The Little Mermaid

Have you ever wondered what mermaids eat?

In The Little Mermaid, King Triton makes a big deal about how humans are fish eaters because, presumably, mermaids are fish. Also, Ariel is best friends with Flounder, who is a fish. So they definitely can’t be eating fish, as in those with tails and fins.

Sharks are out of the question because while King Triton is in control of everything in the sea, no other mermaid can, and Ariel is afraid of the shark that chases her. You aren’t afraid of things that you eat even if they are dangerous in other situations. Mermaids are lower on the food chain than anything that’s bigger than them.

Crustations are also out of the question. Triton’s second command is the crab, Sebastian. This means they can’t be eating crab, or lobster, or the like. Also, oysters, muscles, and crawfish are portrayed as part of the party in the song “Under the Sea”. Disney wouldn’t have had members of the band gobbled up in 1989 when this movie was made. They were still pure back then.

That leads me to examine plants. She is seen ripping the petals off a flower, and her sisters put them in their hair. Strings of flowers are also hanging around doorways, along with seaweed. Sometimes humans use food as decorations, but the way they interact with the flowers and seaweed, they seem completely inedible. There are of course other plants available in the ocean, but they are all very similar and likely to provide the same story if featured in the film.

Here’s another thing to consider. When Ariel is at dinner as a human, she doesn’t eat anything, and, there’s a cake at their wedding that is untouched except for Sebastian’s swoon.

All this leads me to one conclusion. Mermaids don’t eat.

I mean, think about how skinny Ariel is. Her stomach goes so far in there’s a line where her rib cage starts. It looks like the wind is going to blow her over, and her old father can pick her up with ease. And have you seen her next to Prince Eric? Even in her huge wedding dress she looks less than half his size and even smaller than the other human girls in the movie.

It’s cute to see her on the screen. Her huge head by comparison is so alien its adorable, not to mention societies obsession with hair.

But why does Disney want to put these images in our minds?

It’s not only their cartoons. Every actress on Disney has to be teeny tiny, emphasis on actress. In fact, as soon as Miley Cyrus started gaining weight they decided to cancel the show. It’s crazy, and mermaids are anorexic.

By the way, the movie is very different from the actual story and I had that poster in my old room.