A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of The Sea Witch

Hello & welcome back to our Mermaid event here on A Look at Disney and oof, today's review is a rough one.   A couple years ago during a batch of Halloween reviews, I looked at the book, Fairest of Them All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino and I said it was fine but alas, that is not the case with this book.   This book was just so infuriating, maybe because I like Ursula but this book answered questions that no one was asking.

Author

Serena Valentino 

I am a not a fan of this book in the slightest but Valentino does do a commendable job of writing a Young Adult novel that other people might enjoy that fleshes out characters.   

The Plot

Does anyone really care about the plot to this book?   Well, if you do, this ad sums it up.

And really, that's the big shtick is that it explores a "why" that I don't think a lot of people had asked, be it what was The Queen like before she became The Wicked Queen, what The Prince like before he became the Beast, why was Ursula consumed with so much hatred.  Which brings us to another element that seems to have popped in Valentino's works.  There is always someone that is usually related to the main character that hates them.   In Fairest of Them All, The Queen is hated by her father,  in her Maleficent book,  Maleficent is adopted by a fairy named Nanny, whose sister is The Fairy Godmother (yes, the one from Cinderella) hates Maleficent and in this book and hated by Fairy Godmother,  Ursula is hated by her brother, King Triton.  Okay okay,  I can appreciate the idea of Triton and Ursula being brother and sister as it was a dropped idea from the movie but we are now entering an area that I've talked about years before known as adaptional villainy.  For a refresher...

Villains who are either not evil in their original source material or are more vile than what they are in their original versions.

And the more vile aspect is what we got with Triton as he was depicted in this book,  as Valentino decided to ramp his hatred of humans up to 11 and display him as a tyrannical ruler that had always hated humans.  Oh yeah, this is really good.   As you see when Triton found his sister after she called upon the Sea Gods after her adopted father who had raised her amongst humans brought her back to Atlantica and refused her to let her appear in her natural form and was shunned by her brother.  And the only one to ever show her kindness was Triton's wife  And that is part of the reason why Ursula almost almost regrets making the deal with Ariel as she looks like her mother.   Which was conveyed in a baffling chapter that was an adaption of Ursula's famous song.   Oh, and let's not forget that Ursula nearly has a breakdown after Triton calls her vile and ugly.  Uhm...

Really, Disney's biggest diva would not break down over someone calling her vile or ugly.  Plus, she's not ugly.  Vile sure but my point is that Ursula would own Triton and hand his fin to him for a comment like that.



Oh, that's just part of my issue with this book as this is the third in the original trilogy of books and Valentino  has these really annoying witch characters known as The Odd Sisters that appear in all the books and this book takes place after the events that transpired in the Beast book and apparently, their younger sister had gone missing and part of the book  is taken up with them trying to find her.  And I gotta be honest and say that I did not care about these characters in the slightest and they ended up taking me out of the story.  But quite honestly,  that was not my biggest issue with this book. For a book that is sold on being about Ursula.  This book spends a lot of time teasing Maleficent and her story, which was the next book after this one.   But book, I didn't pick this up to read about Maleficent,  I picked this book up from my local library because I like Ursula and there may be fans of The Little Mermaid that don't care about Maleficent or haven't read any of the other books in this series.   Not really a stretch considering that Oh My Disney is heavily promoting the next book to Tangled fans as it's about Mother Gothel. 



Yeah, I didn't like this book.  I will say that I do like that it did end with Ursula still being evil and dying but according to this book, Valentino's witches had a hand as they cast a spell that helped Eric in killing Ursula.  Ugh, really?   She didn't even have a great death, to begin with, and you want to take one of the few cool aspects away from it. 




Characters


Ursula


Ursula felt like Ursula at times, when she was in the book. Which wasn't a whole lot but she was one of the few bright spots of the book.  It's rather similar to a complaint that I've brought up on Trotting Through Life in how Pinkie Pie can have a bad episode but still be the bright spot.  That's the case here for as bad this book was, Ursula was enjoyable to read with her treachery.


