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60 free The Little Mermaid trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
54 free The Little Mermaid trivia questions with answers. Andersen's little mermaid gives up her tongue and walks on knives; Disney's Ariel gets a talking crab and a happy ending. This quiz covers both, plus everything in between: the 1989 animated film's voice cast, songs and Oscars, the direct-to-video sequels, the CBS cartoon, the Broadway show, the 2023 live-action remake with Halle Bailey, and the much-vandalised statue on the Copenhagen waterfront. It is built for families and Disney fans alike. Roughly a third of the questions are easy enough for kids who know the film by heart, and the rest climb steadily to real stumpers about production trivia, animation decisions and Andersen's original text. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, mainly the relevant Wikipedia articles and official pages, so the fun facts hold up when someone in the room insists you are wrong.
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Q 01In The Little Mermaid, who is Ariel's best friend, a nervous yellow-and-blue fish?
Flounder
Flounder, Ariel's timid best friend, was voiced by Jason Marin in the 1989 film; despite the name he is drawn as a yellow-and-blue tropical fish, not a flatfish.
Q 02What are the names of Ursula's two green moray eel henchmen?
Flotsam and Jetsam
Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's moray eel henchmen, were both voiced by Paddi Edwards, whose whispering delivery gave them their eerie unison.
Q 03What breed of dog is Max, Prince Eric's loyal pet in the animated film?
Old English Sheepdog
Max is an Old English Sheepdog; his barks and whimpers were provided, uncredited, by animal-voice specialist Frank Welker, the voice of Scooby-Doo's Fred Jones.
Q 04Who plays Ariel in Disney's 2023 live-action remake?
Halle Bailey
Halle Bailey plays Ariel in the 2023 remake; she rose to fame as one half of the R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle before landing the role.
Q 05Which comedy star plays the sea witch Ursula in the 2023 live-action remake?
Melissa McCarthy
Melissa McCarthy plays Ursula in the 2023 remake, a role voiced in animation by Pat Carroll from the 1989 film until her death in 2022.
Q 06How old is Ariel in Disney's animated film, as she famously reminds her father?
Sixteen
Ariel is Sixteen: she tells King Triton 'Daddy, I'm sixteen years old. I'm not a child anymore!', the line that sets up her rebellion.
Q 07Hans Christian Andersen, author of the original fairy tale, was from which country?
Denmark
Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, in 1805 and wrote the tale in Danish as 'Den lille havfrue', sometimes rendered in English as 'The Little Sea Maid'.
Q 08In the direct-to-video sequel Return to the Sea, what is the name of Ariel and Eric's child?
Melody
Ariel and Eric's daughter is Melody, the heroine of The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), a girl raised behind a sea wall who longs for the ocean.
Q 09The famous bronze Little Mermaid statue sits on the Langelinie promenade in which city?
Copenhagen
The statue sits on the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen; at just 1.25 metres tall it is often called one of the world's most underwhelming landmarks.
Q 10What name does Ursula use when she disguises herself as a human to seduce Prince Eric?
Vanessa
As Vanessa, a dark-haired human, Ursula bewitches Eric with Ariel's stolen singing voice, kept in the nautilus shell around her neck.
Q 11What is the title of Ursula's big villain song in the animated film?
Poor Unfortunate Souls
'Poor Unfortunate Souls' is Ursula's showstopper, performed by Pat Carroll as the sea witch talks Ariel into trading her voice for a pair of legs.
Q 12Which duo wrote and directed Disney's animated The Little Mermaid?
Ron Clements and John Musker
Ron Clements and John Musker wrote and directed the 1989 film, then went on to direct Aladdin, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog and Moana together.
Q 13Who wrote the lyrics to the animated film's songs, working with composer Alan Menken?
Howard Ashman
Q 21The 1992-94 animated TV series based on the film aired Saturday mornings on which US network?
CBS
The series ran on CBS from 1992 to 1994 as a prequel set before the film, bringing back Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Kenneth Mars and Pat Carroll.
