The Little Mermaid Three:

[skywaterblue]

I thought it was surprisingly engaging, actually, although naturally none of the songs hold a candle to the original. Much better than Little Mermaid Two, actually. Sally Field tries her best, though her henchcreature, Benjamin the Manatee kind of steals the show. It's a curse that they can't bring Ursula back even in a prequel.

However, there is a weird bit that doesn't jive on a Watsonian level, where aside from sticking Ariel's mother in a Fridge to create a plot, they make it more or less explicit that she gets murdered by humans. It isn't anything the original movie didn't already imply, mind, it just leaves you thinking that Ariel's got Big Issues in the original movie. (She loves the species that murdered her mom so much that she collects all their junk and falls in love with the first handsome human being she's ever seen? Holy. Crap. That makes the reading that it's kind of really about someone completely abandoning their race for the world of White European Colonialism so much worse.)

Comments

[wickedolbaggins.livejournal.com]

That is kind of disturbing. I think I would have liked the Little Mermaid better if she was more openly tormented or - bargained more. "You kill and eat my friends. You're attractive, sure. What else can you bring to the table, huh?"

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

No wonder her dad is a big old dick about it, right?