The Little Mermaid is a Disney media franchise that began in 1989 with the Disney Animated Canon film The Little Mermaid, which itself is based off a story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
The series tells the various adventures of a teenage mermaid named Ariel. The youngest of seven daughters by King Triton and his deceased wife Queen Athena, Ariel is enamored with the human world. Ariel's closest friends are a nervous young fish named Flounder, a clownish seagull named Scuttle, and her father's crustacean adviser Sebastian.
Ariel wants to learn everything she can about life on land and the human world, but her father forbids it. Despite this, Ariel sneaks behind his back to visit the surface. One night, Ariel sees a young prince named Eric and it's Love at First Sight.
The original film is one of Disney's most iconic and successful films to date. It single-handedly booted Disney Animation out of its post-Walt slump and into the Disney Renaissance. This popularity led to several comics and licensed books. By 1992, the first of Disney's animated series based off of their film properties, The Little Mermaid, was released. It continued to air in syndication for about two decades. Over the years the franchise has spawned many derivative works such as a Spin-Offspring sequel, a prequel, a Broadway musical, and several video games. There is also a live-action remake, which was released on May 26, 2023.
For adaptations and derivative works of the story not produced by Disney, see its Derivative Works page.
Works in the franchise include:
Feature films
- The Little Mermaid (1989), the original animated film
- The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), a direct-to-video sequel
- The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008), a direct-to-video prequel
- The Little Mermaid (2023), a live-action remake
Television series
- Little Mermaid's Island (1990), a failed live-action spin-off series that was cancelled during development
- The Little Mermaid (1992-1994), an animated prequel series that is directly based on the 1989 film
- Once Upon a Time (2011-2018), in which Ariel and Ursula separately appear as recurring characters.
- Ariel (2024-), Disney Junior's pre-school age series.
Video games
- The Little Mermaid (1991)
- Ariel The Little Mermaid (1992)
- Kingdom Hearts: A world called Atlantica appears as a playable level in several games, with Ariel serving as a party member and Ursula serving on Maleficent's council of Disney Villains.
- Kingdom Hearts (2002): Atlantica depicts a very loose adaptation of the film's events but without the surface world plot.
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004): An even looser version of the first game's story focused more on memories.
- Kingdom Hearts II (2005): This game switched the gameplay of Atlantica to mostly focus on rhythm games based on original songs made for the game as well as "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea", while the story is a much closer retelling of the movie. Notably, Ursula receives an original Villain Song.
- Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] (2012): Ursula makes a cameo as the Warm-Up Boss.
- Kingdom Hearts III (2019): Ariel appears as a summon.
- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (2020): Levels based on Atlantica's depiction in the first two numbered games appear.
- Disney Princess video games: Ariel and her undersea world are frequently seen in games based on the Princess franchise.
- Disney Princess (2003)
- Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (2007)
- Disney Princess: Magical Jewels (2007)
- Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure (2012)
- Disney Magical World (2013): An ocean-inspired world is featured in Disney Magical World 2.
- Disney Tsum Tsum (2014)
- Disney Magic Kingdoms (2016): Featured in a limited-time event in 2018.
- Disney Emoji Blitz (2016): Ariel is one of the starter emojis, and other characters can be unlocked through various means.
- Disney Heroes: Battle Mode (2018): Ariel, Ursula, and King Triton are playable characters.
- Disney Sorcerer's Arena (2020): Ariel, Eric, Ursula, and King Triton are playable characters.
- Disney Mirrorverse (2022): Ariel, Ursula, and King Triton are playable characters (with Triton based on his live-action version where the others are animated-style).
- Disney Speedstorm (2023): The Little Mermaid-themed content was added in Season 6: Under the Sea (released in 2024), adding Ariel, Prince Eric, King Triton and Ursula as playable racers and having a track environment based around Atlantica.
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (2023): Ariel, Prince Eric, and Ursula (in Pat Carroll's final voice role) are scattered around Dreamlight Valley.
Literature
- Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files (2005)
- Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch (2016)
- Part of Your World: A Twisted Tale (2018)
Theatre
- The Little Mermaid (2008)