Q 22Which sculptor created the bronze Little Mermaid statue unveiled in 1913?
Edvard Eriksen
Edvard Eriksen sculpted the statue; when ballerina Ellen Price declined to pose nude, he used his own wife Eline as the body model instead.
Q 23The man who commissioned the Little Mermaid statue was the son of which company's founder?
Carlsberg
Carl Jacobsen's father J. C. Jacobsen founded the Carlsberg brewery in 1847; Carl himself founded the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum from his sculpture collection.
Howard Ashman wrote the lyrics with composer Alan Menken, co-produced the film, and pushed for the songs to drive the story as they would in a Broadway show.
Q 14Before the film's lyricist reworked him, Sebastian was originally conceived as what kind of character?
An English butler crab named Clarence
An English butler crab named Clarence was the original Sebastian; the film's lyricist made him Jamaican instead, which pushed the score toward calypso and reggae.
Q 15Ursula's look was famously modelled on which real-life figure?
Drag queen Divine
Drag queen Divine, John Waters' muse from films like Pink Flamingos, was the model for Ursula's look; Divine died in 1988, a year before the film was released.
Q 16Animators studied footage of which person to work out how Ariel's hair should move underwater?
Astronaut Sally Ride in space
The team studied Astronaut Sally Ride in space, since weightless hair in orbit closely matched hair drifting in water; they also filmed a live-action model in a pool.
Q 17Who originated the role of Ariel in the Broadway stage adaptation?
Sierra Boggess
Sierra Boggess originated Ariel on Broadway in 2008 and went on to play Christine in the West End premiere of Love Never Dies and the 25th-anniversary Phantom of the Opera concert.
Q 18In the sequel Return to the Sea, how is the villain Morgana related to Ursula?
She is her younger sister
She is her younger sister: Morgana grew up in Ursula's shadow, and Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula, returned to voice Morgana in the 2000 sequel.
Q 19Who voiced the villain Marina Del Rey in the prequel Ariel's Beginning?
Sally Field
Sally Field voiced Marina Del Rey, the scheming governess who wants Sebastian's job as King Triton's right hand, in the 2008 prequel.
Q 20In the prequel Ariel's Beginning, what did a grieving King Triton ban from Atlantica after Athena's death?
Singing and playing songs
Singing and playing songs were banned by Triton after Queen Athena was killed; Ariel breaks the ban when a new fish friend leads her to the secret Catfish Club where Sebastian performs.
Q 24In Andersen's original tale, at what age is a mermaid first allowed to swim up and see the world above?
Fifteen
At Fifteen a mermaid may rise to the surface; as the youngest sister, the little mermaid waits years hearing her older sisters' reports of ships and cities.
Q 25In Andersen's tale, what happens to a mermaid when she dies?
She turns into sea foam
She turns into sea foam: in Andersen's tale mermaids live 300 years but have no immortal soul, and that soul is what the heroine truly wants.
Q 26Who directed the 2023 live-action remake?
Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall directed the 2023 remake; he is the musical specialist behind Chicago, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns.
Q 27Alan Menken wrote the new songs for the 2023 remake with which lyricist?
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the new lyrics with Alan Menken; their additions included 'Wild Uncharted Waters' for Eric and Scuttle's rap number 'The Scuttlebutt'.
Q 28Jodi Benson, the original animated voice of Ariel, has a cameo in the 2023 remake as what?
A market vendor
Benson appears as A market vendor who hands Ariel a fork during the tour of Eric's kingdom, a wink to Scuttle's most famously mislabelled piece of 'human stuff'.
Q 29Besides Ariel, Jodi Benson is best known for voicing which character in the Toy Story films?
Barbie
Jodi Benson voiced Barbie in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3; she was named a Disney Legend in 2011 and voiced Ariel again in Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Q 30Which song from the animated film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?
Under the Sea
'Under the Sea' won Best Original Song at the 1990 ceremony; the film's other Oscar went to Alan Menken for Best Original Score.