The Little Mermaid

My cutie pie niece, Jolyne

Every little girl thinks that she’s a princess or at least dreams to be one someday. I was no exception. I pretended to be Cinderella when my “evil” Mom asked me to wash the dishes or iron our clothes (labyu, mother!). I became Snow White every time I was given an apple at Christmas and had to cautiously bite in it. I turned into Sleeping Beauty every night that I slept under a mosquito net (yes, we had mosquito nets back then!). 

Jolyne, my cute three-year old niece, wants none of these goody-goody princesses.

Lately, she imagines herself to be like Mutya, the girl siren in the ABS-CBN teleserye. Sorry, Jolyne, but I don’t follow your fish heroine on TV. I can relate to you though, because in my time, I also had a girl siren idol -- Ariel, the little mermaid princess.  

So I’m putting up here some unpublished, never-before-seen photos from Ursula’s baul for Jolyne (naks, parang totoo!). During my Aboitiz days (eons of years ago!), I played the part of Ariel in one of our Christmas parties. I wore a gold fish tail, was given a giant clam to sit in, and some ocean creatures as dancers—bonggang production number!  Let it be said, Jolyne, that your Tita Bing was once part of their world too.

 A gold shell with matching fins--double check!!

 Mermaids and mermen plus BFF flounder!--check, check, check!!!

                            Now who wouldn't be inspired to sing? (Pffeeling!!!) Hahaha!

( http://www.imdb.com/)

                                                     Movie Recall: The Little Mermaid (1989)

The story:

Loosely based on the classic by Hans Christian Andersen. Ariel, King Triton’s youngest and most favourite daughter, is not quite happy with life in the sea. She catches a glimpse of Prince Eric, saves his life, and falls in love. She goes to meet Ursula, the Sea Witch, to strike a deal to become human, but Ursula has bigger plans for this mermaid and her father.

My reaction:

I saw this the first time in my host’s house in Chicago, and I think we watched the movie three times! Suddenly, I forgot about my dream of a Prince Charming finding me—I got to swim the waters to find me some Prince Eric! I totally forgot how many times I’ve seen the movie. But it has never become stale for me!

Trivia:

This was the last Disney animated feature to use hand-painted cels and analog camera and film work. 1,000 different colors were used on 1,100 backgrounds. Over one million drawings were done in total.

Sebastian the Crab's full name is Horatio Thelonius Ignatius Crustatious Sebastian.

Ariel's sisters names are Aquatta, Andrina, Arista, Adella, Alana and Attina. In Greek mythology, the God of the Sea is Poseidon. Triton, however, is one of his sons.

There are several shots of Ariel, forlornly sitting on a rock, in a pose reminiscent of the "Little Mermaid" statue that sits in Copenhagen harbour.

                                                                               My Favorite Parts:

                                                     Of course, Part of Your World--what else?

                                                          Kiss her now, silly Prince!