The Odd Sisters


I do not care about these characters in the slightest.  Great, they came to Ursula for help in finding their sister. Whoopie. 


Triton

This book took Triton's hatred of humans a step too far and missed the point that he hated humans because of his loss of his wife at the hands of humans.  Oh and book, don't even try to act like him turning Ariel human was a self-imposed punishment that he had to endure.   Yes, it was hard for him to do that but he saw happy it made Ariel and that is why he was willing to do it because of his love for his daughter. not to atone for past mistakes.  Sure, that might have been part of it but that was not the driving force behind that decision.







My Final Thoughts


I think I've made it pretty clear that I don't like this book.  It just frustrates me as someone that really likes Ursula and the movie that she came from.   I don't know of any TLM fan that was asking what was Ursula like before the events of the movie and why did she act the way she did in the movie.   The second one can be answered pretty easily, she's the villian.   You might think that I wouldn't pick up another of these books but oh just wait as on Halloween, I'll be doing a  review of her next book about Mother Gothel.  That should be fun, in the meantime, join me next time as we look at songs sung by Ariel. 

A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Serpent-Teen Pt. 2 (The Little Mermaid Issue # 2)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we continue our deep dive under the sea as we swim more with Disney's mermaids as we look at the second issue the first Little Mermaid comic series as we look at the second part of the Serpent-Teen arc.  With that outta the way, let's begin.




Cover

I love this cover as it does a great job of capturing Ariel and friends in action swimming from that scary looking sea monster that we saw at the end of issue # 1and it makes the reader wonder, if she'll survive or not.  However, according to the source that I read this comic from, this does not actually take place in the comic but I am surprisingly okay with that as it once again, does a great job of capturing Ariel's spirit.



The Plot


There is a bit more to go into here as we pick up, where the comic left off as it looks as though Ariel is about to be attacked in that crazy maze contraption and we truly get a sense of how awful, these eel-people truly are.  (We later learn that they are known as Moray)    And we see Ariel attempt to save her sister but Aquata is able to escape back to Atlantica and relays the information to her father and he tells her that he did the right thing coming to her and plans to head back to save Ariel.  However, that is not the most interesting part.  Ariel is able to make a connection with the queen of the Moray as she is the only one to show Ariel any sympathy.

We actually see more of this after Ariel is taken prisoner once again after Aquata has escaped and how Ariel stands up to the queen in regards to the way, her daughter named Celia mistreats her and talks back to her.   I think Ariel's dissatisfaction with the treatment of the Moray Queen can be summed by this exchange.

Ariel: Don't you talk to her that way!
Celia: What's your problem? She's just my mother!
Ariel: If I had a mother, I'd treat her better. Your mom deserves respect! 

This exchange is fascinating in how it helps to show another side to Ariel that most people may not think of. The remorseful side.   Consider that Ariel was just a baby/toddler when her mother passed away and she never actually got to know her mother and probably only knows what her mom is like through stories that her sisters may have told her.

So, Aiel most likely saw this rather toxic relationship between daughter and mother and it may have reminded her of something that she never got to have and it hurts her to see a daughter be so cruel to a parental figure that she never got to have a relationship with.  While this may not have been the intent of what this comic was going for, one cannot help but notice how Ariel must be feeling at this particular moment. As mentioned prior, Aquata heads back to her father and he tells her that she did the right thing as he heads out.

Meanwhile,  Flounder accidentally lets it slip that Ariel is a princess and that only makes things worse for our dear heroine.  However, the young princess is able to use a thingamabob that she found in the last issue to escape out of the prison that the Moray are holding her captive in.

