Lazy Disney Designs: Ariel's Sisters
Since mid elementary school, I've strongly preferred the Neverland mermaids to those in the Disney movie that's actually about mermaids.
Besides their far more unique accessories, the Neverland mermaids are just so much more...mermaid-like. They actually feel like beings at one with the sea and its life. Ariel's sisters just feel like human valley girls with fish tails.
Someone online called the design for Ariel's sisters "tacky," and I think that's the perfect word for it.
Ariel's design is great
While I now prefer my mermaids more extravagant and less human-like, I have come to appreciate the brilliance in Ariel's simple, iconic design. Disney created a color scheme that not only stands out perfectly against the blue ocean backdrop, but also stands out in a child's mind.
Ariel is the first thing I remember drawing at age three (I'm a lifelong fantasy artist). Remembering my mom guiding me through picking out the right crayons for Ariel's red hair, purple shells, green fins and blue eyes, it's like she was designed with basic color theory in mind for training the young artist.
Her sisters tho.
BAlright, in their introduction they're interesting enough. Cool opening number, opening their clams to the audience. Cute hats that turn out to be live sea creatures they've enslaved to serve as both backup dancers and head-gear. Very nice.
But the rest of the series?
Okay, to be fair, like...half of these are okay. I like Attina's Statue of Liberty motif. And Alana's conch tiara. Pearl scrunchies are cute.
And color-coding them is also understandable--Ariel has to stand out.
But look what Disney did decades earlier, with the mermaids of "Peter Pan and the Centaurettes of "Fantasia:"
And remember that "Fantasia" was only Disney's third film ever!
And it's not like Ariel's sister's had much more screentime than the Neverland mermaids or the "Fantasia" centaurs. In the first movie, they only appear in three scenes.
Animators were rushed with "Little Mermaid," but why not just reuse some of these previous ideas? It's not like Disney had never reused entire designs for more prominent characters before then!
So the female lead of "Sleepy Hollow" can come back as "Cinderella" one year later, and half the cast of "The Jungle Book" gets to put on Ren Fair costumes and come to Sherwood Forest, but none of the Neverland mermaids or "Fantasia" Centaurettes can have a quick cameo as one of Ariel's sisters?
TV Series and Sequels
The sequels and TV series should have been an opportunity to visually spice up the Daughters' of Triton, but no such luck. And it wasn't for continuity's sake; they had no problem changing Adella's weight, Aquata's scrunchy, and all six girls' eye colors throughout. But their overall designs remained bland as ever.
Instead, the better designs were used on minor guest characters and background swimmers.
Any one of these would've been a wonderful redesign for one of Ariel's sisters.
Rant over.
