The Little Mermaid is a Disney classic, but here are 10 things about the movie that don't make any sense at all.

The Disney Renaissance (the era in which Disney created its iconic Broadway-style animated musicals) kicked off in 1989 with the release of The Little Mermaid. This film featured a lively soundtrack, memorable characters, and striking animations. However, not every detail of the fantasy made sense. We’re here to focus on ten elements of The Little Mermaid that were never fully explained.

Warning: We’re going to get picky. Perhaps it’s a fictional story and the writers could do whatever they wanted, but what’s the fun in ignoring the flaws?

With that covered, it’s time to dive deep under the sea; Here are ten things about The Little Mermaid that don’t make sense.

10 The Storm Came Out Of Nowhere

Near the beginning of the film, Prince Eric celebrates his birthday on board a ship. This comes as no surprise because he lives in a seaside castle. What is surprising is that no one saw the storm coming.

The ship is quickly destroyed by waves and ultimately sinks to the ocean floor. Though Prince Eric should have died, he is rescued by Ariel. She shouldn't have needed to rescue him in the first place; He and his men are trained. Did they have no way of seeing the approaching storm? Could they not have spied it and returned to land?

You'd think Eric's crew would have been better prepared to protect him.

9 The Absence Of Eric's Parents Is Never Explained

Keeping with the Eric theme, Ariel's love interest is a prince, not a king, meaning that he shouldn't yet be ruling the kingdom. Naturally, we assume that Eric has parents who rule the land, but where are they? Do they even exist?

When Ariel gets married to Eric at the end of the film, they don't show up to the wedding. If they are dead, however, why is Eric not king?

8 Why Can Some Animals Talk And Others Can’t?

The Little Mermaid is inconsistent when it comes to the rules of animal communication. While some sea creatures like Sebastian and Flounder can speak like the merfolk, the vicious shark that chases after Ariel is unable to.

The rules are also inconsistent on the land. Scuttle can communicate with Ariel, but Eric’s dog Max can’t do anything besides bark.

7 Why Was Ursula Allowed To Make A Deal With Ariel?

Though Ursula’s backstory is expanded after the release of the original Little Mermaid, we don’t know a lot about her in the first film.

If King Triton knew she was such a threat, why was she allowed to roam free in her own private ocean lair? Additionally, how did Ariel not realize she was walking straight into a trap? Sure, she’s young and naive. But when she saw all the shriveled souls outside of Ursula’s hideout, did she not get the hint that things could turn out really badly?

6 Ariel And Eric Didn’t Really Know Each Other

Ariel instantly falls in love with Eric because he’s the first human she finds handsome. He instantly falls in love with her because she saved him. Yes, instant attraction is a thing. But love? They barely knew each other by the time they got married.

For one thing, Ariel couldn’t talk for the majority of their relationship. For another, Prince Eric really doesn’t share much about himself. While Ariel learns a lot about the human world in a short time, she knows little about the man she’s about to spend the rest of her life with. Their wedding is far too fast.

5 Why Didn’t Ariel Try Harder To Kiss Eric?

Ariel made a deal with Ursula; She must receive true love’s kiss within three days, otherwise, she’ll be turned into a mermaid and belong to the sea witch forever.

With that said, it’s confusing as to why she didn’t try harder to kiss Eric. As mentioned, he was always obsessed with the girl who rescued him, and it also didn’t take him long to fall for Ariel despite knowing little about her. So assuming he was "in love" with her during the “Kiss the Girl” number, why didn’t she make a bold move after their canoe got knocked over?

Sure, it would have been nice for the moment to be right, but Ariel’s life was on the line. Eric would probably understand (and totally not mind) if Ariel randomly kissed him.

4 Why Didn’t Ariel Or Sebastian Clear Things Up With Words?

The runtime of The Little Mermaid would have also been cut if Ariel had used her fancy cursive writing to explain her whole no-voice situation. Did she not think of that?

Sebastian could have also helped out by giving Eric a rundown of the story. After all, he prompts Eric to guess Ariel's name by whispering during “Kiss the Girl.” It would have been helpful had he also added something like, “Oh yeah, Ariel is the girl who saved you!”

3 How Did No One Realize Eric Was Being Hypnotized?

When Vanessa shows up at the castle, Eric is put under a spell that makes him want to marry her. He's clearly out of it and acts all weird and distant. However, no one seems to notice, not even Grimsby who knows Eric and should recognize if he's acting out of character.

It's puzzling that no one was looking out for the prince when the circumstances around Vanessa's arrival were all too convenient.

2 What Did Ariel Do The Day Of The Wedding?

While Ariel doesn’t realize at first that Vanessa is Ursula in disguise, Scuttle fills her in on the details right before their wedding. That’s when the animals of the sea and the sky try to put an end to the ceremony.

That being said, how did Ariel not realize something was up earlier? Why didn’t she try to win Eric over before it was sunset? Did she have to wait until the last minute?

1 Why Couldn’t Ariel Have Lived On The Land And In The Sea?

At the end of the film, King Triton makes the difficult decision to let his daughter go and live among the people as she always wanted. He uses his triton to give her legs, and just like that, Ariel can live the life she always dreamed of having.

What’s confusing if the fact that he acted as if he’d never see her again. If it was that easy to give her legs, could he not have given her a tail for when she felt like visiting? He was able to do so in the inferior direct-to-video sequel when Ariel chases after her daughter Melody, so it’s strange that he never thought of this possibility years earlier.

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