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mermaidmovieclub · 4 years ago

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Common Mermaid Movie Tropes (With Examples)

I’ve noticed with a lot of mermaid movies that a lot of them tend to share common tropes. I mention common mermaid tropes a lot on the Mermaid Movie Club, but thought, hey, maybe I need to come up with a handy list that’s easy to follow? Hey, that’s what blogs are for. Without further ado, a list of Common Mermaid Movie Tropes, and examples for each one. Since these are going to be part of the Mermaid Movie Club going forward, I thought I'd compile them neatly into a little list. Of course, this will be updated as I go through more movies. 😉

These are not taken from TVTropes, these are just things that I have found from watching these films/TV shows, so I just kinda made stuff up. Perhaps in due time I could make a list of tropes taken from TVTropes but that’s a loooooooooot to sift through.

(Also, this is not necessarily negative. Understand a lot of these will be interpreted differently from film to film. It's all about looking at something from a different angle, which a lot of these filmmakers do in their own way.)

1. The Only Way To Get What You Want is to Become Human Yourself

Literally what it says on the tin. The mermaid has to become human to achieve some kind of goal. Usually a romantic objective.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and most adaptations of it, Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006)

Subverted in: The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

2. Teenagers Scare the Living Fish Outta Me

Mermaid as a coming-of-age metaphor. For me it comes across as a kind of "fish out of water" metaphor but in the case of one film I have to rethink that.

Examples: The Thirteenth Year (1999), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Blue My Mind (2017), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

3. You Can Take Your Mermaid on Land Adventures, When She Dries Off, She Gets Legs

Again, what it says on the tin. The mermaid can achieve a human form but only when dry. When she touches water again she reverts back to her mermaid form.

Examples: Splash (1989), H2O and all of its spin-offs, Aquamarine (2006)

Splash: Obviously there’s the iconic scene with Madison unfolding her fins in the bathtub, and rushing to dry off when Allen calls for her. There’s also the scene where Walter Kornbluth sprays her down with a hose as she and Allen leave their dinner, effectively revealing her tail to the public.

H2O: This is revealed in the first episode where Cleo gets stuck in the bathtub after her tail develops, Emma transforms while swimming in the ocean, and perhaps the most telling of all is Rikki transforming after getting hit with a sprinkler. There are many more examples as the show goes on.

Aquamarine: Had an additional stipulation that she would have to be a mermaid at night, so it was almost like a werewolf-mermaid situation.

4. Born Yesterday

Mermaid is a bit naive to human things.

Seen in: The Little Mermaid (especially the Disney one), Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006), Siren (2018-present)

5. Human Stuff

Mermaid falls in love with a human.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and all of its adaptations, Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Siren (2018-present)

6. For Science

Mermaid is pursued by scientists for science.

Examples: Splash (1989), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure (2015), Siren (2018-present)

7. Hush Hush

The mermaid has to keep her mermaid identity a secret, potentially as a result of For Science, as well as You Can Take Your Mermaid on Land Adventures, When She Dries Off, She Gets Legs. The mermaid might have to avoid water to avoid being exposed.

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, Aquamarine (2006), Splash (1989), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), The Thirteenth Year (1999), nearly all of them except for some older pre-Splash ones.

H2O: Just Add Water: The mermaids even have to drink water through straws to prevent the water from touching their skin.

8. The Power of Three

There's likely a trio of mermaids. Mostly common in H2O copycat shows on YouTube.

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, Mermaids (2003), as I said, a lot of H2O copycats on YouTube. Aquamarine includes a main cast of three, but Hailey and Claire are not mermaids.

9. Power Up

They have superpowers. That's it that's the trope

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, The Thirteenth Year (1999), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

H2O: The core mermaids (Rikki, Cleo, Emma, later Bella) all have some kind of different water-based superpower.

Scales: Siren's powers in this movie are pretty similar to those in H2O, particularly, the ability to move water. At the end she kills a hunter by dehydrating him to death.

