The Most Troubled Father-Daughter Bond in Disney History - The Perfect Ending to the Perfect Fairy-Tale Movie by Dan

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Growing up, we all had our favourite movie that we watched endlessly, sometimes twice or three times a day until our parents tell us we are to go play outside. My first movie in which that was the case was “The Little Mermaid”. The wonder I felt… The songs that I loved… And admittedly, I really liked Ariel herself. Her beautiful voice and flowing hair, who can forget the girl who wished to walk on land.

And rewatching the movie as an adult, I still feel the love for the movie. It is always pleasant to see the final kiss between Ariel and Eric, and finally, the beautiful rainbow Triton creates. But the most notable action that occurs are the final words, whispered by Ariel to her father, Triton, “I love you, Daddy”. The entire movie leads us to this moment, after all that went down with father and daughter. People always assume that the main characters are the prince and princess of the movie, but I will disagree, and say that the two primary protagonists are Ariel and Triton. It’s the story of a father that needs to let his daughter go, and let her become her own woman.

Ariel’s impetuous nature in the beginning reveals that she is forgetful about her duties, and still very much a child, and it creates an emphasis that she is the baby of the family, showing that she still needs to grow up, as she is still immature. Small adventures, ducking out of duties and lessons, losing track of days are all behaviours children naturally go through. And of course, we are dealing with a time when girls like Ariel can wander around, without concern of being attacked in the middle of the day. However, she is also keeping a secret from her father: She is fascinated by humans.

Her curiousity is what leads her into trouble, and gets scolded for her lack of appearance at the celebration, something that embarrasses the royal family and Sebastian. (In Ariel’s defense, they should have ensured she was present, or sent out for a search party. Sebastian should have also prepared for the eventuality that she played hooky, considering her regular behaviour.)

Parents scold and punish their children generally because they care, and need to correct their behaviour. This is very typical of an adult-teenager relationship, which is very back and forth. Ariel is testing her boundaries, whereas Triton is trying to establish rules and limits to her recklessness, to make sure she doesn’t do something too stupid, like going into an abandoned, sunken ship that is falling apart for treasure and get chased by a shark.

And what teenager didn’t ignore the scolding and memorized it, as if it were written off of a script. It’s annoying, your parents nags, and are a complete buzzkill. But you still do care about your family, therefore when they aren’t giving you a lecture, you do listen to them. However the free spirit Ariel doesn’t even bother to do that, because she has a very short attention span, and when she hears the music of a ship later, she just wants to go listen and observe what music is played aboard the ship, seeing Eric for the first time.

And this is after Ariel sings a beautiful song, singing about wanting to make her own way in life and figuring out her own path, even without the blessing of her father, which does make it very reckless, displaying the immaturity she has, as she is not ready for real life. She is still approaching life like that of a child. Dreaming, head in the clouds… At the age of 16, she is still juggling the role of the little girl who loves her Daddy’s attention, and wanting to be a young woman that thinks she has it together to be an adult. She’s the baby of the family, and certainly the golden child.

However, it is not set in a toxic way. Her sisters do gush over her, and they support their father gushing over Ariel, after all he isn’t the only one that spoils Ariel, and guides her. Ariel is close to her sisters. One of my favourite scenes in the movie is in the dressing room that the sisters share, and Ariel is humming and sharing, as Triton goes to greet them. Her sisters are picking up on some cues, as Ariel takes her time gussying up, much to the annoyance of her sisters, as Ariel comes out humming, taking care of her hair in the mirror and taking a flower. This is the behaviour of a young teenage girl going through a first love, and swimming right into her father, greeting him sweetly as she puts the flower in his hair, much to his confusion.

It’s an adorable scene that shows us what the relationship was between them. Many fathers of daughters wouldn’t allow such a thing, but we see that Triton was very involved in his daughters’ lives before and after the death of Athena. He seemed like the kind of father that would enjoy the tea parties with his little girls, putting a lot of value on those little moments between his duties as King of Atlantica, and most fathers would do that. You can’t lie to me that you haven’t met a father or father-figure that has played tea party with his little princesses. It’s very human, and shows that Triton is very close to his daughters, and shows that they are very open with him, with open communication.

