Wednesday, June 2, 2010

La Sirenita

When I was 8 years old (in the 3rd grade) a fantastic movie came out: The Little Mermaid. I can still remember the first time I saw it: we were late to the movie and were walking into the theatre just as the orange fish slipped out of the sailor's hand, swam deep into the ocean, and heaved a sigh of relief. When I saw the movie for the first time on video, I was amazed at the entire first musical number that I had missed in the theatre.

For some reason, The Little Mermaid continues to be my favorite Disney movie. I have no clue why. I don't particularly like mermaids, or sailors or boats, or the coral- and sea-foam-green-colored merchandise that goes along with it. I just love the movie. I love the songs and the music (including the horn parts). I love the dog, Max. I love how Ariel's bangs bounce around in front of her forehead like a quail plume. I love the sea witch, Ursula. I love how Eric isn't some wussy pretty-boy but actually does something, like going back to save Max, and taking Ariel on a fun tour of the city, and being okay with her driving, and determining to not lose Ariel even though she's a mermaid again, and throwing a harpoon, and steering a rotting ship into Ursula's abdomen. I mean, what isn't there to love about this movie?

On Saturday I watched it in Spanish. It's a movie I can watch in Spanish easily, since I have the whole thing memorized (more or less) in English. I wonder if Mother Edit hates this movie because I watched it so much when I was little. I've heard that can happen.

And now, here are two mermaid stories for you:

1. We used to have these diving rings that we would throw into our pool and they would sink to the bottom. I liked to put my feet through the rings so they held my ankles together and I could swim like a mermaid. (By the way, swimming like that doesn't actually work too well, and you have to be a pretty good swimmer to not drown with your ankles tied together.)

2. I sometimes used to pretend the house was filled up with water, and I wondered why people didn't live like that. I was convinced that I could actually live underwater if there was a way for me to breathe. Given that I spent many of my summer days in the pool (dinner was merely a blip that occurred between swimming sessions), that isn't too surprising.

I would tell you a third funny mermaid story, but I don't know if Queen Tuffett is still embarrassed about it. I think it's pretty darn cute and hilarious. It happened twenty years ago...

4 comments:

ol' Bob said...

How did you like the not-so-little mermaids in the 2003 Peter Pan movie (with Jason Isaacs a.k.a. Lucius Malfoy)?

Betty Edit said...

Those mermaids were pretty freaky. Jason Isaacs, on the other hand, was not. :o)

Katya said...

To be sneaky, I'm telling you my hypothesis on your blog, instead of mine.

Anyway, my hypothesis is that the amount of formal music instruction is decreasing over the years--that fewer people are taking music lessons and for less amount of time. (Actually, if you know of anywhere to find statistics on the matter, I'd be curious to see them. I did a cursory search but couldn't find anything.)

unicorn girl said...

Hi there. I don't have anything against The Little Mermaid. In fact, Queen Tuffett has recently had her children watch it. It was funny watching her reaction to some of the songs that you might mention in future posts.

Anyway, keep up the good work with this blog. I may check back more often.