The Thirteenth Year: Cody Palpatine Griffin emits force lightning--I mean, static electricity

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: Royals of Oceana are capable of producing Merillia, a sort of oceanic life force.

10. I'm In the Sea, and I'm SINGING

Mermaid can sing, which checks out given the mythology honestly

Examples: The Little Mermaid and nearly all of its adaptations (especially Disney), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Siren (2018-present)

11. You Should See Me In a Crown

Mermaid is part of a royal family, most likely a princess. Her father is likely Neptune or Triton or Poseidon, or some non-specific King of the Sea. (Notice that the Queen of the Sea is rarely mentioned? That's weird, right?)

Examples: The Little Mermaid and all its adaptations, Aquamarine (2006), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2001), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010), implied in Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017)

The Little Mermaid: It's kind of the basis for the story itself. In Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), Ariel is the daughter of King Triton and has six sisters. Her mother, Queen Athena, is not revealed until 2008 in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, but it's revealed that she was killed when Ariel was very young, so she doesn't exist by the time the original film takes place.

Aquamarine: Aqua's father is a non-specific king

SpongeBob: Mindy's father is King Neptune

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: Merliah’s mother is Calissa, Queen of Oceana, overthrown by her sister Eris

Scales: Siren's birth mother is referred to as "the leader of the mermaids," and it is later revealed that they are both pureblood mermaids, which implies that Siren and Emerald are some kind of royalty. The film uses the word “leader” which is fairly vague, however.

12. Kids' Show

(I read this in my mind like the Will Ferrell/Molly Shannon “Dog Show” sketch from SNL.)

A character from a kids' franchise becomes a merperson themselves, most often to help other merfolk. This might also be reflected in a corresponding toy line.

Examples: Barbie (numerous titles), Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, Monster High, Sofia the First, Shimmer and Shine.

Barbie: Numerous mermaid characters exist in the Barbie Cinematic Universe (if that isn’t already a thing it is now), but at least five mermaid-centric Barbie films exist: Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 (2012), Barbie the Pearl Princess (2014), and Barbie Dolphin Magic (2017). There have also been multiple Barbie mermaid lines throughout the years, the most recent being part of the Dreamtopia line. A number of lines corresponded to the films, such as the Mermaidia and Barbie in a Mermaid Tale lines. (I’ve got one of Kayla from the first one somewhere)

Dora the Explorer: In the 2007 TV movie Dora Saves the Mermaids, Dora became a mermaid to help the crown of mermaid princess Mariana. Dora later reunited with Mariana in the Dora and Friends episode “Magical Mermaid Adventure” (1x13) in 2015. Dora once again became a mermaid in the 2012 episode “Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom” (7x01). I remember there being dolls for Dora Saves the Mermaids but not for the other two.

Paw Patrol: The six main pups of the Paw Patrol become merpups (it’s exactly what it sounds like) in the 2016 episode “Merpups Save the Turbots” (3x21B). Initially it’s just Marshall after he is turned by a mother merpup but later all the pups have a merpup form. I don’t remember a ton of toys for this one, but I often run into the merpup bath squirters, namely Skye.

Monster High: Lagoona Blue, daughter of a sea monster, is a part of the core team of monsters, but she’s more Mermaid-Adjacent. The first true mermaid character to be introduced to the franchise was Sirena von Boo, the daughter of a mermaid and a ghost, in the 2014 Freaky Fusion movie and doll line of the same name. Later on, the 2016 Great Scarrier Reef movie coincided with a corresponding doll line of the main monsters as mermaid-like creatures, with the addition of some new aquatic characters such as Posea Reef, Kala Mer’ri, and the two-headed Peri and Pearl Serpentine. (Mattel had a similar line called Ever After High that featured Meeshell Mermaid as the daughter of the Little Mermaid, but there was never any kind of mermaid line or movie made for it, which, come on, I wanted mermaid Raven Queen.)

