September 1, 2026

Contracts Under The Sea

By Laura Trachtman

I was listening to some Disney songs over the weekend, you know, like a normal 45 year old litigator does, and I caught “Poor, Unfortunate Souls” from the Little Mermaid. Every other time I’ve listened to this song, I’ve just enjoyed Ursula’s Lawful Evil tendencies, but this time, something caught my attention, and I wondered: “Is this a real contract?”

A contract needs six elements to be valid (an offer, acceptance, awareness, consideration, capacity, and legality), so let’s review seriatim. There’s an offer: Ursula’s terms are simple:  “Now, here’s the deal: I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now listen, this is important: before the sun sets on the third day, you’ve got to get dear ol’ princey to fall in love with you, that is, he’s got to kiss you; not just any kiss, the kiss of True Love. If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you’ll remain human permanently! But, if he doesn’t, you turn back into a mermaid and… you belong to me!”

There’s acceptance; we’ve all seen the part where Ariel hides her face and signs the contract. 

There’s awareness, which means mutual assent: Both parties understand the agreement and enter into it voluntarily, meaning there is no fraud, coercion, duress, or undue influence. I think this point deserves a little more analysis, in fairness to Ursula. There’s no fraud here, as Ursula clearly sets forth her conditions. There’s no coercion, as Ariel is in love with Prince Eric and desperately wants to become a human to win his heart so Ursula clearly isn’t making Ariel do anything she doesn’t want to do. And there’s no undue influence, as no one appears to like or trust Ursula, except for her eels, Flotsam and Jetsam. And while I have a disagreement with an expert on The Little Mermaid on whether Ariel signed under duress, I personally don’t think that this situation constitutes duress, as there’s no threat of physical harm, imprisonment, or financial ruin. 

There’s consideration: both parties exchange something of value, as Ursula uses magic to transform Ariel into a human, and Ariel gives Ursula her voice. 

Here we run into our first snag: we may not have capacity, depending upon the age of consent in the Kingdom under the Sea. Elsewhere in the movie, King Triton remonstrates with his daughter for her conduct and calls her out as being 16 years old. If the age of consent in that jurisdiction is 16, she’s able to legally enter into contracts, but if it’s 18 or older, then she’s unable to do so without the consent of her legal guardian, King Triton. 

The final element is legality. Here again, there’s a snag: again, depending upon the jurisdiction, you can’t give yourself to another person to own legally. Unfortunately, there are two indications that selling oneself into slavery is legal in the Kingdom under the Sea: the plethora of Poor, Unfortunate Souls in the garden in Ursula’s cave, and the fact that King Triton allowed himself to become a slave to Ursula to save Ariel. 

I think we can all recognize that Ursula engaged in all manner of improper conduct after the contract was signed transforming herself into an Ariel doppelganger and using Ariel’s voice to bewitch Prince Eric is clearly a violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.  However, at the point where Ariel signs the contract, assuming that capacity and legality don’t act as bars to the contract, we’re all good.

And that, Dear Reader, is why you should never enter into a contract with a Sea Witch. Up next: Was the Beast falsely imprisoning Belle? (kidding.)