Even when he is a guy about Ariel’s non-verbal language, (Let’s face it. Guys aren’t as perceptive of these kinds of subtle cues.) he tries to listen to what his daughters are picking up, commenting on how Ariel has fallen hard for a guy. Even her “Morning Daddy” is very telling on how she’s definitely a Daddy’s girl, and gushes over his attention as well. It’s tender, and adorable, and displays that her father isn’t just a man who has a bad temper. He is very affectionate, and the lack of surprise of his appearance shows that there is a morning ritual of him going to greet his daughters before his duties, displaying how much he lives for his daughters.

But the most shocking response to this is from Triton. Most fathers opt for the protective route, sometimes cleaning the guy as the boy comes over to establish that they don't want their daughters hurt. But Triton is excited to hear about the boy Ariel fell in love with, imagining the first meeting, similar to how Ariel imagines surprising Eric. Usually, fathers are eager to hear about their children’s love lives, as it means the next step of their lives, and it means that it’s a new milestone in the relationship, meaning it’s time for the child to grow up.

This shows that he is very open to his daughters meeting men that would care for him, and eager to see the lives of his daughters, and meet his grandchildren, which would bring forth the reassurance that he succeeded in raising his daughters to adulthood. One can be reminded of another animated Disney movie, Cinderella. The King is confiding (In a very loud and dangerous way, tossing things around) to the Grand Duke, that he wishes to retire, and wants his grown son to marry and become King and step into his duties. This is shown in the size of the portraits, beginning with the King and Prince playing, and a certain amount of distance being made, and in the final and largest portrait of only the Prince. He wants what is best for his son, and yes, he wants grandchildren, but like Triton, he wants his son to be happy, and he is fed up with waiting for his child to fall in love. He also feels like a failure, like he coddled his son too much, but he is tired. It’s time to pass the duties to the next generation.

But it also means that the relationship between parent and child is often put through a harsh test as the father meets the boy or girl his child brings home, that leaves things complicated. Some fathers are excited to meet them, wanting to be open for a new member of the family. Others are still wanting to cherish their little baby. Triton’s teasing of Sebastian, trying to learn the identity of the young man his baby fell in love with shows that he can be a very casual man deep down, and wants to be involved.

But Triton had only one condition for his daughters. No humans. And what does the daydreaming Ariel do? Of course, being the willful no-child she is, she goes after a human. And once Triton pulls the information from Sebastian, this leads into the most explosive part of the relationship, the biggest test for the two. Triton is known for his hot temper, something that may come from the Danish side of the family. It put a damper on the relationship, and Triton immediately feels bad, and swims away, upset that he lost his cool, and wished for a calmer discussion. Ariel was rather petulant, and was pushing the wrong buttons, insisting that she loves Eric, and this caused her father’s blackout rage. Looking at the previous Disney animated features, we know the fathers have a reputation for being really angry and aggressive, especially when their children are involved. The King in Cinderella caused a lot of damage in his chambers, but the explosive response of Triton was on a whole other level.

But the saddest part of it is that Triton feels ashamed of what he did, and that Ariel wouldn’t return home if she saw him trying to convince her to come back home, as it might lead into another argument. And when Ariel became human, he was heartbroken and felt useless and terrible. He wanted to protect her, but it drove her further away, something that he needed to learn in order to let go. It’s why a part of the story is more from the father’s point of view, rather than just the princess’ point of view in the tale. But Triton is convincing himself that he was a terrible father, and he made a big mistake. People judge him based on his tantrum, and for good reason. But we can’t forget the father who greeted his daughters every morning. This is the same man, and he never even thought of the possibilities of one of his seven daughters falling in love with a human.

But the distance was necessary for him to reflect on the treatment of his daughter in her grotto. That Ariel is going to make decisions that he won’t like, and he can’t just control her. When Ariel was 6, he could take charge of big choices she makes, but at 16, he can’t just do the same thing. And his temper sends his beloved daughter into the arms of someone who has bad intentions, giving bad advice, and who wishes to lead her astray, Ariel going to Ursula, known as the sea witch.