This is another great moment for Ariel as it shows her ingenuity in thinking of ways to get herself out of sticky situations that she finds herself in.  We later learn that the crazy creature that we saw attack Ariel on the cover and at the beginning of this issue had died.  And that more importantly,  King Cornelius (leader of the Moray) and King Triton know of each other's existence.   And okay, this is the one issue that I have with this arc.  Why is Ursula here?  Her presence in this issue and talking with the Moray just felt rather forced and unneeded.   It seems like they might have been setting up something bigger with her as the issue ends with the seawitch looking on over Ariel and Triton as they swim back to Atlantica.

Honestly, I think that this could have been cut out of the comic as I don't really think that anything crucial would have been lost from the story. (Note: Apparently, Ursula was in this comic as this shows how she got her lair. So okay, I was somewhat wrong)  Meanwhile, we see Ariel has gotten out of her prison and that the respect that she has shown the queen of the Moray has paid off somewhat as we will see after she and Celia get into a bit of a tussle.  Meanwhile, we see the two kings get into a heated argument as Triton makes his appearance known to the Moray.  And things get a bit heated as Sebastian "helps" but he's not exactly helping.   Cutting back to the battle, Ariel and Celia,  the queen comes in and sees what is going on and helps Ariel by delivering the worst punishment that on could endear.  Hearing Scuttle sing.

All in all, this was a fun comic that did a great job of bringing these characters to another medium with a rather tense story.


Characters



Ariel


This comic was great at showing Ariel's strength and weakness and how much she yearned for a mother figure in her life as seen with her interactions with the Moray Queen.




Supporting Characters



King Triton


I really liked how Triton was handled in this issue as it showed him as being tough but firm and would do anything to save his daughter



The Moray Queen


I apologize but I can't recall if she had a name but man, did I feel really bad for this character as she was constantly put down by her husband and daughter as she let them walk all over her. And the way, her daughter talked to her was just unacceptable.



King Cornelius


This man was just a cruel man that barely listened to reason until Triton came along and explained that the Moray and the Merpeople that had caused the myths between these two fractions to exist in the first place.



Celia


This young woman was just a brat and made me hater her considering the way, she talked back to her mother and showed her no respect. That was just cruel and went too far.



My Final Thoughts



Overall, this comic was pretty fun and this was an enjoyable arc that did a lot to help set up the kind of adventures that one could have with Ariel in this format.   We aren't done with comics just yet as tomorrow, we will be looking at a Free Comic Book Day handout featuring Ariel from this year.

A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Serpent-Teen Pt. 1 (The Little Mermaid Issue # 1)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and it is time, once again for our annual monthly theme to kick off the summer.  Now, this one might be a little shorter than ones that we've done in the past but its one that I am beyond excited for as we head Under The Sea to visit various Disney mermaids.  We are going to kick things off this week by looking at various comics featuring Disney's most famous mermaid, Ariel.   Our first two comics come from a 4-issue miniseries that according to everything I've read,  were published by Disney themselves and are described as being a bit darker than the later comics featuring this iconic princess.   With that outta the way, let's kick things off as we dive down to Atlantica.  

Cover

Now admittedly,  the cover doesn't reflect the story that is told within this issue and normally, that would bug me but I am willing to make somewhat overlook that here as this is the first issue and they were most likely trying to entice fans of Ariel into reading and this cover more than perfectly captures her free-spirited nature.   And that is a great thing here and I will say that all of the comics that we will be looking at, do a great job of this. 

The Plot

The plot is pretty basic and simple but it does work for what it is and it shows how Ariel's adventurous side has a tendency to get her in trouble.  As she often puts her tail before her head.  I will say I do like how the story opens with a manatee covering for Ariel as she explores the land above but in the grand scheme of things, that is extremely minor compared to the overall main story. And just look at this two-page opening spread, it is just gorgeous.

That is just so gorgeous and yeah, it may not be the greatest art but having reviewed quite a few licensed comics over the various blogs that I do, this is one of the better takes I've seen on characters that originated in another medium.   This may sound strange for a comic but the characters throughout this entire comic feel animated and the backgrounds also feel alive. Now,  comparing that to something I looked at last year,  the comic tie-in for Sabrina: The Animated Series,  everything here feels more alive.

