- This article is about the character from The Little Mermaid. For the Hercules version of the character, see Triton (Hercules).
King Triton is a character who first appeared in the 1989 Disney animated film the Little Mermaid. He was voiced by the late Kenneth Mars in the first 2 films and by Jim Cummings in the 2008 prequel. His character is somewhat similar to the Greek Mythology sea god Poseidon. He was neutral to humans and music, but he's good to humans and music at the end.
Background
Development
The reason for his constant clashes with Ariel, as told by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, is that he is very strong-willed and independent, like his daughter. Ariel is said to be Triton's favorite child, because as a child, he also had red hair and sees himself most in Ariel. The strong resemblance between Ariel and her mother, Athena, probably also plays a role in his favoritism.
History
Triton is the ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. He is a muscular merman, husband of the late Queen Athena, and the father of 7 daughters: Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana and Ariel. He is also the father-in-law of Prince Eric and the grandfather of Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody. As King of Atlantica, he has in his possession a powerful magical trident which appears to be made of gold. It emits a glowing light and a typical sound when in use. Furthermore, he has a crown and two arm bracelets, which also appear to be made out of gold.
His arch-enemy was Ursula, the old sea-witch who was once a senior member of the Court of King Triton. For many years, she had been seeking a way to exact her revenge upon Triton for banishing her from the kingdom.
Personality
The prequel film The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning initially depicts Triton as a devoted and loving father and husband. After his wife's death, he becomes much more strict, but eventually comes to terms with the incident, showing this by allowing music back into Atlantica after previously banning it in the wake of the tragedy. He served as the main antagonist/anti-villain for most of the film, but later becomes a protagonist near the end.
The television series, set before the events of the original film, shows Triton to be a wise ruler. His xenophobia of humans is also well-depicted. Though he's constantly at odds with Ariel regarding humans and dangerous adventures, he has shown to have a large feeling of guilt for upsetting his beloved daughter.
In the original film, Triton is shown to be a caring father. However, his xenophobia regarding humans often led to personality conflicts with Ariel. He is shown to have an explosive temper when angered.
By the time of the sequel, Triton has become accepting of humans. He has a notable soft spot for Melody and highly values her safety. He's presented as still very wise, though incredibly toned down temper wise. However, his aggressive nature remains in times of crises.
Design
Triton's supervising animator in the original film was Andreas Deja. King Triton is an old, large merman with bushy, light grey eyebrows and long, white hair. He also has blue eyes. He has a thick, white beard and mustache and a widow's peak hairline. He is well muscled and wears gold gauntlets with several studs on them on each wrist. As a merman, Triton's lower body is that of a dark blue fish with cyan, translucent fins. As signs of his royal status, Triton wears a yellow, five-pointed crown that resembles a sea star on his head, and carries the legendary trident, a golden, three-pronged weapon with powerful magical abilities.
Appearances
The Little Mermaid
King Triton in The Little Mermaid.
In the original film, Triton is xenophobic toward humans and Ariel's fascination with humans casts a strain on their relationship. According to Triton, contact between the human world and the merworld is strictly forbidden.
Triton first appears at a concert in Atlantica, presented by the seahorse serving as the host. After Sebastian the crab, the distinguished royal court composer and Triton's loyal servant, is presented, Triton and Sebastian have a discussion about how they anticipate the concert due to Ariel, Triton's youngest daughter, is supposed to make her musical debut. But Ariel turns out to be absent, to Triton's extreme fury.
After an initial argument with Ariel over her latest trip to the surface, Triton orders Sebastian to keep an eye on her. When Triton learns that Ariel saved the life of, and fallen in love with, a human being, he loses his temper and, determined to turn Ariel over to his views of humans, destroys her collection of human things, completely ignoring his daughter's pleas to stop. In the aftermath, Triton, instantly horrified over his actions, leaves Ariel tearfully alone in her grotto in shame.
