Tales of the Disneyverse - Tale #5 (w/ Commentary Notes)

Uncharted Waters
(The Crossed Realms of Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid)

            “Uh, Dad? I think we swam far enough.” Nemo felt like he needed to speak up to his father as he saw how the two of them had swam into a section of the sea that was just an endless blue. They were the only two fish swimming there from what Nemo could see, and he felt a bit unsettled from how lost they appeared to be. When he realized that his father was not listening to him, he yelled, “DAD!”

            Marlin finally stopped, prompting Nemo to stop as well. “What is it, Nemo? I’m trying to save us from that giant, weird fish-human thing that came after us!”

            “But I think we swam too far away from home.” Nemo indicated. “I don’t remember this part of the ocean. I think we’re lost.”

(Narrative Note: This area of the ocean is the same that Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian swam through in the very first tale. It serves as the dividing line between the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo worlds.)

            “Lost? No! No, no, no! We can’t be lost! We swam right in the direction of the…” Marlin looked around and failed to recognize their current location himself. “We’re…We’re lost! I can’t believe we’re lost! Where are we? We’re trapped forever in uncharted waters!”

            Nemo saw how even more worrisome his father had become and knew he had to bring him back to focus. Marlin was the adult after all, but he was acting more like the child in their predicament. “Dad! It’s gonna be O.K. We’ll find our way back home.”

            “How can you be so sure of that?” Marlin asked. “We’ve never been in this area before! There’s nothing here! No way of putting us back in the right direction!”

            Nemo saw there was no use in putting his father at ease when he was that stressed out. He let him continue moping over their woes while he turned away and stared off in the distance. He knew all he would find was just blue as far as he could see, but anything was better than listening to his dad mope. After a while, Nemo began to make out a faint shimmer in the distance – a golden light sparkling in the sea of blue. Immediately, he swam towards the shimmer without first notifying his father of his actions.

(Disney Note: This show of independence by Nemo is what ultimately leads to his capture at the hands of a scuba diver in the film.)

            As soon as Marlin saw what Nemo was up to, he panicked even more, chasing after his only son. “NEMO! What do you think you’re doing? We have to stay close!”

            “I see something, Dad.” Nemo alerted. “Just follow me. I know what I’m doing.”

            “Get back here, Nemo! Nemo!”

-----------------------

            With every section of the new waters they swam through, Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder passed by various types of sea creatures that were instantly scared off once they saw Ariel. Flounder felt uncomfortable from the way that the creatures screamed and swam away. “Geez. You think these guys never saw a mermaid before.”

            “I don’t think they have, Flounder.” Ariel said, sounding amused and concerned all at once. “I don’t think any mermaids have ever been through these waters before.”

            Sebastian scoffed. “All dah better reason for us to return home. Let’s not force ourselves to be somewheres we’re not wanted.”

            “Maybe Sebastian’s right, Ariel.” Flounder said.

            Ariel sighed discouragingly. “I guess so. I just wish I could find those two little clownfish and apologize for scaring them.”

            “It’s for dah best to leave it be, Ariel.” Sebastian suggested. “No need makin’ trouble where trouble is…”

            Failing to see it coming beforehand, Sebastian suddenly found himself smacking face-first into a slender regal tang surgeonfish. The impact knocked Sebastian into a huge rock below, momentarily dazing him. Ariel and Flounder quickly went to the red crustacean’s aid. “Sebastian, are you alright?” Ariel asked.

            “Oh! Sorry! Sorry, sir! I didn’t see you!” The surgeonfish exclaimed, swimming towards them to check on Sebastian. However, before she could get near him, she was quickly put off by the sight of Ariel. “Whoa! You are, like, the strangest fish I have ever seen! Did you accidentally swim near some toxic waste to get like that?”

(Authorial Note: This line given to Dory was one of Livingston's personal favorites. He's cited it as "the best reaction provided to one Disney character to another from a completely different film and world altogether.")

            Flounder frowned at the fish. “Near some what?”

            “No. I’m a mermaid.” Ariel clarified with a smile.

            “A mermaid!” The surgeonfish joyfully yelled. “I’ve always wanted to see a mermaid!” She then became strangely baffled and asked, “What’s a mermaid?” A groan from Sebastian seemed to have taken her by surprise as she saw him peeling himself off the rock he fell onto. “Wow. What happened to that guy?”

            Flounder and Ariel shared an odd glance.

            “You bumped into him…remember?” Flounder said. “It only happened a few seconds ago.”

            The surgeonfish appeared genuinely shocked. “Oh, no! Did I? Oh, I’m so sorry. Is he alright?” She then looked to Ariel and was again put off from her appearance. “Whoa! You are, like, the strangest fish I have ever seen! Did you accidentally swim near some toxic waste to get like that?”

            Successfully pulling himself off the rock and recovering from the trauma to his head, Sebastian realized the oddity of the exchange between them and the surgeonfish. “It could be dah pain to mah head, but is dis girl repeatin’ herself?”

            “Sounds like it.” Flounder said. “Maybe it’s her head that got most of the damage.”

(Authorial Note: The fun that was had in these exchanges among the characters, as well as how fitting their worlds are, inspired Livingston to consider a spin-off story that centered on a new, original tale that furthered the exploration of the merged worlds. Titled "Voyage," the story is set to debut this May.)

            Hearing their comments, the surgeonfish appeared troubled. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I suffer from short-term memory loss. I forget things almost instantly. It runs in my family…well…I mean…at least I think it does. Hmm…where are they?” She paused for a moment to think on the subject, but – after a short while – her demeanor changed, especially when she looked to Ariel and was once more put off by her appearance. “Whoa! You are, like, the strangest fish I have ever seen! Did you accidentally swim near some toxic waste to get like that?”

            Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder merely floated in silence while staring oddly at the surgeonfish.

            “Dis girl is strange, mon.” Sebastian whispered particularly to Flounder.

            Ariel, trying to get past the complexity of the surgeonfish’s memory loss, made an attempt to get to know her in order to ground her memory. “Do you have a name?”

            “Oh, yeah! I do! I’m Dory!”

            “Nice to meet you, Dory. I’m Ariel, and this is Sebastian and Flounder.”

            Sebastian groaned. “Ariel! She’s not gonna remember our names! Dis girl has serious head problems! Let’s just swim back home and…” Sebastian started to swim away as he addressed the mermaid, but he was stopped by a bulky great white shark that loomed over him, grinning with razor sharp teeth.

(Disney Note: Much of this scene directly mirrors Marlin's first encounter with Dory from Finding Nemo, right from the beginning with Dory bumping into Sebastian to here with the emergence of Bruce. Taking the place of Marlin are Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian.)

            “Hello,” the shark said.

            Sebastian had frozen in place and sunk down to the seabed where he fainted.

(UP NEXT: Another Pixar classic joins in on the fun!)