Sofia the First: 2013′s “The Floating Palace” was a special episode that aired toward the end of the show’s first season. In it, Sofia meets mermaid princess Oona and Queen Emmaline, and helps them stop Cedric from taking the magical Mermaid Comb of Merroway Cove. Of course, in order to do that, she has to become a mermaid herself. Along the way, her magical amulet summons Ariel because this is a Disney Princess show and her amulet just magically summons Disney Princesses when she needs a pep talk because of course it does.

Shimmer and Shine: In the 2016 episode “Mermaid Mayhem” (2x06), Leah wishes she and her genies, Shimmer and Shine, were mermaids. If only it were that easy. Yep. There were toys. Just expect it at this point.

Subverted in: Elena of Avalor: Song of the Sirenas

13. Looks Like a Seannamon Roll But Could Actually Kill You

This is really just a trope for sirens or "darker" mermaids

Examples: Siren (2018-present), She Creature (2001), Killer Mermaid/Nymph (2014), Mermaid's Song (2018), Night Tide (1961)

14. Mermaid-Adjacent

Not quite a mermaid but similar human-fish hybrid.

Examples: The Shape of Water (2017), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1953), also the Zora race from the Legend of Zelda games even though that’s not a movie, shut up it counts

15. Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty

There is some kind of magical trinket used by the mermaids, typically a piece of jewelry with magical properties.

Examples: The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2010), H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010), Mako Mermaids/Mako: Island of Secrets (2013-2016), both Barbie in a Mermaid Tale movies (2010 and 2012)

TLM2: Melody's locket, a gift to her from King Triton, projected an image of Atlantica when opened, but otherwise didn't do a lot.

Mako Mermaids: The mermaids possessed blue moon rings, which store moonlight and can be used to perform different magical functions dependent on the situation.

H2O: The necklaces worn by Rikki, Cleo, and Bella in the third season serve a similar function to the Moon Rings of Mako.

Scales: Siren Phillips was given a special necklace by Crystal which seems to serve as a kind of homing device. It's not explained in depth what it does exactly, but it performs a similar function to the Wailing Stick if I remember correctly, which was a sort of mermaid distress signal.

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: When Queen Calissa gave baby Merliah Summers to Break, she gave Merliah a magical necklace that, years later, revealed to her and Zuma that Queen Calissa was still alive after Eris overthrew her from the throne of Oceana. Merliah is later given a necklace by Calissa that allows her to alternate between human and mermaid forms at will. In Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2, Kylie Morgan steals the necklace out of Merliah’s hoodie when Hadley is distracted and uses it to become a mermaid herself, so it’s clearly not specifically made for Merliah to use.

If it counts, Ursula’s soul-stealing necklace in The Little Mermaid (1989) is one of these as well.

16. You Want Thingamabobs? I've Got Twenty

Girl is a hoarder, or fascinated by human trinkets.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and nearly all of its adaptations (especially the Disney one)

17. The Mermaid Elder

An old woman that’s sort of a mermaid wise woman.

Examples: The Mermaid (2016), most interpretations of The Little Mermaid apart from the Disney one

18. Foreshadowing Name

Very very very obvious mermaid name.

Examples: Barbie in a Mermaid Tale/2 (2010/2012), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Aquamarine (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale/2: You really expect me to think a girl named Merliah isn’t gonna be a mermaid? Come on.

Scales: I feel like naming your kid Siren in a town full of mermaids AND where there are known mermaid hunters is just a great example of not thinking things through.

Aquamarine: Self-explanatory.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: Astrid Berges-Frisbey played main merm Syrena in this movie. There were other named mermaids in this, I think, but Syrena was the most prominent, obviously.

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years ago

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If you’re heading off on a camping trip with the family, whether it be a once off short break adventure, a long term holiday or a yearly ritual, you’ll need a value for money, comfortable and secure family tent to protect you from bad weather, keep your gear safe and dry and give you a roomy, yet cozy, spot to lay your head. We’ve listed the top five family tents of 2012 to give you an idea of what many families look for in their search for a good family tent.

