The Little Mermaid: Disney's Step in the Right Direction

 The Little Mermaid has been a divisive film in the past few years, with debates over whether Ariel's quest for a man is harmful, if the film includes demeaning LBGT representation, and if the film gives young viewers (arguably the primary audience) the incorrect depiction of what it means to be happy. However, I argue that for its place in history, The Little Mermaid was a vital movie both for Disney and for the audiences. Disney's representation of the film's female characters are appropriately progressive and unique for their time, and Disney produced the ideal mix of plot features and animations to create a blockbuster hit. The Little Mermaid provided Disney with the success they needed to survive, and opened the gates for much more to come in their future.

For one, debate has been struck over Disney's representation of female characters - with Ariel being weak and pushed around and our LGBT character being a villain. For Ursula, she is undeniably a very strong female character, something unique to a lot of the very feminine female characters of the time. That strength is what was needed to push/convince Ariel to rebel against her father and her mermaid identity, and go for her dreams - despite her dream being romance-focused. Basing Ursula after the drag queen Divine allowed Disney to create a bold character with very expressive body language. It is true that Ursula is the epitome of queer-coded Disney villains, which is a debatably problematic representation for the LBGT community, although she is undoubtedly so much more than a simple princess or fairy, and she is beloved by many of all identities. Ursula's depiction is both vital to the plot and was a step towards social acceptance of expressive characters.

Ursula's body language created arguable her most defining aspect

Ursula and her inspiration Divine - more on Divine's influence

A lot of the debate over The Little Mermaid surrounds whether or not it was appropriate to have Ariel so focused on chasing Prince Eric that never acts rationally or for herself, in that her identity is dependent on a man (initially King Triton, who is replaced by Eric). However, this film was a unique case for its time where we saw a young female character largely acting on her own. While her motivation rested in romance with Prince Eric and becoming a human, Ariel made independent decisions in abandoning her father and took control of life by signing Ursula's contract to go onto land, a powerful message for young viewers. Ariel fought against the conformity and tradition that she felt trapped in by her father.

Some argue that Ariel isn't an independent thinker in that she was controlled by Triton to the point where she was desperate for anything new, and then coerced by Ursula with the opportunity of living on land. While Ariel may have been convinced by Ursula in the "Poor Unfortunate Souls" sequence (the sing-along is linked below!), I can't say that Ursula wasn't completely deceiving. She outright said that she was a witch ("I admit that in the past I've been a nasty
They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch"), explained there was a cost, and even laid it out in a contract (Clements). Ursula simply makes deals with those who are willing, and really didn't act very differently from a lot of businessmen (not that that is a gold standard, but it's not secretly-killing-your-stepdaughter evil). Sure, later Ursula was deceiving in going to land herself guised as a young woman to marry Prince Eric. Although when Ariel chose to go to land, Ursula did not deceive her as much as convince her. It was Ariel who made the naive decision she did (which is fair given she was young, felt constrained, and fairly desperate for new experiences). Ariel wanted to go to land and she did, making her own decision. She thought and acted on her own accord - a unique representation compared some other princess films. In Snow White, her actions were largely determined by the situation around her - she was running away from death brought on by the evil queen, rather than choosing to make a new life for herself.

Ursula's performance of "Poor Unfortunate Souls"

Ariel signed a contract giving up "One Voice for All Eternity" - consent doesn't get much more explicit than that

The important aspect to consider with The Little Mermaid is its time of production: the 1980s and after Disney's dry spell. In the late 80s, America was rejuvenated with the conservative values from the Reagan Revolution, so the idea of Ariel forming her identity and favoring nonconformity as a young female was progressive. The romance-focus fell in line with Disney tradition (and is not considered progressive by many today), although Ariel's rejection of her father as a young female was a big step for empowering female characters. On the point of Ursula's expressive representation being potentially problematic towards the LGBT community, I feel that the greater context matters here as well. The case for LBGT representation for an 80s wasn't so much as "depict an LBGT character as good or as evil," but rather "include an LGBT character or not." While Disney may have taken the trope of queer-coding villains a bit far, Ursula was an important step in normalizing gay representation, following a time when the President was ignoring the AIDS epidemic that largely killed gay individuals. 

Disney produced the film that they needed for 1989. Coming out of the "Disney Dark Ages", The Little Mermaid kicked off a renaissance of filmmaking and empire building for Disney, including financing for the parks and many more of the classic Disney films like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Disney had not only begun a new era of film animation, but launched the success that we see today, thanks to The Little Mermaid. 

A progressive film today is simply something different than what it was over 30 years ago, and The Little Mermaid should not be judged on the standards we hold today. The romance-centered plot is something audiences were used to for these stories, and loved. Love was Disney's specialty, with Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. It was a safety net for Disney to help ensure their success with the film, something they needed. Disney was still able to cultivate social success around the romance-focused plot: they made the bold choice of including a young female character fighting for her own dreams, rather than her moves being dictated by those (the men) around her. The Little Mermaid opened up the gates for Disney to do much more financially and in regards to including social norms that we appreciate today.

Clements, Ron, and John Musker. The Little Mermaid. Buena Vista Pictures, 1989.