Later on, after Ariel runs away from home in search of the sea witch Ursula, Triton orders a search for her to apologize for what he had done, unaware that she has accepted Ursula's deal and become a human. When Sebastian, who had been watching over Ariel, arrives from the surface and tells the king about Ursula's scheme, Triton quickly goes out with Sebastian to find her. Ariel apologizes to her father, who attempts to destroy the contract between Ariel and Ursula, to no avail. Upon learning from Ursula that Ariel had signed an agreement with Ursula and that she may be willing to make an exchange for someone even better, Triton willingly takes his daughter's place, despite knowing the cost of his choice. Triton is temporarily transformed into a polyp, but after Ursula is destroyed, he is restored to his original form and regains both his crown and his trident, as well as his regal status.
By the end of the film, Triton has softened his attitude that he was making a mistake thought humans are vicious, but he's wrong. Noticing how Ariel loves Prince Eric (who has destroyed Ursula and, subsequently, saved Triton's life and the entire kingdom of Atlantica) as much as Triton loves his daughter as well as considering Sebastian's statement "Children got to be free to lead their own lives," transforms Ariel into human once again, allowing Ariel to be with Eric. He is later seen at the wedding of Ariel and Eric, where he gives his daughter a heartwarming hug and accepts Eric as son-in-law.
The Little Mermaid: The Series
King Triton in The Little Mermaid: The Series.
King Triton also appeared in The Little Mermaid animated TV series. According to the cartoon series, Triton was the son of Poseidon and the grandson of Neptune, of whom he had many fond memories. As a child, his nickname was "Red" for his red hair.
Although his anti-human sentiments remained, he could sometimes be persuaded to recognize his mistakes, such as when he apologized to Ariel for scaring her so much that she failed to return home after a human charm bracelet was accidentally locked around her wrist or when he was persuaded to help Ariel rescue a man trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean (Implied at the end of the episode to be Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote the original tale).
He does seem to have some confidence in his daughter's abilities, as he once allows her to go and explore the source of a trail of pollution. He would later travel to the surface (said to be one of the first times he had been there), using his trident to create storms to drive the last bit of pollution away.
Triton's rule of Atlantica is also shown in some detail. Besides Sebastian, he also confides in an elderly sea turtle named Dudley, who serves as an advisor.
Sebastian's Party Gras
In the 1992 Disney Special "Sebastian's Party Gras", Sebastian and his performing friend, Sam Wright, are back for another spectacular show at New Orleans Square in Walt Disney World! Kids at home are invited to "Twist And Shout", join a "Conga Line" and do the "Limbo Rock"! Combining colorful animation and engaging live entertainment, "Sebastian's Party Gras" introduces the Little Mermaid's father, King Triton, who urges Sebastian to conduct his concerts under the sea only! But through the magic of music, the King changes his tune, learning that when you "Give A Little Love", "Life Is A Magic Thing" indeed!
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
King Triton in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
Triton appears in the sequel, The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea. He seems to trust humans - or at least his son-in-law, Eric - by the time of this film. His weakness in the film is his love for his granddaughter Melody, which is exploited by Morgana, Ursula's younger sister and his second rival. He is first seen attending Melody's baby shower where Morgana first reveals her plot to rule Atlantica. After Morgana escapes when Ariel knocks her out of the wedding ship using the ship's mast, he tells the entire merpeople that they will not rest until Morgana is vanquish and orders a search of her. Later on, when Melody becomes a mermaid and goes missing, Triton transforms Ariel back into a mermaid to help with the search and he also shows her grotto now repaired along with her collection which he destroyed. At the final battle, Morgana takes control of the trident and forces Triton and his guards to bow to her wrath. Melody successfully steals it back and hands it over to her grandfather, who uses the Triton's magic to trap Morgana in a block of ice and sink to the bottom of the sea.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
King Triton in The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning.
In the 2008 direct-to-DVD prequel The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Triton appears and serves as the main antagonist/anti-villain, but becomes one of the main protagonists near the end of the film. An opening prologue shows King Triton's wife, Queen Athena. The pair had a loving relationship. However, Athena was crushed to death by a pirate ship while trying to save the music box King Triton gave her as an anniversary present. Triton was so broken-hearted by her death that he banned music from Atlantica and forced everyone to follow a strict daily schedule. Ariel's free-spirited personality is what casts a strain on their relationship in this film and he is particularly angered when he discovers that the leader of the (illegal) Catfish Club is Sebastian, throwing his confidante into prison for this. He eventually comes to see the error of his harsh decisions, pardons Sebastian, lifts the ban on music and appoints Sebastian as his court composer at the end of the film.
