Scuttle is a supporting character in Disney's 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid. He is an eccentric seagull and self-proclaimed expert on human stuff.
Background[]
Scuttle lives off the coast of Prince Eric's kingdom. He was born as Scuttlebutt, but, as Scuttle puts it, "it was changed for obvious reasons." He has had numerous (accidental and nearly fatal) encounters with humans throughout his life, which leads him to believe himself to be an expert on human culture, specifically human objects. Ariel, a princess from Atlantica who's fascinated with humans, regularly consults Scuttle about items she salvages, though his identifications consist of nonsense. He wrongly names a fork a "dinglehopper" and says that it is used as a comb and a smoking pipe as a "snarfblatt" while claiming it works like a saxophone. Upon their first meeting, Ariel wasn't too fond of Scuttle—as his manic personality can be grating to some—but after Scuttle proved himself by saving Sebastian from a band of pirates, he and Ariel developed a strong friendship.
Scuttle is the only one of Ariel's friends capable of flight and as such is very useful in times of crisis. He is also implied to have the ability to communicate with humans.
Personality[]
Scuttle is possibly the most eccentric of Ariel's circle of friends. Like Ariel, he has a love for human objects and collects a number of them. To himself and Ariel, he is an expert on humans, though he knows very little. In spite of this, Scuttle has shown to have some knowledge of humans that most of the sea creatures don't.
Appearances[]
The Little Mermaid[]
Scuttle in the original film.
Scuttle is first seen on his island humming after Ariel and Flounder escaped from Glut the Shark and visit to show their new human things. Scuttle describes Ariel's discovered fork to be a "dinglehopper" used by humans to straighten their hair out. He then explains that a smoke pipe is a "snarfblatt" used by humans to make music to entertain themselves. This reminds Ariel that she must participate in a concert, she then swims off.
Later on, Scuttle finds Ariel watching humans on a ship. He joins her but is blown away by the wind caused by the hurricane yelling. While Scuttle was gone, Ariel rescues a human prince named Eric who rescued his dog Max who is still trapped aboard the burning ship and takes him to shore. She ask Scuttle if Eric survived (with Scuttle pulling Eric's eyelids to check his vision) but Scuttle believes him dead because he couldn't hear his heartbeat (Scuttle was actually trying to listen through his foot). As Eric awakens, Scuttle and Ariel flee the scene.
Later on, when Ariel becomes human, she goes to shore and introduces Scuttle to her human form, though he does not notice that she has changed until Sebastian points it out to him. He also learns that Ariel must get Eric to fall in love and kiss her in three days to stay human. He first helps Ariel dress up before Eric finds. While Ariel is human she tries to brush her hair with a fork and play music by blowing on a pipe. Scuttle tries to help Ariel get Eric to kiss her as best he can. During Sebastian's "Kiss the Girl" scene, Scuttle attempts to help the chorus but isn't much help with his off-key singing.
On the morning of the third day, Scuttle flies into Ariel's bedroom to wish her good luck for the wedding. While flying past the wedding ship, Scuttle overhears Vanessa (Ursula in disguise) singing in Ariel's voice, he watches in horror as she goes up to the mirror, laughing evilly, and the mirror reveals her true identity. Realizing what Ursula is planning, Scuttle goes to inform Ariel and Sebastian what he saw. Ariel and Flounder swim after the boat on a barrel that Sebastian cuts loose, while Sebastian goes to alert King Triton and instructs Scuttle to stall the wedding in any way he can. Scuttle enlists several birds, flamingoes, lobsters, starfish, dolphins, and seals to help him. Hurrying to the boat, they all attack Vanessa to stop the wedding while Ariel reaches the boat. In the attack, Scuttle loudly squawks in Vanessa's face to which she grabs his neck and yells "Oh why you little!" then he grabs her necklace in his beak trying to pull it off her. He struggles to get it as Vanessa pulls him away from her, but when Max breaks off his leash and violently bites her bottom in revenge, she loses hold of Scuttle, allowing him to pull even harder on the necklace, successfully breaking it off her neck, the shell flies through the air and breaks on the floor in front of Ariel, freeing her voice which then returns to her as well as freeing Eric from Ursula's hypnosis.
In the end, Scuttle holds Flounder in the air for Ariel to bid farewell to him during the wedding of Ariel and Eric.
The Little Mermaid: The Series[]
Scuttle appears in two episodes of the final season of the prequel television series. The episodes he appears in are "Scuttle", in which Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian meet him for the first time (and all four almost meet Prince Eric), and "Island of Fear". In these episodes, Scuttle's explanation of human things is a mixture of correct and erroneous.
