History Headscratchers / TheLittleMermaid1989

** First as stated above this requires an assumption about how Atlantean society functions. Ariel could very well be a legal adult at 16 or even younger. Triton in Myth/ClassicalMythology is the son of [[Characters/ClassicalMythologyOlympians Poseidon, God of the Sea]]. The contract would seem to be absolute proof that if not Poseidon himself there is certainly a higher power out there that even Triton is powerless to resist. In the movies at least it is never explicitly stated where the Trident itself came from, providing additional evidence of outside forces. While it is possible this is a dark power, the vast majority of fiction seems to presume that gods of law and justice are neutral to an almost infuriating degree, tending to favor the letter of the law over the spirit. This would be a fairly text book example of it. Even Ursula's interference may not strictly speaking be against the rules since it was never forbidden. See WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar for what happens when you don't phrase you magical contracts precisely.

*** Like Iago told Jafar in ''WesternAnimation/Aladdin'', "You marry the princess and then you become sultan. And then we throw the princess and the fat old man off the balcony". So Ursula could've done something similar with Eric.

*** Divorce? From a sea witch with magical powers that he isn't even aware of? Unlikely. If Ursula wanted to keep Eric's kingdom, she wouldn't have let things like laws and free will get in the way. And given Eric's heroic nature, I can see her tempting him with all sorts of things in order to rescue or reunite with Ariel, all printed on a nice unbreakable contract.

** Ursula is not a JackassGenie at all. Ariel gets exactly what she asked for and knew she's be paying with her voice. Zero trickery or rules lawyering went on here. Ursula is merely a [[DealWithTheDevil Sea Witch who can make deals]]. What she did to Ariel is almost definitely a special case since she could [[JustForPun hook Triton on this deal]]. Given the size of her garden its safe to say that many of her customers are unable to fulfill their desires and she probably makes them punishingly difficult. On the other hand unless Flotsam and Jetsam hand pick every single one of her victims odds are she gives most people a sporting enough chance that some do succeed and even spread the word.

** The implication of the "Kiss the Girl" scene is that Eric can understand Sebastian and the other animals, but only on a subconscious level. Even though the two of them are alone on a boat, Erik never wonders where that singing's coming from or who said the name "Ariel". It seems like humans can hear the animals words, and those words can influence them, but they aren't consciously aware of it.

** There is an [[http://author-quest.blogspot.fr/2015/09/im-fixing-plot-hole-where-ocean-gets-in.html elaborate theory here]].