Movie

The Little Mermaid

Name: The Little Mermaid
Released: 1989

1989 • Animation, Adventure, Family

Woke Score

2.2

out of 10

Plot

In Disney's beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers, the king must make the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter.

Overall Series Review

The Little Mermaid is a classic animated fairy tale that explores universal themes of youthful rebellion, the desire for independence, and forbidden love. The central conflict revolves around the rebellious teenage mermaid Ariel, who is fascinated by the human world, clashing with her authoritarian father, King Triton, who maintains a strict prohibition against human interaction. Ariel’s pursuit of Prince Eric and her willingness to sacrifice her voice and mer-identity to become human forms the core of the plot. The narrative ends with King Triton choosing to honor his daughter’s personal growth and desire for a new life, ultimately making a paternal sacrifice to secure her happiness and future with the prince. The film is a product of its time, focusing heavily on a traditional romantic structure and father-daughter relationship rather than modern identity or political ideologies.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The narrative does not center around race, immutable characteristics, or intersectional hierarchy; all principal characters are animated in a universal fairy-tale style without political commentary on demographics. The focus is entirely on a conflict of will and desire between two fantasy kingdoms (merfolk and humans), representing a classic story structure over social commentary.

Oikophobia5/10

The plot's central conflict is Ariel’s intense hostility toward her own home, culture, and her father’s rule, directly aligning with a rejection of heritage. King Triton is initially framed as a fearful and overprotective patriarch who views the surface world's human culture as 'barbarians' and unsafe, providing a motivation for Ariel's civilizational rejection. However, the film resolves with King Triton showing paternal love and sacrificing his power and prejudice to allow the union, which is more a universal coming-of-age/cultural blending theme than an explicit vilification of a specific 'Western' heritage.

Feminism2/10

The film does not contain the 'Girl Boss' or 'Mary Sue' tropes; Ariel is impulsive, naive, and makes a poor deal that leaves her physically vulnerable and literally voiceless for much of the climax. Her primary goal is traditional marriage and a life with the man she loves, not a career or anti-natal fulfillment. The central male figures are depicted as a strong, protective father (King Triton, who ultimately sacrifices for his daughter) and a heroic, traditional prince (Eric). This classic gender dynamic is the subject of later feminist critique, but it is the opposite of the score's 'woke' definition.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative is structured around a normative, traditional male-female pairing and the formation of a nuclear family (Ariel and Eric). There is no centering of alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or lecturing on gender theory. The villain, Ursula, has occasionally been noted by commentators as having been designed with a 'drag queen' influence, but her character arc and powers are based purely on evil magic and revenge, not sexual identity.

Anti-Theism1/10

The film operates within a fantasy mythology structure where the moral compass is objective: Ursula is an evil sea witch and a direct force of malevolence who is eventually destroyed. King Triton is a mythical sea god and monarch, not a stand-in for traditional religious institutions. There is no hostility or lecturing directed toward religion, Christianity, or faith as a source of evil, maintaining a transcendent good-versus-evil moral structure.