Little Mermaid, The (1989) quotes

View Quote Ariel: If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again.
Ursula: That's right. But you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit?

View Quote Scuttle: Ariel, I was flying. I was-- Of course I was flying. And I saw the watch-- the witch was watchin' the mirror, and she was singin' with a stolen set of pipes! Do you hear what I'm tellin' you?! The prince is marrying the seawitch in disguise!
Sebastian: Are you sure about this?
Scuttle: Have I ever been wrong? I mean, when it's important?!

View Quote Triton: [confronts Ariel in her grotto] I consider myself a reasonable merman. I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed.
Ariel: But Dad, I...!
Triton: Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?!
Ariel: Daddy, I had to.
Triton: Contact between the human world and the mer world is strictly forbidden! Ariel, you know that! Everyone knows that!
Ariel: He would've died!
Triton: One less human to worry about.
Ariel: [angrily] You don't even know him!
Triton: Know him? I don't have to know him! They're all the same: Spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling.
Ariel: Daddy, I love him! [gasps, as she has accidentally slipped the truth]
Triton: [shocked] No. Have you lost your senses completely?! He's a human! You're a mermaid!
Ariel: I don't care!
Triton: So help me, Ariel, I am going to get through to you. And if this is the only way, so be it!
[He proceeds to destroy most of the grotto with his magic trident]

View Quote Triton: She really does love him, doesn't she, Sebastian?
Sebastian: Well, it's like I always say, your majesty, children got to be free to lead their own life.
Triton: You always say that?
[Sebastian smiles sheepishly]
Triton: Then I guess there's just one problem left.
Sebastian: And what's that, your majesty?
Triton: How much I'm going to miss her.
[Sebastian stares at him in surprise as Triton uses his magic to turn Ariel into a human]

View Quote Triton: You went up to the surface again, didn't you? Didn't you?!
Ariel: Nothing happened.
Triton: [exasperatedly] Ariel, how many times must we go through this? You could've been seen by one of those barbarians. By... By one of those... humans!
Ariel: Daddy, they're not barbarians!
Triton: They are dangerous! Do you think I want to see my youngest daughter snared by some fish-eater's hook?!
Ariel: I'm 16 years old! I'm not a child anymore!
Triton: Don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady! As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!
Ariel: But if you would just listen!
Triton: NOT another word! And I am never, NEVER to hear of you going to the surface again! IS THAT CLEAR?!
(Ariel disappointedly swims away)
Sebastian: Teenagers. Dey think dey know everything. You give dem an inch, dey swim all over you.
Triton: Do you think I was too hard on her?
Sebastian: Definitely not! Why, if Ariel was my daughter, I'd show her who was boss! None o' dis flitting to the surface and other such nonsense. No, sir! I'd keep her under tight control.
Triton: [smiles] You're absolutely right, Sebastian.
Sebastian: Of course.
Triton: Ariel needs constant supervision.
Sebastian: Constant.
Triton: Someone to watch over her. To keep her out of trouble.
Sebastian: All da time.
Triton: And YOU are just the crab to do it!

View Quote Ursula: Yes. Hurry home, princess. We wouldn't want to miss old daddy's celebration, huh? Would we? [scoffs] Celebration, indeed. Oh, BAH! In my day, we had fantastical feasts, when I lived in the palace. [eats shrimp] And now, look at me. Wasted away to practically nothing. Banished and exiled and practically starving! While he and his flimsy fish folk celebrate. Well, I'll give 'em something to celebrate soon enough. [to her eels] Flotsam! Jetsam! I want you to keep an extra close watch on this pretty little daughter of his. She may be the key to Triton's undoing.

View Quote [Scuttle shows Ariel and Flounder a tobacco pipe]
Scuttle: This, I haven't seen this in years. This is wonderful! A banded, bulbous snarfblatt.
Ariel and Flounder: Oh!
Scuttle: Now, the snarfblatt dates back to prehistorical times when humans used to sit around and stare at each other all day. Got very boring. So they invented this snarfblatt to make fine music. Allow me. [blows into it, only to have seaweed and water come out]
Ariel: Music!
Scuttle: [coughs] It's stuck!
Ariel: Oh, the concert! Oh, my gosh! My father's gonna kill me!
Flounder: The concert was today?!
Scuttle: [inspects the "snarfblatt" further] Maybe you can make a little planter out of it or somethin'.
Ariel: [takes it back] I'm sorry! I've gotta go! Thank you, Scuttle!
[she and Flounder swim back home]
Scuttle: Anytime, sweetie! Anytime.