Audition Central: Disney's The Little Mermaid JR.

Script: Ariel

SIDE 1

FLOUNDER
Hey, Ariel! There you are!

ARIEL
Just look, Flounder! The sun, the sand... isn t it the most beautiful place you ve ever seen?

FLOUNDER
I dunno, Ariel... I m not sure we ought to be up here.

ARIEL
Don t be such a guppy!

FLOUNDER
A guppy?!? I m as brave as you are! I m not afraid of anything

ARIEL
What about sharks?

FLOUNDER
Where?!?

ARIEL
Oh, Flounder, you really are a guppy!

FLOUNDER
I am not!

ARIEL
Awww...

(gives FLOUNDER an affectionate pat on the head)

You ll never guess what I found today. Look!

(lifts up a large silver serving fork)

Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?

FLOUNDER
Wow! Cool! What is it?

ARIEL
I don t know... but I bet Scuttle will! Come on, I ll race you!

FLOUNDER
Hey, wait for me!

SIDE 2

ARIEL
And now let me see... what did Scuttle call this one? Is it a ditty-whumper? A thumb-doodle? Whatever it is... Prince Eric held it in his own strong, beautiful human hands

(An enraged KING TRITON bursts in.)

KING TRITON
Ariel!

(taken aback by the collection of human stuff)

What is all this?!?

ARIEL
Daddy, they re my

KING TRITON
Human junk!

ARIEL
No, treasures!

KING TRITON
Did you save a human from drowning?

ARIEL
He would ve died!

KING TRITON
That savage brute could have killed you! And it s my job to keep you safe from harm.

ARIEL
But he didn t frighten me. He made me feel... wonderful! Besides, I am not a child anymore!

KING TRITON
No? Well, you are certainly talking like one. He s a human  you re a mermaid.

ARIEL
It doesn t matter  you don t understand! I wish mother were here!

KING TRITON
(takes a moment to recover from the low blow)

Ariel, I miss your mother just as much as you do. But I am still the king. And you are not to go to the surface ever again. Am I clear?!?

(KING TRITON pauses for a moment of regret.)

I m just trying to protect her, Sebastian.

SIDE 3

FLOTSAM
Oh, Mistress of the Deep! You ve a visitor...

ARIEL
I don t know if

JETSAM
Now, now...

FLOTSAM
Mustn t get cold fins!

URSULA
Don t be shy, Ariel darling!

ARIEL
I  I shouldn t be here. Mother died because of you.

URSULA
Oh child... what happened to your dear mother was a terrible, unfortunate accident  poor soul.

ARIEL
An... accident?

URSULA
Of course! I did my very best to save her.

ARIEL
You did? But Father told me

URSULA
The truth is that the ocean wasn t big enough for both your father and me, so he sent me here. And now I see he s driven you away, too...

ARIEL
He doesn t understand me.

URSULA
Oh, but I do, dumpling. We re so very alike, you and I  gals with ambition! Now tell me absolutely everything.

ARIEL
I m in love with someone. A human.

URSULA
A prince, I hear. Quite a catch! Well, the answer is simple: you ve got to become human yourself!

ARIEL
Can you do that?

URSULA
My dear, sweet child  it s what I live for: to help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to...

SIDE 4

FLOUNDER
Ariel! Are you okay?

SEBASTIAN
Oh child, what have you done?

(After a moment, ARIEL sits up and stares at her new legs in wonderment. Slowly and shakily she tries to stand, sticking her arms out for balance... then falls on her rear. SCUTTLE flaps in.)

SCUTTLE
Well, look who got beached! Hiya, Ariel! Wait  there s something different about cha. Don t tell me  it s your hairdo, right? You ve been using the dinglehopper!

(ARIEL shakes her head  no. )

Nah? Hmm... I can t quite put my foot on it right now

SEBASTIAN
She s got legs, you idiot!

FLOUNDER
Ariel traded her voice to the Sea Witch to become human!

SCUTTLE
Nah, kid! Not your beautiful pipes!

(ARIEL nods. She opens her mouth, but no sound.)

SEBASTIAN
Ya see? Not a sound! What would her father say? I ll tell ya what her father d say: he d say he s gonna kill himself a crab, that s what he d say!

FLOUNDER
Now she s got three days to make Prince Eric fall in love with her. And to prove it, he s gotta kiss her!

SCUTTLE
The Prince? Well, I ll say!