Over three decades since the classic animated movie premiered, The Little Mermaid is back on the public’s minds. Of course, this is merely the result of its successful live-action remake, which has risen above the racist backlash to conquer the hearts of most Disney fans.
Make no mistake, despite being an adaptation, the live-action film is in no way a scene-by-scene copy of the original, thankfully. In fact, Disney managed to strike a good balance between staying true to its roots and switching things up enough to keep things fresh. While most changes are obvious to all dedicated fans of the 1989 version, though, sometimes memory fails us when we need it the most.
This seems to be the case regarding a character in the films — King Triton. Ariel’s father exhibits overprotective tendencies in both versions of the age-old tale, but there is a particular aspect of his story arc that causes confusion to some. Does Triton die at Ursula’s hands? She clearly doesn’t like to take things easy on anyone, but what exactly happened in this case, and how does it compare to the original?
Does Triton die in The Little Mermaid?
In The Little Mermaid’s live-action, Triton suffers a darker fate than in the original, which perfectly matches Ursula’s personal vendetta against him. Toward the end of the movie, as Ariel and Eric fight for their lives, the sea witch orders her trusty eel companions to shock Triton, and so they do. This results in the king’s body breaking apart as he turns to dust, dying for a short period of time. When Ariel defeats Ursula, however, her father’s body is magically restored. So, the answer to the question of whether or not he died in the remake is technically yes, but not permanently.
In the original film, though, the king’s story goes a little differently. Instead of killing Triton during the final confrontation, Ursula simply uses her magic to turn him into a sea creature. Thus, the character never actually dies in the 1989 The Little Mermaid, but the scene certainly provokes the same feeling of loss in Ariel, who witnesses it all play out. Much like in the remake, King Triton magically acquires his merperson body back once Ursula is killed in the battle, and lives long enough to show up on The Little Mermaid sequel.
Children’s movies can sometimes deal brutal emotional punches — yes, I’m talking about Bambi, specifically — but at least where King Triton is concerned, there’s nothing to worry about.
You can rewatch The Little Mermaid as many times as you want now, as it’s finally available for streaming on Disney Plus.