Hello, little one. It's been a long day, and now it's time to go to sleep. So close your eyes, and I'll tell you the story of The Little Mermaid. Once upon a time, a little mermaid named Ariel played below the ocean. Her favorite thing to do was to explore sunken ships with her friend, a fish called Flounder. Ariel was always looking for anything from the human world. When she found something, they dove to an undersea grotto where she kept her human treasures. Ariel hid her collection there because her father, the Sea King, ordered merpeople not to have any contact with humans. One night, Ariel saw strange lights shimmering over the ocean and swam up to investigate. On the surface, she saw fireworks exploding above a large sailing ship. Ariel swam over to the ship and peered onto the deck. She saw a handsome young prince and heard a crew member called Sir Grimsby wishing this Prince Eric a happy birthday. Far beneath the ocean, the wicked sea witch, Ursula, used her magic to spy on Ariel. She saw Ariel falling in love with Prince Eric from afar. Ursula was angry at Ariel's father, the great Sea King, Triton, for banishing her from his court. She laughed with evil glee as she plotted to use Ariel's love for a human as a way to get revenge on King Triton. Then, she brewed up a storm. Back on the surface, the sudden storm whipped across the ocean. Prince Eric took the helm to steer the ship, but a huge bolt of lightning struck the mast. Ariel watched as the mast crashed down onto the deck and knocked Eric into the water. He was unconscious and sinking fast. With the storm swirling about her, Ariel dove beneath the waves. She took hold of Eric and, using all of her strength, managed to drag him to the surface. As the storm died down, Ariel dragged the unconscious prince to shore. He was still breathing. Just then, a crab scuttled across the sand. It was Sebastian, the Sea King's music director. He told her to stay away from the human prince according to her father's order. But Ariel didn't understand why she couldn't be part of Prince Eric's world, and she sang a haunting melody that said she wanted to be with Eric forever. Sebastian was stunned. He could not believe what he was hearing. A moment later, Sir Grimsby from the ship approached searching for the prince. Ariel and Sebastian dove back into the water unseen. As the prince awoke, Sir Grimsby helped him to his feet. Eric told Grimsby that a girl had rescued him and that she sang beautifully. Grimsby laughed and thought that surely the prince must have been dreaming. After all, he had received a pretty hard knock on the head. The next day in the Coral Palace, King Triton noticed Ariel floating about as if in a dream, and then she quickly swam away. The king asked Sebastian why Ariel was acting so strangely. Sebastian could not lie to the king. He blurted out that he tried to tell Ariel it was wrong to love a human. Triton was furious. He rushed out of the palace after his daughter. Triton found Ariel in her grotto, surrounded by her collection of human treasures. The king became even angrier. He believed that humans were dangerous to all creatures that lived in the ocean. Raising his trident, the sea king destroyed all of Ariel's treasures. Then he stormed off, leaving Ariel in tears. As she wept, two eels slithered up to Ariel. They told her they knew someone who could help her. So Ariel swam after them. Sebastian had been hiding in the shadows and had seen everything that had happened since the king arrived. He followed Ariel as fast as he could. The eels led Ariel to Ursula's den. Ursula offered to use her magic to change Ariel into a human for three days. The spell could last forever, but only if Ariel could get Eric to kiss her before sunset on the third day. However, if he did not kiss her, then Ariel would turn back into a mermaid and be Ursula's prisoner. As payment for the spell, Ursula asked to hold onto Ariel's voice. Ariel took a deep breath and nodded yes. The sea witch smiled deviously and began the spell. Sebastian arrived and scurried out of hiding to try and stop the spell. But it was too late. Ursula had already used her powers to capture Ariel's beautiful voice in a seashell and transform the little mermaid into a human. With the help of Sebastian and Flounder, Ariel used her new legs to swim to shore. There, she found Prince Eric walking his dog. The dog jumped up on Ariel with his wet, sandy paws. Ariel shied away, not knowing what to make of the hairy, four-legged beast. Sebastian and Flounder watched from the nearby waves. At first, Eric