Tear Jerker / The Little Mermaid (2023)

• Triton's angst with Ariel is given new context. His other daughters have all moved out to live in their own seas, and his wife was murdered long ago (possibly by a human manipulated by Ursula, his own sister), leaving only his youngest Ariel to live with him, and him overprotective of her. Not just because he fears losing Ariel to an act of murder like his wife, but because he will truly be alone if Ariel moves out too. At first, he’s even more upset with Ariel for not being present for the coral moon meeting since it’s the only time he and his beloved daughters are all together in the same place. By the end of the film, he finally accepts that his youngest is ready to leave him too, but now he at least knows she can take care of herself and has married someone who will also look after her too, softening the blow that he is now an empty-nester.
• Triton's destruction of Ariel's grotto. He was enraged in the animated version, which is already uncomfortable enough for survivors (and victims) whose abusers destroyed their possessions and things they loved. In the live-action, he does it almost stoically even as Ariel screams and cries for him to stop. He clearly sees it as a necessary evil that must be done to crush Ariel's "obsession" with the human world, he knows it's hurting his beloved "little one", but he's doing it anyway. It's not a snap decision borne out of a moment of rage. It's cold and calculated, not unlike something his sister might do to his daughter.
  • And she did. Her echo of Triton's warning for Ariel to "never leave again" is the last straw that pushes Ariel over the edge and makes her take the pact.
• As "For the First Time" reaches its climax, Ariel learns from Lashana that Eric has been searching for her tirelessly since she saved him, and her reaction is what convinces Lashana to go fetch Eric since she puts two and two together that Ariel might be the mystery girl. Ariel begins excitedly singing as Eric approaches, delighted that he reciprocates her interest in him and is practically hugging herself that it’s finally going to work out… but then Eric arrives, and she can’t speak to him and confirm she’s the one he’s searching for. Eric is also heartbroken, fairly assuming Ariel isn’t the one due to not being able to speak. And Ariel finally grapples with what she sacrificed for her chance to pursue Eric, and is completely heartbroken.
  • Grimsby is also visibly saddened when it appears Ariel isn’t the one, since when it looked like the mystery girl was Real After All, he was happy to help Eric find her if it meant securing his happiness. But now it’s back to business searching for the apparently non-existent mystery girl.
• Triton's remorse upon realizing that he's responsible for driving Ariel away is given an extra detail here; he [1] drops his trident upon whispering "What have I done?", almost like he feels undeserving of his Iconic Item.
  • There's also his Oh, Crap! face when his other daughters wonder aloud why Ariel would disappear. He can't bring himself to tell them because he knows they'd be crushed if they found out what he'd done to their sister, and now he feels unworthy of not only his power, but the love of his family and subjects.
• The second reprise of "Part of Your World", as a brokenhearted Ariel regrets throwing her underwater life away for a chance to live on the surface and love Eric.
  ♫ Risking it all only to fall
  Back where I started
  Back near the shore, back to before
  You took my hand
  Betcha on land, they understand
  And they don't strand you, brokenhearted
  What did I give to live where you are
  Where do I go with nowhere to turn to? ♫
  • And to top it all off, she drops the crystal mermaid figurine Eric gave her into the water.
• Unlike in the original, Eric isn't completely under Vanessa/Ursula's spell and is genuinely confused about why he has to abandon Ariel to marry her, with the strong implication that he doesn't really want to and is essentially being forced into it. His bewilderment and helplessness is heartbreaking to watch.
• Triton and Ariel's reconciliation at the end of the movie definitely counts as this mixed with Heartwarming.
  • Especially since 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.
• While the scene is extremely brief, the film seems to heavily imply that Ursula is dealing with some heavy emotional trauma stemming from childhood, much like what is established in the stage musical. When Ursula is about to get the trident, she says that she wants nothing to do with Ariel, but truly wants Triton and to make him suffer like how she has suffered all these years, with a look of intense desperation and almost longing/sadness. Coupled with the quip she made earlier that Triton always got what he wanted and she never did, it makes one question if their father (the sea god) didn't love Ursula due to her unusual appearance and if she started her journey to evil as a way to win his affection. In this one moment...you almost feel bad for Ursula.
  • Upon gaining the trident and killing Triton, Ursula sets her pet eels to grab Eric when the latter scarred her arm with a harpoon. She attempted to use the trident to make a lethal blast towards Eric, but Ariel pushes her, causing the blast to hit Flotsam and Jetsam by accident instead and sending their remains to disperse in the ocean. This left Ursula extremely shattered as she cries out to what's left of the eels, feeling extremely remorseful for what she did to the eels and driving her to enlarge herself in an attempt to take down an escaping Eric and Ariel.

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