Proof That “The Little Mermaid” Had Nothing to do with “Frozen” or “Tangled”
Let’s be honest, some of these “fan theories” are getting out of control and are being spread around the internet as gospel in order to drive traffic to sites.
We were one of the first sites to report that Rapunzel made a cameo in “Frozen“. With the same studio working on both films, an Easter Egg like that isn’t too far fetched (though I still don’t believe there is a story tying “Frozen” to “Tangled”).
When we heard that Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” was being dragged into this, we thought it was time to get involved.
Rather than a long dragged out post debunking the theory, like we did with the theory stating that Emily and Andy’s mom were the same person in the “Toy Story” universe, we will simply point to the photo above and all it a day.
If it’s one thing the animators over at Disney get credit for, it’s their attention to detail. Simply look at both ships from “Frozen” and “The Little Mermaid”. The ship Anna and Elsa’s parents get on to has 2 masts where as the ship Ariel discovers only has 1 which is centered on the hull of the ship.
It’s always fun to make background stories to piece together some of timelines behind our favorite characters but let’s not take away from the intentions of the creative minds that put these together.
The only thing “The Little Mermaid” and “Frozen” have in common is that they were both written by Hans Christian Anderson. If you believe more than that then I have a ship to sell you.
17 archived comments
Comments are closed. These are the reader replies saved with the original post.
Eduardo · March 21, 2014 at 1:36 pm
It’s just a headcanon. You don’t need to believe on it if you don’t want to. We know the difference between the ships. We just do this for fun.
Daniel Nasserian · March 21, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Many sites are positioning it as fact and it influences the masses. We are simply taking a counter stance.
We love fan fiction and fan involvement but it needs to be published as such.
Heidi (@Yodelin_Cowgirl) · March 21, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Thank you for being the voice of reason with these theories! I know there are lots of theories in the Disney fandoms, and there’s no harm in debating possibilities, and being creative, and imagining the what-ifs – it’s fun, and I think most Disney fans do it, to a degree. But it’s when these things get spread as fact – like many people and sites have been doing lately, with this one and the Emily one – that it gets to be a problem.
Tots anonymous person · March 25, 2014 at 4:24 pm
What???
8311xht · March 26, 2014 at 10:28 am
Look again; the little mermaid ship could easily have had a second mast that broke off (because it’s impossible to tell if that remaining mast is at the center or not).
The Lone Wulf · April 7, 2014 at 9:05 am
If a second mast had existed then there would have been some evidence to indicate the loss of the mast, be it a stump, a damaged deck, or a wrenched hull from the mast twisting itself free, especially when you consider that it the ship rolled before diving deep. Since none exist, I tend to feel that it was a stern-oriented, single-mast ship. A mast does not have to be perfectly centered, even on these old fantasy ships.
And before you point to the cargo hold access and say it would have been there, let me point out that it’s a cargo hold access. You know, where the cargo, be it luggage, weaponry, wedding gifts, what-have-you, would be lowered into the ship. You can see that it’s framed out whereas the mast would have been a hard mounting point for the upper deck, meaning there would have been no framing to support the opening because the mast would have been directly sealed into the deck.
Disclaimer: I am by no means an old ship expert, but I have seen and been on several and I have never seen a framed mast. Ever. Banded for extra strength, certainly, but never framed.
8311xht · April 7, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Let’s not assume that a ship from “The Little Mermaid” was replicated with 100% accuracy.
Daniel Nasserian · April 7, 2014 at 12:35 pm
If the writers and animators of “Frozen” intended that to be the same ship, I can’t imagine them leaving out the details that would make it so without a doubt.
These animators spend a lot of time on attention to detail, if this was a true Easter Egg or story tie-in, then I’m sure it would be clear enough to be a fact rather than a fan theory.
8311xht · April 7, 2014 at 12:52 pm
We’ll see Daniel, we’ll see.
Kaity Prather · February 22, 2015 at 2:22 pm
I agree . I know there’s a lot of fan fiction but it has been proved as a fact that all Disney movies are connected in a way . if people don’t believe it they should keep to themselves and let us fans have our fun in believing . That’s what Disney is about, believing (:
Daniel Nasserian · February 22, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Unfortunately, Disney never proved that all of their movies are connected.
Sasha Penn · December 27, 2014 at 8:00 pm
There ARE two masts. If you watch the movie or the sunken ship clip of the movie you’ll see when she swims towards the ship the second mast is bent mostly out of view in this shot. You can see the top and a tip of it in the upper left.
Sasha Penn · December 27, 2014 at 8:05 pm
Chris · February 25, 2015 at 11:07 am
Above clip sure enough shows quite a few ships in that area. Oddly enough I haven’t seen anyone point out that the one in the background at 0:31 looks exactly like Captain Hook’s ship from Peter Pan.
But yea… the second mast could have snapped or there could be a slight inaccuracy between the two movies. Movies tend to have continuity flaws in the same clip…
Daniel Nasserian · February 25, 2015 at 11:12 am
If the directors of “Frozen” were trying to make it the same ship, my guess is that they would have spent some time making sure there weren’t any continuity issues.
anel medina · October 18, 2015 at 3:32 pm
even the creators admitted that it was all connected.
“the people that actually make the movies admit they are connected, so lets make a site saying that they aren’t just because we want to be different”
Daniel Nasserian · October 19, 2015 at 2:48 pm
If you are referring to the Ask Me Anything on Reddit that the Directors of Frozen did, then they never did confirm that The Little Mermaid and Frozen were connected, only that Tarzan and Frozen were connected (which many fans are also skeptical of).
For The Little Mermaid and Frozen to have been intentionally connected, the creators would have drawn the sunken ship back in the 80s with knowledge that Frozen would eventually be produced.