Update: Our 2015 list of the best family tents is now available!

First things first, here are a few questions you should probably ask yourself first before choosing a tent:

How many people will need a space to sleep?

Make sure there is enough room for everyone as well as their sleeping bag, clothes and all the extras for the family such as cooking equipment, chairs, eskys, etc.

Also, think about whether you need to have a separate space for the kids or some people who are better off not sleeping next to each other. If this is the case, then maybe have a think about getting a two or more room tent.

Remember also, when a tent says that it ‘sleeps 6’, this is actually an approximation of an adult’s shoulder width and not an exact measurement. It doesn’t take into account mattress space and other things that a person needs to sleep in a tent. If you had six people sleep in a six person tent it may very well be a tight fit, possibly too tight, and not enough room for bags, extra gear, or escape from a dreadful snorer.

What’s the weather like where you’re going?

If it’s looking to be hot weather, make sure your tent is breathable with plenty of windows for ventilation. However, make sure the windows have mesh to protect you from the bugs and mozzies that feature more often in hot weather.

If you’re camping during winter, look for tents that have been designed and proven for both the frame and canopy to stay strong and sturdy in windy and bad weather.

How long are you staying?

Look for tents that are easy and quick to set up if you’re not staying in a place for too long.

These are easier if you arrive at your campsite late at night or in bad weather.

Most tents have colour coded poles to make things even easier, so make sure the tent you choose has this feature.

However, if you’re staying for a longer period of time, say a couple of weeks or months, then a cabin tent is a better bet because it is more capable of taking daily foot traffic and wear without falling under the pressure.

Now that you’re ready, here are the most popular family tents of 2012 that we recommend for you:

Coleman Chalet 9 CV Tent

The Coleman Chalet 9CV Tent has been our most popular tent this year.

What we’ve found great about the Coleman Chalet 9CV Tent is that while it’s really big and roomy, it packs up quite compactly, into a bag with wheels, to fit easily into the back of the car.

Not only that, but it’s fairly easy to put up and it’s geo design means it’s strong and reliable in windy, hot or rainy conditions.

The three rooms can actually sleep up to nine people!

It’s great for parents, and even the kids, wanting a bit of privacy as the two main bedrooms are separated by a central living area.

There is plenty of room for extra luggage, chairs, and camping equipment to be stored, or extra people to be housed, in the living area

You can enjoy the view from the living area looking out through the main easy access large front and rear D-doors or the view of the stars at night through the skylight.

There is No-See-Um Mesh on all the big windows for great air flow, lighting, and of course protection from bugs and mozzies!

PLUS, it’s by Coleman who has placed a five-year warranty on it and can sort out any problems you may have in a timely and efficient manner.

Black Wolf Turbo Lite Plus 240 and 300

Ok, so we couldn’t decide which of these two Tourer tents we’d blog about, so we did both!

These beauties are perfect for families who want little fuss in setting up, because they are so easy, and especially quick (and we mean quick), to erect.

The Black Wolf Turbo Lite Plus 240 and 300, actually the whole Black Wolf Turbo range, in fact, have strong frames that are great in windy or rough weather, plus the bucket floor is made from strong but lightweight Ripstop Polyester – which will last you for years to come.

Strong and reliable, the Black Wolf Turbo Lite Plus 240 sleeps up to four adults, whilst the 300 sleeps up to eight adults.

Privacy is still the key with these tents, as a curtain divider allows the extra space to be divided off but can be rolled away to the sides to give one big open area.

There is plenty of headroom as well, with a huge 2.1m peak height – so you can stand up without hitting your head!

One thing that is great about the Black Wolf TurboTents is that you can choose for your tent to come in either canvas or light material. All have this option except for the Black Wolf Twin Tents, which only come in light material.

The canvas material:

Is extremely strong and durable

Is breathable (reduces the chances of having a stuffy tent)

Has a durable and strong PVC floor

Comes with a thicker frame

The light material:

Is lighter and therefore easier to carry and store

Is less expensive

Is very strong (almost as strong as the canvas)

If you are looking to save on money, weight and size, then the lighter material is the way to go. However, for that added bit of strength in bad weather and durability when it comes to day to day usage then you’re after the canvas.