The third film somewhat reveals the reason behind Triton's xenophobia and why he banned Ariel from going to the surface at the beginning of the original film; pirates attack merpeople on shore, and his wife got killed in the process. Also, in the film, Jim Cummings took over as the voice of Triton since his original voice actor Kenneth Mars was unavailable at that time due to health problems - Mars died three years after the prequel film's release.
Kingdom Hearts series
King Triton plays a role in the Kingdom Hearts video game series, again as Ariel's overprotective father who openly berates the worlds outside the ocean floor. In the original game, he appears to have impressive knowledge of the worlds outside Atlantica, despite said worlds supposedly being a secret. Triton also shows awareness of the Keyblade and its lore, proving he's been aware of the events of the Kingdom Hearts universe even longer than the protagonist Sora.
Triton makes his first appearance in the series' flagship installment, Kingdom Hearts where he forbids Sora, Donald, and Goofy from interacting with his world in their quest to find and seal the keyhole, knowing Ariel's fascination with worlds outside of Atlantica would lead her into trouble during the trio's mission. However, after Ursula causes havoc in search of the keyhole, as well, Triton leaves it in the hands of Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ariel to stop her, eventually revealing the keyhole to be within Ariel's grotto.
In Kingdom Hearts II, the king's worries are switched from Ariel's obsession with the worlds outside of Atlantica, to the human world above the sea surface. To revert her mind from it, he asks Sora, Donald, and Goody to help Ariel instead focus on Sebastian's concert, in which she's set to sing in. Things take a turn for the worse when Ursula returns and attacks, taking over the sea and transforming Triton into a polyp. However, due to the actions of Prince Eric, the heroes are able to save the day, and the king, teaching Triton the surface isn't all bad, thus allowing his daughter access to the surface, as well as Eric's hand in marriage.
Cameos
The King Triton Mardi Gras float in The Princess and the Frog.
King Triton made a few cameos in the series House of Mouse. In "Jiminy Cricket", he was seen sitting alongside Rafiki, Grandmother Willow and Merlin the Wizard. In "Salute to Sports", when Mickey said he wanted the audience to do the wave, Triton summoned an actual wave. In "Pete's House of Villains", Ursula was in charge at the reservation desk and refused to let Triton in the club. Instead, she morphed him into a polyp again.
King Triton made a small cameo appearance in the 2009 film as a float in Charlotte's and "Naveen"'s (Lawrence in disguise) Mardi Gras wedding.
Disney Parks
King Triton in SpectroMagic.
Triton is featured in several attractions in the park often related to the film in which he originated from.
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
King Triton has his own spell card known as "King Triton's Trident".
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
King Triton can be seen as an audio animatronic at the end of the ride, celebrating Ariel and Eric's wedding.
SpectroMagic
Triton appears in the SpectroMagic Parade. Triton appears with a lit up trident.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
King Triton makes a vocal appearance in the beginning of the show confronting Ariel about humans. Triton reappears in animation on screen with Sebastian speaking as he did in the end of the original film.
Magic, Music and Mayhem
King Triton is called fourth by Fairy Godmother to join the celebration by bringing the magic of the sea. Triton later battles Captain Hook when he crashes the party.
Disney's Art of Animation Resort
Triton appears at the resort alongside other Little Mermaid characters as a 35-foot tall statue seen in the Little Mermaid courtyard.
Stage Musical
His role in the musical is similar to that of the original film. However, it also adds in a twist that Ursula is his sister (based on a deleted concept from the original film). It also reveals that the reason why he banished Ursula was because of her attempting to gain the Trident when she was inherited with the nautilus.
Trivia
- King Triton is a possible parody of Neptune, the Roman god of freshwater and sea.