In "Scuttle", Scuttle assists Ariel and Flounder in their mission to rescue Sebastian from pirates.
In "Island of Fear", Scuttle joins Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian to find what's been making the fishes sick. They find a castle where Sebastian is taken by the young boy who resides there. Scuttle then goes inside to rescue Sebastian, while Ariel and Flounder find a way to stop the pollution.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea[]
Scuttle in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
Scuttle appears in a small role in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. He is first seen attending the baby shower of Ariel's newborn daughter Melody. 12 years later, he is seen as one of Melody's "babysitters", alongside Sebastian, and regularly joins the two as the princess takes time out of her day to explore the depths of the sea. Even so, because Ursula's sister Morgana (who is bent on overthrowing King Triton and unleashing wrath upon Ariel and her family), Melody is forbidden from leaving the perimeter of Prince Eric's kingdom.
Later on, when Melody goes missing, Scuttle joins in the search, eventually running into Ariel and Flounder near the fortress of the evil Morgana. Scuttle is told to rally Eric and his friends to battle the sea witch and does so immediately. At the battle, Scuttle takes on Morgana, personally, but is quickly defeated (though it gave Ariel enough time to escape Morgana's tentacles). After the sea witch's defeat, however, Scuttle returns and joins in the celebration of peace and harmony between land and sea.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning[]
A younger Scuttle in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
In The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, when Marina is on a rock at the surface (animated the same way with Ariel when she sings a reprise for "Part of Your World" in the first film), she pushes herself up but the wave splashes onto her. Scuttle then appears briefly (without a speaking role since his voice actor Buddy Hackett didn't reprise his role having passed away in 2003, but accompanied instead by realistic seagull sound effects) to whom Marina says "don't touch me", referring to his actions in the first two films - tormenting the villain.
Other appearances[]
Scuttle made a brief cameo appearance in the Quack Pack episode "Phoniest Home Video" where he was briefly seen on Donald's surfboard and then got scared off by the shark that was about to eat the steak off of Donald's behind.
Scuttle makes numerous cameo appearances in House of Mouse, usually with Ariel and Sebastian. In the episode "Donald Wants to Fly", Scuttle tries to teach Donald by telling him to flap his arms. He ends up falling on the trident having Scuttle say "Right on the dinglehopper!" He and Ariel were excited to see Timon using a "dinglehopper" for his magic trick in the episode "Timon and Pumbaa".
In Once Upon a Studio, Scuttle appears interrupting Ariel as he tries to join in the chorus of "When You Wish Upon a Star", only to squawk terribly before he is cut off by Baloo from The Jungle Book. Scuttle then joins all of the Disney characters as they take a group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Live-action appearances[]
The Little Mermaid (2023)[]
Scuttle in the live action remake
A female version of Scuttle appears in the 2023 live-action adaptation of the film, voiced by Awkwafina,[1][2] and featured as a gannet, rather than a seagull. This version is portrayed as a diving bird, so the character can be featured in scenes set underwater.[2] Scuttle, however, still retains humor and "knowledge" of human items.
Ariel first encounters Scuttle who dives underwater to talk to Ariel where she approaches her showing her a fork which she collected from the sunken ship which Scuttle curiously interacts with the fork. Ariel attempts to show her another object to her only for Sebastian to interrupt, fearing that Ariel missed the Coral Moon, reminding her to return to King Triton. She then appears observing Ariel who rescued Prince Eric during a storm, landing on a rock where Sebastian is observing Ariel just before she sings a reprise of "Part of Your World" to Eric.
Scuttle then encounters Ariel on a boat who recently transformed into a human where she sees her unusual appearance which Sebastian tells her about Ariel who recently received a pair of legs from Ursula after she made a deal with her while Sebastian replies to Scuttle about Ariel's legs just before a fisherman named "Joshua" shoos her away to keep birds away from his boat. Later on, Scuttle attempted to help Ariel fall in love with her love interest Eric which Ariel's attempt to fall in love with Eric was unsuccessful. The next day, Scuttle flies into Eric's castle and approaches Sebastian who recaps that Ursula put a spell on Ariel and while speaking of her, Scuttle sees the boots that Ariel took off while trying to adjust her life in the castle. He later approaches Eric who is talking with Ariel where he engages in a private conversation where he plans to send out all carriages to look for Ariel, worried that the Queen would not allow him to go on anymore voyages until he feels better, planning to spare one carriage so that Eric looks for Ariel.
