Heartwarming / The Little Mermaid (2023)

• Triton’s daughters bar Ariel are shown to have moved away to live in their own seas, and only come home on the coral moon to report the state of their domains to their father. When the daughters have assembled at Triton’s throne for their summit, Triton expresses joy at having all of his daughters together in the same place again - until he realizes Ariel is missing, that is.
  • When scolding Ariel, he’s initially more upset with her for missing the gathering because it’s the only time his family is all together. For her part, Ariel understands she messed up despite clashing with Triton regarding humans, and admits it would’ve hurt had one of her other sisters missed the summit.
  • When Ariel says she’s her mother’s daughter, Triton exasperatedly admits she’s right. It’s brief, but Triton does soften as he can’t deny his beloved daughter is just like his beloved, late wife.
• During the shipwreck, Ariel helps get Max over to the lifeboats, likely saving the dog’s life as it looked like he was starting to struggle to close the distance. Ariel’s later fondness at reuniting with Max also charms Eric, who is no doubt further won over by how well Max takes to Ariel.
• Though Ariel’s sisters are misguided in their prejudice towards humans, they do show concern for the health of the coral reef damaged by Eric’s shipwreck, showing they’ve learned well from their father at being benevolent rulers.
• The movie goes out of its way to establish that Ariel and Eric have plenty of things in common. Even his collection room is arranged and shot in the exact same way as her grotto; darkness below and light above. Their relationship gets to develop naturally, with Ariel letting Eric into her world and Eric teaching her about his. He gets to fall in love with Ariel, not "the mystery girl who saved him", and certainly does not have to marry her out of gratitude and honor for her saving his life.
• Ariel having a siren voice gets two entries.
  • She wouldn’t have the first idea how to do first aid for someone who’s drowning. What she does instead is sing about how desperately she wants Eric to be alive. He then coughs up water and revives - Ariel saved him in the only way she could, on top of physically getting him ashore. Sebastian even explicitly says she used her voice to save Eric.
  • By stealing her voice, Ursula accidentally did Ariel a favor. It let Eric and Ariel fall in love with each other as people, on even footing, without the influence of magic (whether intentionally or accidentally cast).
• Eric’s servants caring for the human Ariel whom they believed to be a victim from a shipwreck.
  • Joshua the fisherman, when he sees he accidentally captured the now-human and naked Ariel in his net, he concerned asked her if she was alright, gives her a blanket to cover herself up and takes her to the castle to get her proper clothing and help.
  • Lashana, when meeting the human Ariel, helps her to stand up, to go up the stairs and to give her a bath and nice clothes.
• Sir Grimsby loves and regards his queen's adopted son as his own child, regularly offering support and sage advice on love. He even sets up the carriage date for Eric and Ariel behind the queen's back so his "son" can experience the happiness of young romance. In the climax, he understands Eric well enough to know that something is seriously wrong with his out-of-left-field desire to marry Vanessa, and facilitates the catfight between Vanessa and Ariel by hiding the engagement ring, which led to Vanessa's true colors being revealed and Ariel's voice restored.
• When the group first meets Scuttle after Ariel becomes human, Flounder is so excited that he starts telling Scuttle everything, forgetting that he’s currently on a boat and his life is in danger. Sebastian thankfully takes action and casts Flounder back into the sea to save the little guy’s life, even though thankfully Flounder wasn’t yet on the verge of death.
• When she sees Ariel’s very intrigued reaction to hearing Eric is tirelessly searching for the mystery girl who saved him, Lashana realizes she might be the one Eric’s looking for and excitedly goes to fetch him. And Ariel is positively ecstatic, getting lost in her thoughts as Eric approaches, realizing that all the confusion over becoming human is about to pay off because she’s about to finally, properly meet the man she’s fallen for who’s just as smitten with her. Halle Bailey’s singing is able to warm even the coldest heart with just how excited she sounds.
• Ariel kisses Sebastian like in the original, but in a different context. In the original she kissed him out of gratitude for him helping her, but the remake adds that she actually doesn’t remember her requirement to kiss Eric, she just thinks she has to kiss Sebastian when he mentions it. Before realizing why she’s confused, Sebastian gently chides her clarifying that’s not what he meant.
• Jodi Benson's cameo in the market scene. She offers a bowl of food to Ariel along with a fork, which Ariel excitedly goes on to comb her hair with. "I think you'll be needing this." Fans have gone on to call this moment "The Passing of the Dinglehopper".
• The way Eric learns Ariel's name in this version is nothing short of adorable. While the two are stargazing, he teaches her about constellations and their names. After he makes a few attempts at guessing her name, Ariel points out the constellation of Aries, and when Eric says the name, she gently shushes him with a finger, shortening it to "Arie". She then playfully drags her finger down his lip as he repeats it to achieve the "-el" sound at the end. When he finally spells it all out, he smiles and tells her it's a beautiful name that was "written in the stars."
  • Coincidentally, Halle Bailey's (Ariel) zodiac sign is Aries because she was born on March 27th.
• During "Kiss the Girl", Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder ride on Eric’s par so they can continue singing to him. Flounder being a fish without any way of holding onto the oar, Scuttle makes sure to hold him in place with her wing so he can participate.
• Ursula's enchantment on Eric doesn't take hold all the way; he noticeably looks confused and distracted when he's around Vanessa. As soon as he's out of her vicinity, he's immediately concerned for his actual love Ariel.
• As Ariel fights Vanessa for the shell necklace, Eric can be heard shouting Ariel’s name repeatedly and “Let me go!” He apparently had to be held back by Grimsby (and possibly the Queen, as only the Prime Minister's arm hooking around Eric’s is visible).
• When Ariel is turned back into a mermaid in front of him, Eric holds her tightly in his arms even as his mother gasps that she's a "sea creature", showing that he still loves her no matter what. He actually clutches her even closer as it visibly clicks that she's a mermaid instead of letting her go for whatever reason.
• Triton eventually understands Ariel's dreams and lets her live her own life, even though he will miss his little one very much.
  Ariel: Thank you... for hearing me.
  Triton: You shouldn't have had to give up your voice to be heard. But now I am listening. And I will always be here for you. We all will.
• Ariel leaves Eric's Crystal Little Mermaid figurine for her friends to remember her while she's away.
• Ariel saying she'll be back for the next coral moon means that she's not actually leaving the world she grew up in, not permanently anyway as she apparently fully intends to turn back into a mermaid every now and then. (or at least sail out and meet her family at the surface)
• Ariel's songs about her experiences on land, "For The First Time" quotes from its stage equivalent song "Beyond My Wildest Dreams", just in different keys and with different musical influences. ("Look at the sun and the sky and the sand"/"Look over there, oh my god, how very odd,") Even though they may live in different universes, the two Ariels are still the same little mermaid at heart.
• The movie opens with Hans Christian Andersen's quote about mermaids being unable to cry and therefore suffering more. At the end of the movie, Ariel is able to cry tears of joy. She has finally achieved her dream, without being trapped in either realm.