Oh, and you get a handy lifetime warranty on the Black Wolf Turbo tents if you ever run into trouble.

Browse our blog for further reading on the Black Wolf Turbo Tents, their construction and accessories.

Black Wolf Mojave 6

The Black Wolf Mojave 6 is another great Black Wolf dome tent perfect for families.

Sleeping up to six adults, the Black Wolf Mojave 6 is a single room dome tent with a fully enclosed front vestibule.

This front vestibule has a bucket floor which makes it great for storing camping gear or enjoying the view without being hassled by bugs, mozzies, rain or the heat of direct sunlight.

You have both front and rear access to the tent, which makes life so much easier.

The Black Wolf Mojave has a semi-geo design with double hoop to make it hold up well against inclement weather and is fairly quick and easy to set up and pack away.

If you love the look of the Black Wolf Mojave but want something a bit smaller, check out the Black Wolf Mojave 4 Tent.

Coleman Lakeside 4 Extended

Both the Coleman Lakeside 4 and 6 Extended are fantastic tents that we often recommend to our customers. However, the Lakeside 4 is no longer available, Zempire have a range called the If you’re planning to stay in one place whilst you’re away, then an Oztrail 12 x 9 Cabin Tent is a great choice. It’s not as easy or quick to set up as dome or turbo tents, but the Oztrail 12 x 9 Cabin Tent is fantastic once it’s up – an ideal home away from home!

Sleeping up to six people, the Oztrail 12 x 9 Cabin Tent is very spacious with a large internal room and plenty of head space.

The total weather protection poly/cotton canvas keeps you cool in summer and protected in the winter and has four large side and rear windows (with No-See-Um mesh) for excellent ventilation without the bother of bugs and mozzies.

In strong winds, the cabin tent stays really sturdy with its strong steel frame (which also makes it durable and long lasting) and even has awning weather shields on the side windows for protection against strong rain.

You can also charge up your electronics with the power cord inlet that provides easy untangle cords wherever you might need them.

Finally, you get a deluxe storage bag so that transportation is made a lot easier.

Head to our website for free delivery on a big range of tents, or email us at [email protected] for a quick response to any questions you might have.

The post 2012’s Best and Most Amazingly Popular Family Tents! appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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towerrange15-blog · 5 years ago

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Bright, Hackney

As much as I am very happy to travel quite significant distances in search of a good meal, as the geographic spread of restaurants on this blog will hopefully indicate, I do sometimes wish there was a bit more going on in my own neck of the woods. Battersea, and the Lavender Hill / Northcote Road area in particular, is a weird wasteland of family-friendly coffee shops and tired throwbacks, with only the Vietnamese restaurant Mien Tay, and Donna Margherita (if you stick to the pizzas), worth visiting out of a good thirty or forty licensed establishments. Considering the number of people who live in the area, a good chunk of whom would surely pay good money for a decent feed, the absence of anywhere offering a decent product is baffling. And yes, I know about Wright Bros and Tonkotsu in Battersea Power Station but that's so far from Clapham Junction it may as well be Vauxhall.

So it was with a certain amount of trepidation I began my journey from SW11 to E8 on Saturday. Surely to goodness Hackney already has more than enough amazing restaurants? The single stretch of bus route from Old Street took me past the Clove Club, Sagar & Wilde, Morito, The Marksman and The Laughing Heart before dropping me outside Mare St Market, a huge and heavenly air-conditioned collective of bars and restaurants and record shops and much else besides which has just opened as if Hackneyites didn't already have enough to shout about. It would simply not be fair if Bright was good too. I didn't need yet another reason to make that bloody trek across town.

