Title: The Little Mermaid
Year: 1989
Director(s): Ron Clements, John Musker
Screenwriter(s): (Same as above)
All times approximate.
ACT I
minute 1: OPENING IMAGE
Seagulls flying over ocean; large sailing ship appears scattering dolphins. (singing about mermaids and life at sea)
minute 10: SET UP FINISHED
We are introduced to Prince Eric, the existence of Atlantis, the mer-people, King Triton and his daughter, Ariel.
The main character is Ariel, a free-spirited, adventurous, young mermaid, who is more interested in the land above the sea than listening to her father and his friend, the composer, Sebastian.
minute 12: CATALYST
Introduced to the sea witch, who hints at an evil plot involving Ariel.
Ariel is yelled at by her father for missing the day’s celebration, and, when he finds out that she went to the surface, he bans her from going there again.
minutes 12-25: DEBATE
To make sure that Ariel follows his orders, Triton assigns Sebastian as her keeper, and instructs him to keep a close eye on her.
Consequently, Sebastian learns of Ariels secret cave where she keeps all of her treasures that she has collected from the human world. As he listens, she expresses her dream to visit the human world and walk among them.
Ariel begs Sebastian not to tell her father, but is interrupted by a sail boat that passes over head. The boat is having a party, and Ariel sees Prince Eric for the first time.
Shown a bit more of Eric’s character. Also seems free-spirited, doesn’t want to be tied down and married to some one he doesn’t love.
A storm rolls in and destroys the ship, and Eric is thrown over board. Ariel saves him and takes him safely to shore.
minute 25: BREAK INTO 2 (The hero needs to be proactive. They are the one that should push us into 2.)
After Ariel saves Eric, he hears her singing to him and sees just a glimpse of her. Ariel then watches from afar as Eric is taken home, but she is even more dedicated to her quest to be on land now, as she wants to be with Eric.
ACT II
minute 30: B STORY (use B story to discuss theme)
Ariel wants to see Eric again, and it can be seen obviously by those close to her that she is in love; although only Sebastian and Flounder know who she is in love with.
minutes 30-55: FUN AND GAMES (trailer moments / fish is the most out of water)
Sebastian tries to convince Ariel that life under the sea is better than that on land. He recruits all the fish and creatures in the ocean to help him, and bursts into a musical number.
However half way through, Ariel and Flounder slip away as Sebastian is distracted with his music; he doesn’t notice till the song is over and Ariel is long gone.
Sebastian is then called to Triton’s side, as he wants to know who it is Ariel is in love with; but Sebastian doesn’t know that and thinks that the king has found out about Eric.
By mistake, Sebastian accidentally tells the King about Eric and her part in saving him.
Back with Ariel, Flounder surprises her with a statue of Eric that sank during the ship wreck.
But, right as she is enjoying her gift, her father shows up with Sebastian in tow. Then after loosing his temper when Ariel tells him she loves Eric, he destroys Ariel’s collection and the statue.
Devastated by the loss of her precious cave, Ariel is lured by the sea witch’s lair by her minions, in the hopes that she can help her.
Sebastian tries to dissuade her, she doesn’t listen.
Ursula makes a deal with Ariel, saying that she can make her human, but she only has three days to male the Prince kiss her, or else she will belong to the witch. She also takes her voice from her.
Ariel is turned human, and Eric sees her as a human for the first time.
But, because she doesn’t have her voice, he doesn’t recognize her as the girl who saved him.
minute 55: MIDPOINT (stakes raised, start the clock, pace picks up, A & B stories cross, False Victory/Defeat)
Ariel then spends the next day with Eric, trying to get him to fall in love with her, with Sebastian her friends help.
minutes 55-75: BAD GUYS CLOSE IN
Eric and Ariel go out in a boat, and Eric tries to guess her name; Sebastian tells him.
Sebastian then makes the mood even more romantic with a song, telling him to kiss the girl.
However, right before he can kiss her, Ursula’s minions flip over the boat and stop him from kissing her and keeping the deal with the witch.
Knowing that they are close, Ursula decides to turn herself human, and trick Eric into thinking that she is the girl of his dreams.
She bewitches him, and he tells his people that he plans to marry her that night. The last day Ariel has to get him to kiss her, before she belongs to the witch.
Ariel, finding out that he plans to marry another, falls into despair, however Scuttle discovers that it is in fact the sea witch who he’s marrying.
Ariel races to stop her, and Sebastian sends the sea animals to halt the wedding.
Ariel reaches the boat, and gets her voice back, but right as she is about to kiss Eric, who realizes she was the one the whole time, the sun goes down.
Ariel is stollen by the witch and taken to her lair.
minute 75: ALL IS LOST (False Defeat/Victory)
When they arrive however, Ariel’s father is waiting, ready to take on Ursula.
minutes 75-85: DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
But, not even King Triton can destroy the deal that she and Ariel made, so Ursula, her plan finally revealed in entirety, offers the king a deal.
He can take Ariel’s place on the contract, and the king will belong to her.
He takes the deal, and his trident and crown are taken my Ursula, who crowns herself the new Queen of the Ocean.
minute 85: BREAK INTO 3 (The A story and B story have come together. The people from B kick you into 3.)
As Ursula basks in her new power, Ariel becomes in raged and attacks her.
Ursula quickly over powers her and points the trident at her, but before she can strike, Eric appears and throws a spear at her. But as she goes to kill him she is thwarted by Ariel and accidentally kills her eel minions instead.
ACT III
minutes 85-110: FINALE
In a rage she grows to 10 times her size, stirring up the ocean and firing at Ariel.
While she is distracted though, Eric boards a ship that had been brought to the surface, and sails it straight at Ursula.
The sharp point pierces her in the nick of time, killing her before she can kill Ariel.
With his crown and trident back, the King is restored to full strength.
He sees how unhappy Ariel is though, being a mermaid again any away from Eric.
He then decided to reunite them, turning Ariel back into a human, and giving them his blessing.
On their wedding day, he and the other mer-people surround the ship, cheering and waving, as Triton forms a rainbow in the sky.
minute 110: FINAL IMAGE
Ariel and Eric wave goodbye to the mer-people as they sail away on his ship.
