The Little Mermaid Ending Explained: How Does Ursula Die? Why Does Ariel End Up Turning Into a Human?

More than thirty years ago, Disney released the animated film The Little Mermaid (1989), a musical adaptation of the original story by Hans Christian Andersen. Continuing with the line of recent years of making real-image remakes of their classics, this Friday, May 26, 2023, the film starring Halle Bailey premiered. If you have already seen the movie and have doubts about its ending or the changes that have been made concerning the Disney classic, continue reading the article.

The Little Mermaid: The Story Plot

As with almost all Disney live-action remakes in recent years, so is the plot of this version of The Little Mermaid follows that of the animated classic, with the teenager Ariel, the youngest daughter of the King of the Sea, Triton, passionate about the world of humans, a world that her father tells her is very dangerous, forbidding her to go to the surface. Nothing more mathematical than forbidding a teenager to do something to get the opposite effect, even at the bottom of the sea. And so, Ariel comes into contact with humans, even saving one from a shipwreck. Prince Eric, the castaway in question, becomes Ariel’s obsession, and the Sea Witch, Ursula, eager to take the power of King Triton, sees in this stubborn and rebellious daughter the lock with which to insinuate herself on the throne of the Sea.

From a plot point of view, Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid does not aim to tell any story different from what Musker & Clements did in 1989: the story follows the desire for escape by Ariel, one of King Triton’s seven daughters, sir of the seas. The conflict she lives with her father is justified by some interludes, entrusted to lines of dialogue from a classic “explainer” that allow us to contextualize some elements that have remained dormant for these thirty years: both a feeble origin story concerning Ursula, which could have had greater satisfaction in a film whose running time is almost an hour longer than the Classic, as well as the motif of Triton’s hatred of humans. For the rest, beyond a single added original character, namely Eric’s mother, the entire narrative structure does not change in any aspect, indeed the direction of the dubbing ensures that, in concert with the adaptation, many lines of dialogue are replicated with respect of what was the Classical tradition that inaugurated the Renaissance.

The Little Mermaid Ending Explained: Why Does Prince Eric Want to Marry Vanessa?

After dreaming of surface life and saving Eric from a shipwreck, Ariel gives up her voice to Ursula in exchange for her human form. During the second act, the romance between Eric and Ariel develops. Both find in the other a person with whom to share their desire for adventure to discover new worlds. However, Prince Eric is still “spellbound” by Ariel’s voice when she rescued him and continues looking for the girl who saved him without knowing that she is in front of him since she finds herself speechless due to the exchange with the sea witch.

On the other hand, Úrsula watches as the couple falls in love and Eric begins to put aside his obsession. To avoid defeat, Úrsula uses the necklace containing Ariel’s voice to play the role of Vanessa and cast a spell on the young prince. Eric doesn’t quite understand her behavior, but Ursula’s magic prevents him from controlling her impulses. Despite having fallen in love with Ariel, he cannot avoid marrying Vanessa because of Ursula’s spell. Finally, The Little Mermaid recovers her voice by breaking the necklace, and with her, she ends up breaking the magic and the prince recovers his sanity.

How Does Ursula Die?

King Triton gives the trident to his evil sister to protect his daughter. After failing to marry Prince Eric under Vanessa’s skin, Ursula decides to take action and use her power to get her way the hard way. The sea witch uses the power of the trident to take over the sea and create a storm that will end the kingdom. During a whirlpool, Ariel manages to take over the rudder of a ship, directing the bowsprit (the point that protrudes from the bow) straight at Úrsula’s heart and managing to stick it into her chest.

Why Does Ariel End Up Turning Into a Human?

Following Ursula’s defeat, the power of the trident turns to its former bearer, restoring Triton to life. Father and daughter meet again and Ariel returns to her life in the depths. After Triton’s kingdom returns to normal, the king realizes that Ariel still yearns for Eric’s life on the surface. However, Triton decides to listen to the will of her daughter for the first time and gives her the gift of becoming human for the rest of her life. Finally, Ariel and Eric end up getting married and embarking on a new adventure together to see the world.

What Are The Changes in the Live-Action concerning the Disney classic?

• Ariel wishes to see the surface before Prince Eric
• Ursula is Triton‘s sister and makes the showdown much more personal.
• The myth of siren songs and their attractive effect on people.
• Ariel forgets that she needs the first kiss, which makes their romance more authentic.
• Eric has a previous history, is adopted, and shows more interest in exploring the world.
• Queen Selina does not appear in the animated film, here she adds context to the differences between humans and mermaids.
• King Triton loses his wife to the humans.
• Ariel is the one who finally defeats Ursula and not Eric, as in the animation.