Now, perhaps it is not fair to compare the two as Little Mermaid is an animated classic whereas Sabrina was just a Saturday Morning Cartoon and in a way, I think the art in these comics reflect that.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that art for licensed comics can go either way in capturing the feel of its source material and I think that this comic does a great job in that regard.  Anyways, let's get back to the story at hand.



We spend a bit more time with Ariel exploring as she is want to do.  And again, we get fun shots of Ariel being herself.

And this is where things start to get interesting as we return to a common well that has been used in many stories featuring Ariel is missing singing lessons.  Now, let me clarify something.   Just because I call this something that has been used many times with Ariel, that doesn't mean I hate it. Far from it,  it shows how wrapped up Ariel can get in her adventures.

And this also helps to set up, who will be our other main character out of Ariel's sisters, which is a great thing that expanded media such as the TV show and comics like this can do, they can give more time to Ariel's sisters that they didn't have in the movie as the main focus was solely on her.  As Ariel's oldest sister, Aquata is worried about how she can be a ruler if her own sisters won't take her seriously.  We get more of Ariel's adventures and this is where things take a turn for the worse as our heroine mermaid is caught in a net as a certain sea witch looks on at something that Ariel is soon to regret.

Ariel sends Flounder to go and get help as she frees him from the net and this is where we get our first look at the creatures that have netted Ariel and the other fish, they are unique looking creatures that are half-human and half-eel.

And soon Ariel is dragged off to a city full of these creatures that appears to be on the other end of the ocean and while the young princess is able to escape, she is soon recaught.  And she is zapped by this city's princess and taken as her pet.  Yes, that really happened.

Our little guppy goes back to find Sebastian and tell him what happened and you gotta admire his bravery in these situations.  Aquata overhears Flounder and Sebastian talking to one another and notes that she has not heard before and hears the danger that our youngest sister has gotten herself into and decides to go and save herself.

And this is where things get really fascinating as apparently, these eel people believed these half-fish people to be of myth only.  And this is where Ariel has to cover for herself and lies and says that she's the only one and that her mother was a dolphin.  We see the young guppy following these eel people looking for his friend, while Ariel attempts to reason with the princess, Celia that keeping her prisoner in such a way here isn't right and we learn that this princess also has a free-spirited nature as Ariel and things are about to get worse for Ariel as she is taken what is called the serpentine celebration, that is meant to test the skill of the hunters of these people but the king of these people have a different plan as Aquata  has been found and the king is threatening Ariel to tell him where she came from, otherwise her sister will be fish food.

All in all, this was a great first issue that has me excited to see what comes next and how Ariel gets herself out of this mess.



Characters


There are quite a few characters in this first issue but not a lot of them are important to the story as or right now,  so I just want to focus on Ariel and Aquata.  With that outta the way, let's begin.



Ariel

As I've been saying throughout, this comic does a great job of capturing Ariel's spirit and showing how sometimes that causes her to get into trouble as we see here.  And it was just a really fun adventure that I am excited to go on with her.


Aquata

We've already discussed this but one of the great things about expanded media like this is taking time to expand upon characters that the movie didn't have time to do and we see that here with Aquata as she is worried about being ruler one day and is determined to prove herself by going to find her sister but it doesn't exactly go as planned.



My Overall Thoughts On This Issue



This is a great issue that really sets up the story that is come to and I am excited to explore it more as we look at the second issue.

Another Mouseka-View Cancelled

Just what it says.


All this inane Thundercats backlash, has made me come to a realization I’d rather talk about things I like and that’s why I’ll no longer be reviewing the new Mickey Mouse shorts as they aren’t for me.


To elaborate on this point, I started this blog to share my love of Disney and I feel like continuing on with this series would betray what I set out for this blog to be. As I started it to share my love of all things Disney and make people happy but I don’t like talking about this series and would rather lift up and champion the shows I love, like I did with Tangled: The Series. Peace!