Script

SIDE 1

Hey, Ariel! There you are!

Just look, Flounder! The sun, the sand... isn t it the most beautiful place you ve ever seen?

I dunno, Ariel... I m not sure we ought to be up here.

Don t be such a guppy!

A guppy?!? I m as brave as you are! I m not afraid of anything

What about sharks?

Where?!?

Oh, Flounder, you really are a guppy!

I am not!

Awww...

(gives FLOUNDER an affectionate pat on the head)

You ll never guess what I found today. Look!

(lifts up a large silver serving fork)

Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?

Wow! Cool! What is it?

I don t know... but I bet Scuttle will! Come on, I ll race you!

Hey, wait for me!

SIDE 2

And now let me see... what did Scuttle call this one? Is it a ditty-whumper? A thumb-doodle? Whatever it is... Prince Eric held it in his own strong, beautiful human hands

(An enraged KING TRITON bursts in.)

Ariel!

(taken aback by the collection of human stuff)

What is all this?!?

Daddy, they re my

Human junk!

No, treasures!

Did you save a human from drowning?

He would ve died!

That savage brute could have killed you! And it s my job to keep you safe from harm.

But he didn t frighten me. He made me feel... wonderful! Besides, I am not a child anymore!

No? Well, you are certainly talking like one. He s a human  you re a mermaid.

It doesn t matter  you don t understand! I wish mother were here!

(takes a moment to recover from the low blow)

Ariel, I miss your mother just as much as you do. But I am still the king. And you are not to go to the surface ever again. Am I clear?!?

(KING TRITON pauses for a moment of regret.)

I m just trying to protect her, Sebastian.

SIDE 3

Oh, Mistress of the Deep! You ve a visitor...

I don t know if

Now, now...

Mustn t get cold fins!

Don t be shy, Ariel darling!

I  I shouldn t be here. Mother died because of you.

Oh child... what happened to your dear mother was a terrible, unfortunate accident  poor soul.

An... accident?

Of course! I did my very best to save her.

You did? But Father told me

The truth is that the ocean wasn t big enough for both your father and me, so he sent me here. And now I see he s driven you away, too...

He doesn t understand me.

Oh, but I do, dumpling. We re so very alike, you and I  gals with ambition! Now tell me absolutely everything.

I m in love with someone. A human.

A prince, I hear. Quite a catch! Well, the answer is simple: you ve got to become human yourself!

Can you do that?

My dear, sweet child  it s what I live for: to help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to...

SIDE 4

Ariel! Are you okay?

Oh child, what have you done?

(After a moment, ARIEL sits up and stares at her new legs in wonderment. Slowly and shakily she tries to stand, sticking her arms out for balance... then falls on her rear. SCUTTLE flaps in.)

Well, look who got beached! Hiya, Ariel! Wait  there s something different about cha. Don t tell me  it s your hairdo, right? You ve been using the dinglehopper!

(ARIEL shakes her head  no. )

Nah? Hmm... I can t quite put my foot on it right now

She s got legs, you idiot!

Ariel traded her voice to the Sea Witch to become human!

Nah, kid! Not your beautiful pipes!

(ARIEL nods. She opens her mouth, but no sound.)

Ya see? Not a sound! What would her father say? I ll tell ya what her father d say: he d say he s gonna kill himself a crab, that s what he d say!

Now she s got three days to make Prince Eric fall in love with her. And to prove it, he s gotta kiss her!

The Prince? Well, I ll say!