The Little Mermaid (Disney film)
| I'm sure you can help them sort it out, Dunban. ― Fiora, Xenoblade Chronicles |
This article is about 1989 film. You may be looking for 2023 remake. |
| ♥ | This article is dedicated to Pat Carroll (1927-2022), Kenneth Mars (1935-2011) and Samuel E. Wright (1946-2021) |
The Little Mermaid
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 2022.
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.png) The rebirth of Disney movies comes from under the sea.
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The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film tells the story of a mermaid Princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with an evil sea witch to become human and be with him.
The movie was credited for the renewal of the art of Disney animated feature films after a long streak of critical or commercial failure films produced by Disney throughout the early 1970s. It also began the era that was known as the Disney Renaissance. The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989.
It had a theatrical stage adaptation of the film that was opened in Denver in July 2007 and began performances on Broadway January 10, 2008 starring Sierra Boggess. The live-action remake of the same name was released on May 26, 2023.
Plot
Rebellious yet curious and adventurous 16-year-old teenage mermaid Ariel (Jodi Benson) is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling human-hating father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince named Eric. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula (Pat Carroll) to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers thanks to Ursula secretly turning her back on Ariel just so that he could take over King Triton's kingdom of Atlantica, the king must make the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter.
Cast
- Jodi Benson as Princess Ariel
- Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric
- Kenneth Mars as King Triton
- Jason Marin as Flounders
- Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
- Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
- Ben Wright as Grimsby
- Pat Caroll as Ursula
- Tim Curry as King of Denmark
- Jeremy Bulloch as Harold
- Fred Willard as Edward
- George Peppard as Keith
- Lisa Michelson as Eliza, Human Ursula
- Rene Auberjonois as Frenchie
- Steve Brodie as Marshall
- John Candy as Thomas
- Jean Reno as Chef Louis
- Paddi Edwards and Ginger Hall as Flotsam and Jetsam
- William Woodson as Billy
- Frank Welker as Max
- Edie McClurg as Carlotta
- Will Ryan as Seahorse Guards
- Catherine O'Hara as Kensington
- Mark Hamill as Great White
- Clive Revill as Narrator
Additional Voices
- Charlie Adler as Priest
- Michael Forest as Cameron
- Jack Angel as Sailor #1
- Linda Gary
- Lara Cody
- Michael Bell
- Andre Stojka
- Susan Boyd as Chorus
- Steve Bulen as Man
- Bob Joles
- Jackie Gonneau
- Melora harte
- Thea White
- Newell Alexander
- Rosemary Alexander
- Mary Kay Bergman
- Hamilton Camp as Seadog
- Nancy Cartwright as Female Mermaid #3
- Joe Alaskey
- Mitch Carter
- Simon Prescott
- Joe Ranft
- Philip Clarke as Sailor #3
- Jim Cummings as Harold the Merman
- Tim Conway
- Jennifer Darling as Female Mermaid #1
- J.D. Daniels
- Allan Davies as Chorus
- Phil Proctor
- Brian Cummings
- Gail Farrell as Man
- Donny Gerrard as Chorus
- B.J. Ward as Old Lady
- Jennifer Darling
- Susan Blu
- Kerrigan Mahan
- Neil Ross
- Ed Gilbert as Male Merman
- Louise Chamis
- Mitch Gordon as Chorus
- Gerrit Graham
- Bob Papenbrook
- Jeff Bergman
- Willie Greene Jr. as Man
- Rene Auberjonois
- Jan Rabson
- Linda Harmon as Chorus
- Walter S. Harrah as Chorus
- Phillip Ingram as Chorus
- Luana Jackman as Chorus
- William A. Kanady as Man
- Edie Lehmann as Chorus
- Tony Pope
- Laraine Newman
- Anne Lockhart as Washerwoman
- Sherry Lynn
- Mona Marshall
- Russi Taylor
- Melissa MacKay as Chorus
- Chuck McCann
- Dwight Schultz
- David Cowgill
- Greg Berg
- Danny Mann
- Guy Maeda as Chorus
- Lynn Dolin Mann
- Arne B. Markussen
- Mickie T. McGowan as Female Mermaid #2
- Rob McKuen
- Russi Taylor
- Gene J. Merlino as Chorus
- Lewis Morford as Chorus
- Kathleen O'Connor
- Bobbi Page as Chorus
- Debi DerryBerry
- Malachi Pearson
- Patrick Pinney as Sailor #2
- Marilyn Powell as Chorus
- Gloria Grace Prosper as Chorus
- Tress MacNeille
- April Winchell
- Michael Redman
- Peter Cullen
- Debbie Shapiro as Chorus
- Sally Stevens as Chorus
- Robert Tebow as Chorus
- Rob Trow as Chorus
- Joe Turano
- Tony Pope
- Jackie Ward as Chorus
- Robert Weil as Man
- Robert S. Zwirn
Why Ariel Is Part Of This World
- It is the first film in the Disney Renaissance; therefore, it is also the first quality movie since The Rescuers and The Great Mouse Detective after a streak of movies that were mildly received by critics and audiences in the Bronze Age. In fact, this film is the studio's biggest "bona fide" quality movie since The Jungle Book.
