1. The Little Mermaid’s Hero Journey
By Sarah Morse
Period 6
English 2 Honors

2. The Ordinary World This is the hero’s home land where they grew up and feel comfortable.
Ariel’s homeland is in the water where her friends and family are. It is under the sea where she is a princess because her dad is King Triton, lord of the Sea.

3. The Call to Adventure This is where the hero has a realization of the unknown world and a world outside of his/her own.
Ariel gets her call to adventure when a ship comes and she goes up to see it. Ariel saw prince Eric and fell in love. She wants to go to land to see him.

4. Refusal of the Call The Hero realizes that his/her life is really good and would not want to change it.
Flotsam and Jetsam come to Ariel and tell her to meet the sea witch and become human, and she says no because she will never see her father or sisters ever again.

5. Supernatural Aid Something physical or mental that helps the hero on his journey.
Ursula’s magic is Ariel’s supernatural aid because it helps her have legs so she is able to venture off onto land and meet Prince Eric.

6. Crossing the Threshold This is when the hero ventures off into the unknown world.
Ariel has legs and so she has to swim, with the help of her friends, onto land where she will begin her journey.

7. In the Belly of the Whale This is where the hero enters into the unknown land and finds him/herself in a totally different world.
Ariel goes to land and finds herself in a totally different world. She is on land and is completely helpless.

8. The Road of Trials The hero has to overcome many trials and obstacles on his/her journey.
Ariel has to get the prince to kiss her in 3 days and so she goes through many trials in her attempt to get him to kiss her.

9. Road of Trials continued. . .

10. The Woman as a Temptress This is where there is an evil being or presence that tries to stop the hero from reaching his/her goal.
In this movie, Ursula tries to lure prince Eric away from marrying Ariel with her magical powers.

11. Apotheosis This is where the hero realizes the “big picture” of why he/she came to the unfamiliar land.
Ariel gives up when she realizes that Ursula is using her magic to put a spell on Eric, but then realizes that she can win him back, so she goes to the ship.

12. The Ultimate Boon This is where the hero gets what they wanted.
Ariel goes to the ship to get Eric back, but then the sun sets and she is turned into a mermaid, so she gets his love, but then has to leave.

13. The Refusal of Return The hero can bring back wisdom to the kingdom or refuse to return.
Ariel is a mermaid again and so she has no choice but to be in the water. She brings back the love for prince Eric.

14. Magic in Flight This is the chase, when there are still evil forces working against the hero.
Ariel turned back into a mermaid and so now Ursula has all the power and she has the Triton so now she is after Ariel and King Triton.

15. Rescue From Without This is where the hero needs help returning back home.
Ariel is taken back into the water back into her homeland by Ursula when she turns into a mermaid again. She has no choice. Then Ursula is defeated.

16. Crossing the Return Threshold This is where the hero returns back to the ordinary world and the hero has changed.
Now everything is back to normal and Ariel is in the water wanting to be with her prince. She loves him very much and she has gained his love back.

17. Freedom to Live The hero is truly a changed person and realizes that he/she should not be afraid of the next moment.
Ariel is a mermaid but her father realizes, like she does, that she is a changed person and she truly loves Eric and so he changes her back into a human.

18. They got married and lived happily ever after.