awny-haired mermaid Ariel was one of Disney's most immediately popular animated heroines. Ariel is a girl in the process of becoming an attractive woman. One of her attractive qualities is that she is very definite about what she is doing and very confident about her own ability to succeed. Of course, a good deal of that confidence is ill-placed, as she is just a teenager. Although she is warned by her father, King Triton, that humans are dangerous, Ariel stubbornly believes otherwise and has an insatiable curiosity about them. She explores human artifacts (sunken ships, etc.) and is constantly going into forbidden territory: the surface. This, of course, leads her to love ... and trouble.   Film: "The Little Mermaid" (1989) Voice Artist: Jodi Benson