Ariel wants to break her connection with her father, and she has to learn that she can’t just play like she once did. She made a faustian bargain with Ursula, and not making Eric fall in love with her would cost Ariel, for all intents and purposes, her life.Sure, we cheer about her trying to court Eric, but it is still in an irresponsible way, but she is finally getting to know the true Eric, not just the one she imagined. And a sad part is, she wants to forget Triton, but she never could forget him. The last conflict between the two has traumatized them, and it will take quite a bit of work in order for the two to fix their bond.

It was the worst way he could let her go, and he chased her away, with his concern of protecting her, but he couldn’t do it as he was the one who hurt her. He is torn between wanting to do something drastic like lock her up in a tower like Mother Gothel would, and letting her choose for herself. He thought that giving her space would help, but it just got Ariel in trouble, and she is figuring herself out. To her, she’s learning that the seaweed does seem to be greener in the lake with Eric. And when the Seahorse Herald comes to report to the throne room, it seems that his other daughters are absent, which might mean that he sent his daughters to find Ariel, thinking that she might be more open to seeing her sisters rather than her father, after he messed things up, big time. He wants to be able to face his daughter when she is ready to face him, which considering the situation, it’s the best he thinks he can do.

But upon sabotaging Eric with a love spell, Sebastian decides to go explain things to Triton who comes forth without question to his daughter’s side when she is in danger, no matter what happened three days prior. Ariel is also upset as she also regrets part of the contract she made, as the two never wanted to part on bad terms, but Ariel failed in her part of the deal, and she was about to suffer the consequences. Triton was shocked that even with his full power, he couldn’t undo the contract, and without hesitation he took his daughter’s place. He took a bullet for his daughter, knowing that Ursula would gain all the power. He loved his daughters above all else, and would choose them over his entire kingdom and power, if he was given the choice. He may have let Atlantica down, but he didn’t want to fail his daughter again.

Therefore, after Eric defeats Ursula, Triton observes how his daughter is looking over Eric, and realizes that true love proved him wrong, and that he now really learned that Ariel is now grown up, and no longer a child. His final child has now grown up, and ready to face the world. He says that the main problem now is that he will miss her dearly. He loves having his daughters stay close to him, but he has come to accept that it’s time to let her go. As he casts his spell to make her human, Ariel smiles a very eager smile, and he looks at her tenderly, but also sadly. It’s natural for a man in his situation to feel conflicted. He loves Ariel above all else, but knows that he can’t keep her imprisoned under the sea in Atlantica. He also adds a shimmering effect to the dress, and white in colour, meaning that she is pure, and he is giving her away to Prince Eric.

The softest line in the movie is the one line that shows that the two protagonists have grown, and what is true in their hearts. Ariel still loves Triton very dearly, and the two don’t want to lose each other, but they have come to accept the new life Ariel will have. There are trials and tribulations both have gone through, emotional blowups and they have made it through the other side, both stronger and understanding each other. Ariel understands that her father wanted to protect her, and Triton understands that Ariel is in love, and he needs to respect that. Acknowledging and smiling from deep in his heart at both Ariel and Eric, then as he touches her face tenderly, she follows his hand as he pulls away, and she stops, both realizing that Ariel is no longer a child, and that Triton is not a perfect father that she grew up thinking he was.

The two last scenes are Triton looking on as the ship departs, and Ariel and Eric kissing. It’s as if a weight has been lifted off his chest, and that he is far closer to her, and yet, he keeps his distance as there is a balance that he thinks needs to be kept. The way they hugged earlier showed that they will cherish that last, tender moment for the rest of their lives, and we see that if Sebastian comes and says that something is happening, he would be willing to let eternal storms rage to come and save her, but he knows that it’s Ariel and Eric’s time to start their lives. The ending is symbolic of how a parent and child need to be, as the child steps into the world, finding their place, and it is a parent’s duty to cherish it, respect it, and love it.

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