Context

This line is sung by Sebastian the Crab (voiced by Samuel E. Wright) in the movie The Little Mermaid, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (1989).

Ariel is kind of tired of swimming and frolicking around the sea with her sisters and best friend, Flounder. She wants to see what life is like on dry land and spend time with the impossibly handsome Prince Eric. However, her father King Triton has expressly forbidden the merpeople from having any contact with humans.

And Sebastian lays out these reasons in a nice little shanty. Ariel has no logical or empirical reasons for living on dry land; she just wants something different. Things on the other side always look nicer than where you are.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this quote if someone wants to put a Disney twist on the old saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Or maybe when you're thinking of moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and your friends want you to stay.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Disney-fying one of the most overused phrases in the English language is cute and cheesy, but not pretentious—even if you can't sing as well as Sebastian.