Disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2009)

The Little Mermaid is considered by many one of the best films by Disney. I was looking forward to see this movie because I respect Disney's earlier movies very much.
The Little Mermaid is a disappointment. The story is based on a wonderful text by danish writer H.C. Andersen. I must warn all who are interested in this movie because of Andersen's text. It is by no means a strict screen adaption. The story is only loosely based on the original text and has lost almost all of its charm. Of course Disney has always treated its stories in its own way. Before the Little Mermaid however it has succeeded much better with its Americanizations, even with Robin Hood and Jungle Book.
For my taste the animation style of the movie is another annoyance. Compared to almost any other Disney Classic The Little Mermaid's animation art is inferior. It is somehow ironic how clear the lack of legendary Disney artists in this movie is. The parameters which define almost every other Disney Classic up to and including The Fox and the Hound are gone: The Little Mermaid looks flat and lame. It's colors look artificial and characters are somehow unsympathetic, uninteresting and superficial. It all reminds me of a terrible animated series from the 90's: The Biker Mice from Mars. (Ok, I exaggerated - It is not THAT terrible.) To sum up: The Little Mermaid may be a nice movie for little kids, but is not artistically ambitious anyhow and its storyline is flawed.