- A throwback of Disney animated films released during Walt’s lifetime.
- Very nice grasp to the source material with some of its own creative adjustments to make it more for Disney’s standards, such as eschewing the tragic ending of Hans Christian Andersen's original tale in favor of giving it a happy ending (complete with proper characterizations and story elements as reasons to do this), and retooling its female lead from a tragic yet hopeful heroine into a brave and resourceful heroine.
- Very interesting characterization and use of each character, like the entertaining crab Sebastian and the creepy sea witch Ursula
- Both Sebastian and Scuttle are hilarious comic reliefs.
- While the animation is as good as every Disney movie of that time, this movie in particular shows that great details were put into depicting under water movements.
- Like most Disney movies, it provides good entertainment for children and adults alike.
- Quality soundtrack that has some highlights, including the songs "Part of Your World" (and its reprise), "Under the Sea", "Poor Unfortunate Souls", and "Kiss the Girl".
- It features a carefully selected cast of voice actors, especially Jodi Benson, Sam Wright, Buddy Hackett, and Pat Carroll.
- This film notably breaks away from previous fairy-tale based animated films previously done by the studio; such as having a strong-willed, proactive yet likable and relatable female protagonist like Ariel as opposed to having two reactive Disney heroines that barely did anything to achieve their goals, Snow White and Aurora (granted they really couldn't because Snow and Aurora were asleep) during Walt Disney's lifetime (although Cinderella from her own movie was successfully able to take some initiative and wanted to go to the ball and be free from the abuse, thanks to her intelligence, perseverance, and optimism), and as opposed to having fairy tale romances between the prince and princess that end with instant "happily-ever-after" marriages, here both the prince and princess (in this case, Ariel and Eric) are given a timeframe that enables the two to romantically bond and get to know each other (in this case, three days), hence enabling a believable romantic chemistry between both the male and female leads.
- While Ariel is bright, spirited and rebellious, she is not cringeworthy unlike most strong, independent female character nowadays and she has plenty of redeeming qualities such as her bravery, compassion, curiosity, adventurous spirit, and resourcefulness.
- Both Ariel and Eric's romantic chemistry is extremely adorable.
- Ariel's character design is incredibly Beautiful, cute and attractive, especially in her mermaid form, which made her one of the most iconic characters ever created by the Disney studio.
- The heroic scene when Eric kills Ursula.
- Before that, the climatic battle between Sebastian and Chef Louis.
- It features excellently drawn and colored backgrounds, especially the underwater ones.
- The movie is hand-painted colored, amazingly showing that a great and passionate work was put into it.
- Sadly, this was the last film they made using traditional ink-and-paint (they used the technique only one more time for a Lilo & Stitch crossover trailer with this movie, and only as a throwback), as The Rescuers Down Under onward used digital ink and paint, but what a way to go out with the old-school technique.
- It has a very subtle lesson that actions speak louder than words.
“Poor Unfortunate” Qualities
- Major plot hole: In the movie, Ariel was able to sign a written contract with Ursula, showing she can write. So she could have easily write out her thoughts to Eric when she couldn’t speak while she was human, who can then read and respond.
- Intentionally, the film does not capture the tone of the fairy tale, due to the fairy tale not being age-appropriate for children,
- The infamous scene where it looks like the bishop has an erection, albeit it was unintentional. Luckily, it was removed in re-released versions of the movie.
- The scene where King Triton destroys Ariel's human treasures with his trident in her grotto one by one in fury after Ariel openly confessed her love for Eric can be very dark and disturbing, even to younger viewers. Well, at least King Triton felt very ashamed and remorseful for his actions when he calms down. Also this scene can be risky for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy.
- While the chemistry between Ariel and Eric is definitely an improvement over those of Snow White and The Prince from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Prince Charming from Cinderella and Aurora and Phillip Sleeping Beauty, it still suffers from being rather underdeveloped compared to future Disney Princess couples like Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin and Jasmine from Aladdin for example, as here Ariel claims she loves Eric, even though they know nothing about each other at first, and get married at the end of the film after spending three days to get to know each other.
Reception
The Little Mermaid received critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. Review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has a 93% approval score based on 70 reviews and an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads "The Little Mermaid ushered in a new golden era for Disney animation with warm and charming hand-drawn characters and catchy musical sequences". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Trivia
- The movie was released at the same day Don Bluth's All Dogs Go to Heaven was released.
- Ariel is unironically the most popular Disney Princess in Japan than the native United States, since Japanese Disney fans love telling stories about mermaids.
External Links
The Little Mermaid (Disney film) at the Internet Movie Database
The Little Mermaid (Disney film) on Rotten Tomatoes
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