Propp's Theory Applied to The Little Mermaid

The eight main character types in The Little Mermaid

The Villain - Ursula
The Donor - Ursula
The Helper - Sebastian and Flounder
The Princess - Ariel or The Princess the Prince is supposed to marry
Her Father - The Sea King, Ariel's father
The Dispatcher - Sebastian and Flounder
The Hero/Victim - Ariel
False Hero/Anti-Hero/Usurper - Ariel
Vladimir Propp's 31 Functions of a Fairytale

The Little Mermaid uses:
6. Villain attempts to deceive Hero with trickery - When Ariel is given the potion to give her legs to walk on land, Ursula receives the voice of Ariel, Ariel's voice is intoxicating so Ursula is happy with the deal and tricks Ariel to agree

7. Hero is deceived - Ariel accepts the potion and Ursula gets Ariels voice which Ursula uses to make the sea king fall in love with her

8. Villain causes harm - Ursula uses Ariels voice to try and marry Ariels father and take over the Sea Kingdrom

11. Hero leaves home - When Ariel takes the potion she is able to walk on land therefore leaving her family to see and fall in love with the Prince

14. Hero gets magical agent/ object which will help with quest - The potion Ariel receives from Ursula which allows Ariel to walk on land and achieve what she wants which is for the Prince to fall in love with her

29. Hero given a new appearance/transfiguration - Ariel is given legs so that she is able to reach her goal


Evaluation
Propp's theory is quite dated and so there would be more difficulties when comparing his theory to a more modern fairytale. Also some of the characters overlap in The Little Mermaid, Ursula is the one who helps Ariel to go on her quest but is also the villain because she has a plan behind her good deed, therefore there was more difficulty because the roles of individual characters were less clear and were harder to allocate a role and compare to a function.