One of Disney’s most famous romances hides a disturbing secret.
On the top list of the most popular and acclaimed animated films stands without a doubt The Little Mermaid, the Disney film that premiered on November 17, 1989 and was part of the golden era in with other well-known titles such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
The animated film told the tale inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s eponymous short story, in which a young mermaid longed to go outside of the water and learn what life was like there, but due to her innocence and recklessness she ended up making a deal with an evil witch who took away her voice. In return, she promised to make her love with the prince of the neighboring seashore kingdom real.
But could an animated children’s movie hide a dark secret? The answer is yes. An interesting theory has been circulating through social networks which ensures that Prince Eric has never been in love with Ariel.
The theory from Reddit user unleashtheducks reads as follows: “It’s a pretty common part of mermaid folklore that they sing to lure sailors to drown but even though it’s never explicitly stated in the movie, I think Ariel has this power as well. That’s why Ursula is so determined to take her voice before she goes up on land. Ursula figures Ariel won’t be able to attract Prince Eric without her voice that she unconsciously used when she rescued him. It also explains why Eric was so mesmerized by the song she sang to the point that he was willing to marry Ursula as soon as he heard her with Ariel’s voice. The movie just cheats a little bit by not addressing it directly and having Ariel not realizing she’s enchanting Eric so it doesn’t seem wrong that he falls in love with her.”
https://youtu.be/DIeJG9ZdGNU
The moment Eric and Ariel meet, she sings for him, hearing that voice the prince is fascinated with such a beautiful and sweet melody. But it happens that when Ariel loses her voice, it seems that Eric loses interest in her, and then when Úrsula appears singing the same song, he falls for her. At the end of the film, Ariel manages to recover her voice, she sings and the prince quickly falls ‘in love’ again.
That would be the reason why the sorceress of the sea sought the voice of the mermaid, for her particular power to control men at will.
Now everything makes sense!
