A Cut Above

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2016)

(I present to you: My 1,500th review. And I just *had* to pick a movie that has been Part of my World for almost 30 yearsCheers!)
It won't cost muchJust my blood.
Starting with 1988 and deep into 1989 I began my love affair with cinema. To date, that last year of the 80s is my favorite twelve months of movies of any year. I saw everything, anything I could use my little cash on. Some repeatedly and some I would cherish for life. Of all the ones I loved so much: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, Lethal Weapon 2 and (my first ever James Bond feature) Licence to Kill, late in the year would come a movie that would mold me, bring me joy, heart and love: The Little Mermaid.
It would do so much to my life, but for starters, it would get me hooked on Disney. I never really grew up on Disney and at 15, in 1989, I had seen some Disney "cartoons," but never was the biggest fan. Until November 1989.
I loved this movie. Everysinglesecond of it. For the time, it was inventive, explosive and offered both a fantastic script and daring visuals. I was captivated and sang along to the words of the songs that would stay with me for nearly 30 years.
To date, today, on January 20, 2016, watching this movie for the first time in a decade or more and probably the 100th time, all the same feelings, joy, tears, smiles and laughter were all the same. As if I was watching this masterpiece for the first time.
Yes, I sang right along with each musical segment. But, I also laughed out loud, even as an adult at the classic and harmless humor. (They didn't need to make this PG-13 for adults to partake like they do nowadays.) I still loved every bit of it, even after almost three decades had passed since my first viewing.
Teen Mermaid Ariel dreams of something more, a grass-is-greener scenario, and with her father inadvertently pushing her into the magic of the witch, she gets her wish. Butwith a price.
It's easy now to see how this inspired many more Disney animated features and attractions. And it's almost forgotten with great efforts since, including the follow-ups like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King and pretty much all of Pixar's films. Too bad. Ariel started it all and will always hold the biggest portion of my heart from anything Disney can throw at me.
FunnyI have barely mentioned the music above. The music. The MAGNIFICENT MUSIC. The incredible songs that I cannot help but sing out- loud and even dance with as if I were a child even younger than when I first saw this. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the top two are definitely "Part of Your World" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls." That's not to diminish the excellent other tracks that I still sing with the top of my lungs, but those mean the most to me for both heart and cleverness.
So, the music's great. So is the score, the dialogue, screenplay, cinematography and heart. In fact, there isn't a flaw here and no child or adultshould be denieddown where it's wettertake it from me.
***
Final thoughts: Hilarious, but not really at the time, but the viewing in theatres I remember the most was 10 years after the film's initial run. In classic Disney fashion, they re-released The Little Mermaid back in the theatres for its 10th Anniversary and I just had to go back to seait again on the big screen. That day, sometime in 1999, I was working on my homemade computer and cut my right, middle finger. Pretty bad – tons of blood lost, more than I'd ever see leave my body before or since. Though a pretty deep cut in my fingerprint, I chose just to let it bleed, bandage it – multiple times – and go see The Little Mermaid again with hopes it would stop bleeding before the feature began that Sunday.
Rarely will I recall that experience, nor look directly at my middle, right finger, but when I do see that scar left, 17½ years ago, I will always be reminded of The Little Mermaid. She might not have actually cut me, but Ariel became a part of me for life.