Cover of Aladdin (Cine-Manga)
Ariel vs. Jasmine
The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are the two greatest Disney movies. Princess Ariel, the main character in The Little Mermaid, is the daughter of Poseidon, the god of the sea. She is a sixteen year old princess who feels trapped under the sea. The only thing she wants is to be on land. Princess Jasmine, the main character in Aladdin, is the daughter of the king of Persia. She is struggling with the fact that her father is trying to arrange a marriage for her. Although Jasmine and Ariel are from very different stories, and have several differences, their personalities, like most Disney princesses, are the same
Jasmine and Ariel live in completely different worlds and practice different rituals and customs. Jasmine lives in ancient Persia. Her life has been mapped out for her since birth. Her father is trying to find a suitor for her. A suitor is someone who will eventually marry Jasmine. Jasmine lives in a culture where the peasants are extremely poor and the royalty have everything they want. A princess such as Jasmine would never be permitted to go outside of the palace to mingle with peasants. Jasmine also lives in a very lavish palace and has people to cater to her every whim. But even though she has everything a person should want at her fingertips all she wants is to see outside the palace walls.
While Ariel and Jasmine both live in beautiful places, they are far from the same. Ariel lives in a castle under the sea with her seventeen sisters. Ariel, unlike Jasmine, has freedom to roam all over the sea. Although Ariel’s father disapproves, Ariel often visits the sights of wrecked ships to collect things from the world above the sea. After gathering things that she thinks are valuable, such as bottle corks and silverware, she takes them to a less than intelligent seagull named Scuttle. Even though Ariel is not supposed to go above the water she can get away with it. She learned how to sneak around her father’s back.
Jasmine and Ariel both feel extremely trapped in their kingdoms. Jasmine feels trapped because everything she has ever done was planned for her. She has never gotten to make her own decisions. Another reason she feels cased in is because her father is choosing a husband for her, and none of the people he has brought in appeal to her in anyway. In order to escape from her prison she dresses as a peasant and climbs the palace wall. While Jasmine is in the market she is saved from an angry shop owner by a “street rat” named Aladdin. Eventually she is found by the Palace Guard and taken back to the palace, while Aladdin is charged with kidnapping the princess.
Ariel also feels trapped because she is so curious about the world she is forbidden to see. While attempting to see Prince Eric, the human prince from the other world, a terrible storm breaks loose that brings the ship the Eric is on down into the sea. Ariel saves the prince’s life and falls in love with him. The fact that she fell in love with a human puts her father in a rage, driving her to the help of the evil sea with Ursula. Ursula tricks Ariel into trading her voice for a pair of legs in order for her to be with the man that she loves. Once Ariel is on land she makes Prince Eric fall in love with her. After a few encounters with Ursula everything works out for Ariel and Eric.
Jasmine and Ariel both fall in love with very different men. Jasmine is in love with Aladdin. Aladdin is a poor peasant boy with no parents. He has nothing going for him except a kind heart and good looks. Aladdin charms Jasmine, but before she can fall in love with him he is falsely accused of kidnapping her and arrested. Eventually Aladdin escapes from prison and acquires a magic lamp with a genie inside it. The genie turns Aladdin into a prince so that he can be with Jasmine. In order to keep Jasmine from finding out that he is the boy in the market place he changes his name to Prince Ali. Eventually Jasmine finds out that Prince Ali is actually Aladdin. They encounter and defeat the evil Jafar. In the end Jasmine’s father changes the law that a princess has to marry a prince.
Princess Ariel and Princess Jasmine both young girls who feel trapped by their lives and their fathers. The only thing Ariel wants from life is to live on land. The only thing Jasmine wants is to make her own decisions. The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are both extremely different stories, but the two princesses in these stories are very similar.