On the second day, Scuttle reports to Sebastian if Ariel kissed Eric yet, which he tells her to find Flounder who would help Ariel fall in love with Eric. That night, Eric encounters Scuttle grabs the hat that Eric was wearing earlier, mistaking her for an owl, only for Eric to retrieve it back. With Flounder and Scuttle next to her, Scuttle prepares for a romantic stimulation to help Eric fall in love with Eric. During the musical number "Kiss the Girl", Scuttle commands a group of lacewings to rub their wings to bring in the string music just before Sebastian sings. Throughout the song, Scuttle participates in singing with Sebastian and Flounder, encouraging Ariel to fall in love with Eric, only for Flotsam and Jetsam to knock the couple off the boat, failing the kiss.
On the third day, Scuttle heard rumors of Ursula (disguised as Vanessa) performing the musical number "The Scuttlebutt" where she alerts Sebastian about this, much to Ariel's surprise. Later, Scuttle approaches Sebastian on a rock where he urges her to find Ariel in the castle just before Flounder reports to Sebastian to arrive at the spot where Ariel is. Upon searching the castle, Scuttle sees that "Vanessa" is none other than Ursula in disguise upon seeing her reflection on the mirror, just as she reports to Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian about Ursula planning to marry Eric. This leads Scuttle to help stop the wedding between Ursula and Eric. During the wedding, Scuttle begins to attack Vanessa, followed by Max, Eric's pet dog, who attempts to attack her and as the gannet and dog begin to attack, Ariel arrives to the spot where Scuttle and Max are disrupting the wedding. After Ariel confronts Vanessa, she breaks Ursula's necklace to free Eric who was hypnotized, just before Ursula reveals her true form, just as Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder retreat from her.
After Ariel marries Eric at the end of the film, Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder show Ariel a mermaid figurine just before leaving. Ariel then bids a farewell to Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder as Ariel and Eric start to travel around the world.
Musical[]
Scuttle appears in the stage adaptation of the original film, where he sings two songs: "Human Stuff", where he explains the human things Ariel has brought to him, and "Positoovity", where he encourages a now-human Ariel to be positive in achieving her goal of winning Eric. The role was originated by Eddie Korbich. In the stage musical, Scuttle is seen as having a small group of seagull friends that he dances within "Positoovity".
Scuttle's role was musically reduced when the show was revised for later productions. "Human Stuff" was cut from its accompanying scene when it was moved towards the beginning of the show, with dialogue added in its place. Additionally, a verse from "Positoovity" that featured his seagull friends was removed, most likely to put greater focus on Scuttle and Ariel. "Human Stuff" now replaces "Positoovity" in the JR. and KIDS versions of the show, as the latter song, is usually presented as a tap number that may be too difficult for a younger cast.
Disney Parks[]
Walt Disney World[]
Scuttle in Ariel's Undersea Adventure.
Scuttle is the narrator of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. At the Magic Kingdom's version, he hosts an interactive scavenger hunt game in the ride's queue area, where guests help sort out Ariel's human collection by pointing at objects that don't belong for crabs to collect and take away.
Tokyo Disney Resort[]
Scuttle also appears at Tokyo DisneySea as the host of the Scuttle's Scooters ride at Mermaid Lagoon.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Scuttle did not originate from the original The Little Mermaid fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. In the original story, the Mermaid frequently speaks to her grandmother on what she wants to know about humans. It's possible that Scuttle is the closest counterpart to the Mermaid's grandmother from the original Hans Christian Andersen story, except that unlike the birdbrained Scuttle the Mermaid's grandmother on the other hand is very wise.
- Michael Richards, Bill Maher, and Sterling Holloway were considered to voice Scuttle.
- It is heavily implied that Scuttle is tone-deaf, as in the original film he is proven to be a terrible singer when he provided "vocal romantic stimulation" while Eric and Ariel are out on the lagoon, and when he briefly barges in into Sebastian's musical number "Kiss the Girl". Despite this, Scuttle has proven to be able to sing well, as evident in the musical number "Just Give Me a Chance" in The Little Mermaid TV series episode "Scuttle", as well as in his self-titled musical number "The Scuttle Strut" from the album The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea and even in the Broadway musical adaptation.
- In the first film, when Scuttle is providing "vocal romantic stimulation" while Eric and Ariel are out on the lagoon, he is actually squawking his own version of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet".
- Scuttle's inability to sing from the original film is also briefly referenced in the short film Once Upon the Studio where he squawks terribly to the chorus of the song "When You Wish Upon A Star", only to be silenced by Baloo by holding his beak shut with his paw.
- Like other birds, Scuttle is unable to see through glass windows. This is evident in both the original film and the sequel where he keeps bumping into the glass windows of both the wedding ship and Prince Eric's castle respectively.
References[]
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