiencing a SanitySlippage because her original plan ''isn't'' working out. She had thought that she could just take Ariel's voice and this would be enough to keep her from ever getting Prince Eric to give her the [[TrueLovesKiss kiss of true love]]. After a near-miss only just stopped by her eel henchmen, she hastily concocted this plan to put Prince Eric under her spell and marry him herself.

** King Triton loves his youngest daughter, but he doesn’t respect her values or her opinions about the human world, and he places his FantasticRacism towards humans over her desires for the future, trying to force her to be something that she's not to the point where he unwittingly becomes an [[AbusiveParents abusive parent]] to her and destroys her trust in him. Once he realizes what he’s done, he winds up regretting it dearly later and does whatever he can to reconcile with her. Eventually, he gives her a pair of human legs with no strings attached so she can make her own decisions and do whatever she chooses with her adult life.

* AnAesop: Part of loving someone means respecting their individuality and their emotional needs.
** King Triton loves his youngest daughter, but he doesn’t respect her values or her opinions about the human world, and he places his FantasticRacism towards humans over her desires for the future, trying to force her to be something that she's not to the point where he unwittingly becomes an [[AbusiveParents abusive parent]] to her and destroys her trust in him. Once he realizes what he’s done, he winds up regretting it dearly later and does whatever he can to reconcile with her. Eventually, he gives her a pair of human legs with no strings attached so she can make her own decisions and do whatever she chooses with her adult life.
** Sebastian as well is initially very dismissive of the things that make Ariel unique, including her desire to be human. As the king’s right-hand man, he’s only interested in keeping her in line and urging her to conform to maintain the usual status quo, so they both can avoid invoking the king’s anger. It’s not until he sees how badly Triton hurts her and he knows his own part in that that Sebastian realizes Ariel is more than just the king’s daughter. She’s her own person with her own thoughts and feelings, so he starts treating her as such for the rest of the movie. Sebastian’s CharacterDevelopment allows his relationship with Ariel to evolve and become much warmer in the second half of the film as he becomes a parental figure towards her in Triton’s absence.
** Like Flounder and Scuttle, Prince Eric is one of the few characters in the film who's always accepting of Ariel. Human Ariel is a very odd and peculiar young lady for her time (instead of being dignified or reserved, she wears her heart on her sleeve and has a bubbly, quirky, tomboyish, and endlessly curious personality), but Eric never treats her with anything less than kindness and respect, and he never tries to change her for his benefit. In fact, many of the things that make Ariel unique are things that Eric likes about her and feels attracted to, since he’s a rather atypical prince himself (preferring the company of working-class sailors over the pomp and circumstance of royal affairs). Ariel always feels comfortable being her real self around Eric, and he ultimately decides he still wants a relationship with her after discovering she was born a mermaid.
** As for Ariel herself? In her grotto, she admits that what she wants -- to be among humans, to walk and dance with them -- is impossible. What she loves more about humans than their things is their freedom. She also knows she's being irresponsible, but she can't deny who she is or be the girl her dad wants her to be. Initially she's attracted to Eric because of his looks, but she becomes more enamored after hearing that he's seeking someone special, someone who may be impossible to find, and she sees how brave and selfless he can be. Ultimately, when she becomes human, she's allowed to be herself for the first time and explore her interests, and no one will destroy her esteem for it. At least not until Ursula steps in. Even then, when Ariel believes Eric has chosen someone else over her and she has her heart broken, she still accepts his decision and doesn't think to intervene, showing Eric the same amount of respect he showed her and resigning herself to the consequences of her deal with Ursula until she discovers Ursula double-crossed her and literally brainwashed Eric.

* BittersweetEnding: Ariel goes off to be with Eric but leaves her father and sisters behind. However, they still apparently do keep in touch, and compared to the original story's ending, this is quite mild. Triton also seems to have rescinded the order keeping the human and mer-worlds separated, as he, his daughters, and some other merfolk are openly attending Ariel's wedding from the water, and even waving to those on the boat.

* BrainwashedBride: Prince Eric hears an enchanting voice on the seacoast, and goes to look. There strides Vanessa, the disguised form of Ursula, using Ariel's voice, plus her wicked magic. A mist enters Eric's eyes, and clouds his irises. Suddenly, he and Vanessa are ordering Grimsby to prepare the wedding ship, insisting on being wed that evening. He remains adamant about marrying Vanessa until Scuttle pulls the amulet off her, breaking it. Once Ariel's voice returns to Ariel herself, the spell is broken, and Prince Eric forgets all about Vanessa.

** [[spoiler:Urusula breaking out of her Vannessa disguise and crawling across the deck of the ship to grab Ariel is remarkably detailed and smooth.]]

* AnimationBump: Ariel in the hands of Glen Keane. During "Part of Your World" and its reprise, as well as the first meeting between Eric and Ariel [[spoiler: after she's traded away her voice]], the level of detail is noticeably higher, especially in her hair.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: There are more shots of human Ariel with clearly bare feet than clearly wearing shoes.

* AmbiguousSituation: The film is unclear as to whether Ariel will get her voice back if he she fulfills the terms of Ursula's contract. Ursula says that Ariel's voice is payment, the exact terms of the contract are not disclosed to the viewer. Sebastian seems to view the payment as collateral, as during the "Kiss the Girl" number, he sings, "And she won't say a word, until you kiss the girl!"

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: [[spoiler: The mermaid gets to marry the prince and live HappilyEverAfter. In the original story by Creator/HansChristianAndersen, she dies after refusing to kill the prince and becomes an air spirit.]]
* AdaptationDyeJob: All of Ariel's sisters had blue eyes in the original film. In the prequel, most of the girls' eye colors change.

** King Triton is subject to a bit of this as well. In the original story, the sea king had no particular grudge against humans, but Triton despises them and forbid his daughter from any contact with them with the third movie explaining why. The breaking point is when he destroys her collection of human artifacts. Of course [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he regrets it]] almost immediately afterward, but by this point Ariel has already fled to Ursula.