Ariel's Friends: Flounder, Sebastian, & Scuttle
Ariel's three male companions throughout the film provide a lot of comedic relief and help facilitate the little mermaid to achieve her ultimate goal: to live a happy, dependent life with Prince Eric. Each of her three males is lacking in an area that typically constitute a well-rounded, masculine man: Flounder is a coward, Sebastian is feminine, and Scuttle is unintelligent.
Flounder:
In the very beginning of the film, Flounder accompanies Ariel to a shipwreck to aid her in completing her domestic duties (she is gathering more human treasures). Flounder keeps worrying about the possibility of a shark, but Ariel reassures him they will be fine. When a shark eventually approaches them, Flounder becomes extremely panicked, does not know what to do, and needs to be saved by Ariel. Flounder’s display of cowardliness throughout the film deprives him of being thought of as masculine.
Sebastian:
Sebastian is forced to watch over Ariel by King Triton; however, they ultimately become friends. Sebastian often speaks in a very high-pitched voice when he is scared or frightened, which makes him rather feminine in nature. He has no control over Ariel or her actions, and according to Disney, women should be submissive to men; therefore, Sebastian exhibits many feminine characteristics.
Scuttle:
Scuttle tries to sound intelligent but his constant falling during mid-flight and providing the wrong name of human items proves otherwise. He tells Ariel that a fork is called a “dinglehopper” and that humans use it to brush their hair (Little). The audience will laugh because everyone watching will know what a fork is really used for; however, the audience may not realize Scuttle’s stupidity is emasculating him.
All three of Ariel’s friends are essentially, according to Disney, poor examples of what it means to be a man and be masculine. Their lack of masculinity leads Ariel to search for another man to depend on: Prince Eric. Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle and subconsciously realize they are slightly effeminate, thus they aid Ariel in her search for a man. Sebastian helps facilitate the process by singing “Kiss the Girl,” Scuttle helps break up Ursula’s plan to secretly marry Prince Eric, and Flounder helps Ariel swim all the way to the boat to get her man.
Flounder:
In the very beginning of the film, Flounder accompanies Ariel to a shipwreck to aid her in completing her domestic duties (she is gathering more human treasures). Flounder keeps worrying about the possibility of a shark, but Ariel reassures him they will be fine. When a shark eventually approaches them, Flounder becomes extremely panicked, does not know what to do, and needs to be saved by Ariel. Flounder’s display of cowardliness throughout the film deprives him of being thought of as masculine.
Sebastian:
Sebastian is forced to watch over Ariel by King Triton; however, they ultimately become friends. Sebastian often speaks in a very high-pitched voice when he is scared or frightened, which makes him rather feminine in nature. He has no control over Ariel or her actions, and according to Disney, women should be submissive to men; therefore, Sebastian exhibits many feminine characteristics.
Scuttle:
Scuttle tries to sound intelligent but his constant falling during mid-flight and providing the wrong name of human items proves otherwise. He tells Ariel that a fork is called a “dinglehopper” and that humans use it to brush their hair (Little). The audience will laugh because everyone watching will know what a fork is really used for; however, the audience may not realize Scuttle’s stupidity is emasculating him.
All three of Ariel’s friends are essentially, according to Disney, poor examples of what it means to be a man and be masculine. Their lack of masculinity leads Ariel to search for another man to depend on: Prince Eric. Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle and subconsciously realize they are slightly effeminate, thus they aid Ariel in her search for a man. Sebastian helps facilitate the process by singing “Kiss the Girl,” Scuttle helps break up Ursula’s plan to secretly marry Prince Eric, and Flounder helps Ariel swim all the way to the boat to get her man.