Movies Like The Little Mermaid

Frequently asked about The Little Mermaid

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why does Ariel trade her voice to Ursula?▾

  Ariel makes the deal with Ursula because she is desperate to become human and be with Prince Eric, whom she rescued and fell in love with after his shipwreck. Ursula offers a three-day window in human form on the condition that Eric kisses her before the deadline — without her voice, Ariel must make him fall in love with her through actions alone. The trade reflects Ariel's lifelong yearning to belong to a world beyond the sea, making her willing to risk everything for that chance.

• What is Ursula's true motivation for making deals with merpeople?▾

  Ursula is King Triton's banished sister who seeks to reclaim power over the sea. By tricking merpeople — and ultimately Ariel — into failed deals, she collects their souls and accumulates power to eventually challenge Triton and seize his trident. Her deal with Ariel is calculated: she expects Ariel to fail, giving her leverage over the King himself.

• How does Ursula disguise herself as Vanessa to sabotage Ariel?▾

  Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful human woman named Vanessa and uses Ariel's stolen voice, enchanted within a nautilus shell necklace, to bewitch Prince Eric. The enchanted singing makes Eric believe Vanessa is the woman who saved him, causing him to forget Ariel and nearly marry Vanessa instead. The spell is broken when Scuttle and the sea animals destroy the necklace, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking Eric's enchantment.

• Why does King Triton initially forbid Ariel from having contact with humans?▾

  Triton harbors a deep fear and mistrust of humans, rooted in the belief that they are dangerous to merfolk and the ocean world. In the 2023 film, this fear is further tied to the loss of Ariel's mother, who was killed by a human ship, giving Triton's protectiveness a personal and tragic dimension. His overprotectiveness ironically fuels Ariel's curiosity and longing for the human world rather than suppressing it.

• How does the film end and what happens to Ariel's mermaid form?▾

  After Ursula is defeated and her hold over Triton's trident is broken, Triton uses the trident to permanently transform Ariel into a human, recognizing that her true sense of belonging lies in the human world. Ariel and Eric are reunited and eventually wed on a ship surrounded by both merfolk and humans, symbolizing a reconciliation between the two worlds. Unlike the original animated film's more bittersweet undertones, this ending leans into a full celebration of Ariel choosing her own path with her father's blessing.