Of course, inevitably, Bright is not just good but brilliant, a shining new jewel in the crown of East End dining and more than enough reason to make a hideous hour-plus-long journey in the baking heat. A journey, by the way, which is instantly forgotten as soon as you plonk yourself down at the beautiful wooden bar and are presented with a cold glass of crisp Provence rosé. There's no (obvious) air conditioning at Bright, but huge floor to ceiling window doors at either end of the room provide a lovely natural breeze, and as long as you're not at the picnic tables out front in the sun (or indeed in the rain, hard as that is to imagine at the moment), you should find the setting every bit as charming as we did.

What separates a good from a great restaurant is not always obvious, or even quantifiable, but as good an early indicator as any is probably a menu that contains rare or unusual ingredients or dishes. Whether through lack of imagination or in an attempt to find as broad a customer base as possible, restaurant menus often tend to follow a certain formula - starters of steak tartare, burrata, mains of onglet and fries, sea bass, desserts of pannacotta, sorbet. And often there's nothing wrong with that; not everywhere has to reinvent the wheel. But when did you last see 'Scarlet prawns' on a menu? Perhaps only at top-tier Spanish restaurant Barrafina where they're slightly bigger and called Carabineros, so full marks to Bright for seeking them out, cooking them utterly perfectly so that the tail meat is bouncy and moist and the heads full of that extraordinary salty bisque so complex and rewarding it's hard to believe it could just be found inside the animal as-is.

Katsu, that is breaded and deep-fried pork (usually, or sometimes chicken) sandwiches have started cropping up all over London in recent weeks. I made a trip to Brixton to try Nanban's version, and very good it was too, available takeaway only served from a separate hatch around the side of the building in case you want to go and sample it yourself. The Bright sando is easily as enjoyable, with fluffy soft white bread cradling tender pork, a sharp tamarind dressing and that all important crunch of fried breadcrumbs.

It was Tomos Parry's restaurant Brat, above Smoking Goat on Shoreditch High Street, that introduced London to the Elkano-inspired charcoal-roasted turbot on the bone, and indeed you should definitely go to Brat if you get a chance - that's another restaurant which goes out of its way to find unusual seafood like spider crabs and john dory. But here's the thing, and I hope I'm still welcome in Shoreditch after this comment, but I actually prefer the turbot at Bright. With a glorious crisped-up skin that held an obscene amount of liquid fat, and boasting a blinding white flesh, this was an absolutely magical bit of fish, the result of top-end ingredients treated in exactly the right way. Incredible.

Quail wasn't quite as transformative an experience to eat, but then that's hardly much of a criticism. It was still a lovely bit of bird, robustly seasoned and glazed with garum - a fermented fish sauce favoured by the Romans - and gently pink inside. It's tempting to summarise Bright's cooking style as that Modern British restaurant cliché "good ingredients, simply prepared" and it's true that there aren't a bewildering array of techniques on display here. But there's nothing straightforward about cooking turbot as well as that, or managing to get those prawns to the absolute best state they could be. Simple does not mean easy.

Desserts had the same stripped-back confidence of the savoury courses. "Chocolate, coriander seed & sea salt" was three large pieces of good dark chocolate, seemingly shaped on a crinkled up baking sheet, with an interesting added floral note from somewhere.

And "amazake" (a drink made from fermented rice, like sake but lower alcohol) ice cream with sour cherries was the perfect summer dessert, good soft ice cream boasting clean, precise flavours.

So congratulations - again - Hackney, you lucky, lucky bastards. You didn't need yet another thrilling, dynamic modern restaurant on your doorstep but you've got one anyway, and if it means lazy Battersea-based food bloggers have to suffer the indignities of superheated Routemasters and ten stops on the Northern Line to reach it well, quite frankly that's their problem. And you know what, I will be making that journey again, even if it's 32C and the heating on the top deck is stuck to "on", because if this is the way restaurants in London are heading, with elegant wine lists and dishes of stark, simple beauty, then we have an awful lot to look forward to. The future's Bright.

9/10

Source: http://cheesenbiscuits.blogspot.com/2018/07/bright-hackney.html

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