The Little Mermaid Breaks The Movie’s Talking Animal Logic (Twice)
Written by on June 7, 2023
While The Little Mermaid is relatively consistent with the magical rules that govern its story, it does break the logic of its talking animals on two occasions. Disney movies and fairy tales aren’t always known for their logic or consistent worldbuilding, but all the same, most of them have enough rules baked into the world that the audience understands the stakes and limitations the characters must work around. This is a necessary part of storytelling so that creators can make a consistent and cohesive universe. While small continuity errors are not typically a problem, especially for movies aimed at younger kids, they can be distracting.
The cast of The Little Mermaid remake tells the classic tale of Ariel (Halle Bailey), a mermaid who is fascinated by the human world but forbidden from knowing more about it by her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem). Ariel is often accompanied by sea-animal companions, including Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), and Scuttle (Awkwafina). With the help of her friends, Ariel tries to win the heart of Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) by the end of The Little Mermaid. As a mermaid, Ariel can understand her animal friends, but this is not an ability that is typically extended to the humans in the film.
Scuttle Speaks Underwater In The Little Mermaid (But How?)
Disney movies like The Little Mermaid typically handwave some of their magical aspects, such as princesses being able to understand animals to varying degrees. But the latest remake has a few other confusing details regarding this skill set. One example is Scuttle, who speaks to Ariel underwater. While it’s not unusual for this version of Scuttle to swim more than the animated one, as she is a Northern Gannet diving bird that can swim for more than 100 meters below the surface, it still doesn’t make sense for her to speak. She needs air to breathe, unlike Ariel and Flounder, so Scuttle’s underwater speech is a small continuity error in the film overall.
The Little Mermaid Suggests Humans Can’t Understand Animals… Until Eric Does
In both the original and the remake versions of The Little Mermaid, it’s generally accepted that while Ariel and the merpeople can understand their sea-creature neighbors, humans cannot. However, “Kiss the Girl” complicates this rule. During the song, Scuttle is heard squawking instead of singing at times, but then Eric can seemingly understand Sebastian and the other creatures once they start singing.
In the original version of The Little Mermaid, it’s less critical that Eric actually understands the animal chorus in “Kiss the Girl” but that he and Ariel be put in the right conditions to have a romantic moment. Eric doesn’t hear the creatures around him goading him on to kiss Ariel, or, at least, he doesn’t respond as though he does, but the music, waterworks, and lighting do their jobs nonetheless. The remakes seem to make this song more explicit. While this element is surprising, it’s also a very small inconsistency and doesn’t overly disrupt the film.
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