Plot
Disney's The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animated-feature factory. The title character is a precocious teenager named Ariel, the daughter of Triton, king of the Sea. Against her dad's wishes, Ariel journeys beyond her own world to the surface, where she falls in love with Prince Eric, a handsome human. Foolishly, the little mermaid enters into an agreement with evil sea witch Ursula in order to become human herself. The wistfully melancholy ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is dispensed with in favor of a joyously happy ending-but not before a spectacular climactic confrontation between Ursula and Triton. The obligatory Disney comic relief is handled by such freshly minted characters as Sebastian the Crab, who, courtesy of voiceover artist Samuel E. Wright, sings the film's Oscar-winning "Under the Sea." Other voices are provided by Broadway star Jodi Benson (as Ariel) and such Hollywood reliables as Buddy Hackett, Pat Carroll, Kenneth Mars, and Rene Auberjonois. The enormous box-office take of The Little Mermaid made possible such future Disney cartoon ventures as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Welcome back, Disney. After numerous colossal missteps by its animation department during the 20 years since The Jungle Book, arguably its last unqualified hit (though some would support The Rescuers from 1977), the studio realized the key to regaining relevance would be an old-fashioned romantic fantasy that would seize the hearts of young girls. And did it ever -- the target audience looked up to Ariel so completely that numerous dolls, pets, and babies coming into being circa 1990 were given her name. Of course, having been mired in dark and expensive misfires like The Black Cauldron for much of the previous decades, Disney didn't have all the details right just yet. For one, a number of critics carped that Ariel was little more than a weakly developed pretty face who relied too heavily on men. The characterization of Ursula, the imaginative but utterly grotesque sea monster villain, added some fuel to the fire. But gender bias has been a knock on Disney for years, and The Little Mermaid boasts enough other strengths for this complaint to fade into the background. Chief among them is the odyssey of aquatic colors that brings bursting life to Ariel's underwater family of happy fish and crustaceans. The two Oscar-nominated songs, "Under the Sea" (which won) and "Kiss the Girl," became the standard bearers for the grand-scale production numbers in numerous Disney films to come. In fact, the delightfully accented lead vocals by Sam Wright (as Sebastian the crab) are so intoxicating, and the corresponding visuals so rich, that these evolve beyond classic soundtrack songs to the level of classic songs, period. They alone justify a viewing of the film that revived one of the 20th century's most powerful enterprises. ~ Derek Armstrong, RoviCast
- Jodi Benson - Ariel
- Pat Carroll - Ursula
- Sam Wright - Sebastian
- Kenneth Mars - Triton
- Buddy Hackett - Scuttle
Credit
Michael A. Peraza, Jr. - Art Director, Donald A. Towns - Art Director, Ruben A. Aquino - Animator, Andreas Deja - Animator, Mark Henn - Animator, Jay Jackson - Animator, Glen Keane - Animator, Duncan Marjoribanks - Animator, Rob Minkoff - Animator, Matthew O'Callaghan - Animator, Maureen Donley - Associate Producer, Howard Ashman - Co-producer, John Musker - Co-producer, Ron Clements - Director, John Musker - Director, John Carnochan - Editor, Mark Hester - Editor, Howard Ashman - Composer (Music Score), Alan Menken - Composer (Music Score), Robby Merkin - Composer (Music Score), Howard Ashman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Howard Ashman - Songwriter, Alan Menken - Songwriter, Maureen Donley - Production Designer, Mark Dindal - Special Effects, Ron Clements - Screenwriter, John Musker - Screenwriter, Hans Christian Andersen - Short Story Author| The Little Mermaid (1976 Film), The Little Mermaid (1975 Film) | |
| The Little Mermaid (1998 Film), The Little Mermaid (1992 Film) |
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