- Since he is mentioned to be the son of Poseidon in The Little Mermaid animated series, he could in fact be the same Triton from Hercules: The Animated Series. However, the other Triton is more amphibious and resembles Hercules with green skin while King Triton is a merman known to have had red hair in his child hood. Plus, the same TV series also states that King Triton's grandfather was named Neptune, which wouldn't have been possible either way (as Neptune and Poseidon were the same mythological character, however Disney doesn't follow the Mythology 100% so it could be assumed they just chose those names due to them being the most popular for "sea king" names and they are the easiest to remember). Another possible explanation for this seeming discrepancy is that the names "Neptune", "Poseidon" and "Triton" are, in fact, regnal names that represent the traditional naming conventions of Atlantica's Royal dynasty. With this in mind, King Triton, his father Poseidon, his grandfather Neptune, and their ancestors are merely taking on the names of the original Olympian sea deities; much like the monarchs of many on-land kingdoms.
- The original Triton is from Greek Mythology and has two finned feet.
- Triton is one of only two parents of a Disney Princess to be featured in a large amount of marketing apparel and merchandise. The other being the Sultan.
- While Belle's father, Maurice from Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine's father, the Sultan of Agrabah from Aladdin and Jane's father, Archimedes Q. Porter from Tarzan never show how they reacted to their wife's deaths, in The Little Mermaid III, King Triton reacted to his wife's death by banning music from his kingdom, much to the dismay of Aquata, Alana, Attina, Adella, Arista, Andrina and especially, Ariel until Ariel herself showed him the error of his ways by showing him her mother's music box 10 years later.
- A Homage is made to King Triton in The Princess and the Frog as he appears as a parade float during the Mardi Gras Parade.
- The Little Mermaid episode "Red" shows that he used to have bright red hair. When he reverts to his normal age, his hair lightens to auburn (as seen in the prequel), then orange, yellow and finally white.
- In the Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers episode "One-Upsman-Chip", there was a merman statue in a sea based restaurant that strongly resembled King Triton. This could have been in honor of The Little Mermaid movie because this episode aired nine days after the film's release.
- In all the movies his eyes colors have been changing. In the first and in the second movie his eyes were blue but in the third they changed into green pistachio.
- King Triton shares many similarities with John Silver from Treasure Planet:
- Both are the fathers of the main protagonists (King Triton is the father of Ariel, and John Silver is the father-figure of Jim Hawkins).
- Both are the leaders of their respective groups (Triton is the king of the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, Silver is the (former) captain of his alien pirate crew).
- Both can be so bossy, strict, cruel, stubborn, selfish, and fearsome, but are wise, brave, caring, and loving.
- Both men are bulky, strong, and possess powerful weapons (Triton’s trident, and Silver’s large robotic arm that has many weapons and tools).
- Both elderly men have lost something important to them in their lives (Triton lost his dear wife, Queen Athena, and Silver lost most of the right side of his body and his dream treasure).
- Both men have a trusted and loyal tiny friend (Sebastian and Morph), and they have their tiny friends look after Ariel and Jim fairly often, and both tiny friends form a very strong liking and friendship towards Ariel and Jim.
- Because Ariel and Jim share similar personalities with their respective fathers (which is why their fathers love and care for them so much), they have gotten into lots of heated arguments with Triton (on Ariel’s side) and Silver (on Jim’s side), but they have managed to sort out their problems between one another and forgive each other.
- Both men served as the main antagonists/anti-villains in their respective movies (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning specifically).
- Both men had a subordinate (Marina Del Rey and Scroop) who served as the secondary antagonists, but later the true main antagonists, and both subordinates were wicked, ambitious, greedy, power-hungry, funny, sly and scheming, and both were loyal, yet quite resentful, to their big and powerful leaders. However, both wish to claim authority over their respective groups (Marina wanting to be Triton’s attaché of the city of Atlantica, and Scroop wanting to take leadership over Silver’s pirate crew).
- King Triton has some similarities with King Gregor from Adventures of the Gummi Bears.
- Both are good kings.
- Both have white mustaches and beards.
- Both are widowers.
- Both have a princess for a daughter, whom they have a loving, yet occasionally strained relationship with.(Triton for Ariel, and Gregor for Calla).
- Both bravely fight to protect their kingdoms from many villains and dangers.
- Both have a nemesis who was once part of their kingdom, but were banished for trying to usurp the throne and plans to take over the kingdom (Triton for Ursula, and Gregor for Duke Igthorn).
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