was embarrassed by his dog's behavior, but then he thought this strange girl on the beach looked familiar. Could this be the girl who rescued him? Ariel opened her mouth to tell him, forgetting that her voice was gone. The prince lowered his eyes. His dream girl had a beautiful voice, so this could not be the same one. To make up for his dog getting Ariel so dirty, Eric gently took Ariel's arm and led her to his palace. There, his maids whisked Ariel upstairs to find her some fresh, clean clothes. The palace staff and Sir Grimsby liked Ariel, and Eric seemed to as well. They invited her to stay for dinner. The following afternoon, Eric took Ariel for a rowboat ride across a lagoon. Sebastian nervously swam beneath them. He was worried that it was already late on the second day and Prince Eric hadn't kissed Ariel. He began conducting a sea creature chorus to create a romantic mood. It started to work. As Eric leaned over to kiss Ariel, the boat tipped, and both Eric and Ariel fell into the water. From her ocean den, Ursula had been watching the couple. She had sent her eels to the lagoon, and they had tipped the boat over. It was a close call. If the prince and Ariel had kissed, her plan to get revenge on Triton would have been ruined. She couldn't take any more chances and began making another magic potion. The next morning, news spread through the palace that Prince Eric announced that he was going to be married. Overjoyed at the news, Ariel hurried downstairs. She hid when she saw Eric introducing Grimsby to a mysterious dark-haired girl named Vanessa. The prince seemed hypnotized and told Grimsby that Vanessa was the one who saved him in the storm. The wedding was to be that very day, on board the ship at sunset. Ariel drew back, confused. She was the one who had rescued Eric. Fighting tears, she fled the palace. Later that day, Sebastian and Flounder found Ariel sitting on the dock, watching the wedding ship leave the harbor. Suddenly, a seagull named Scuttle reported that when he flew over the ship, he saw Vanessa's reflection in a mirror. She was Ursula in disguise. She was wearing the seashell containing Ariel's voice and making Eric think she had rescued him. The sun was going down. There was no time to lose. Sebastian told Flounder to quickly help Ariel swim out to the ship while he went to get King Triton. Soon, a dripping wet Ariel climbed aboard the ship. The sun was about to set, and the prince and Vanessa were about to be married. But before they could say, I do, Scuttle and his seagull friends swooped down and attacked Vanessa. In the scuffle, the seashell necklace crashed to the deck. Ariel's voice returned to her, and Vanessa sounded like the sea witch. Ariel smiled at Eric. The prince was out from under Ursula's spell and put his arms around Ariel. Ursula grinned. It was too late. The sun had just set. Ariel felt her body changing back into a mermaid. As she dove into the water, the witch turned her into a small sea plant. Just then, King Triton arrived. He offered to trade places with Ariel as long as Ursula did not harm his daughter. Instantly, Triton was changed into a tiny sea plant, and Ariel resumed her mermaid form. She stood heartbroken before Ursula, who was now queen of the ocean. Suddenly, Prince Eric appeared. He hurled a harpoon at the witch, grazing her arm. Ursula snatched up the king's trident and pointed it at Eric. Quickly, Ariel rammed into the witch, knocking the trident loose. Then Eric and Ariel swam up and away as fast as they could. But the moment they surfaced, huge tentacles shot out of the ocean surrounding them. Ursula had transformed into an enormous monster. Using her new powers, the witch commanded the waters into a deadly whirlpool. Several old sunken ships rose to the surface. Prince Eric struggled to pull himself onto one of the circling ships. As Ursula loomed over Ariel, Eric turned the ship and plunged the sharp prow right through the sea witch, destroying her. All of her powers were released, and that mighty force sent Eric flying through the air towards shore. Below the surface, King Triton was restored. As the unconscious prince lay on the beach, Triton and Sebastian rose to the surface and saw Ariel perched on a rock, gazing at Eric. The sea king knew that she really loved Eric, so he waved his trident, and Ariel was once again human. The next day, Ariel and Prince Eric were married on board the wedding ship. As they kissed, the humans and the merpeople cheered, linked at last by a love that was as deep as the sea and as pure as a young girl's voice.