Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid princess is dissatisfied with underwater life in the kingdom of Atlantica, a fantasy kingdom near the coast of Norway in the Atlantic Ocean. She is fascinated by the human world. With her best friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts in her grotto and visits Scuttle, a seagull who offers inaccurate knowledge of human culture. She ignores the warnings of her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, and Sebastian, a crab who serves as Triton's adviser and court composer, that contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden.