The Renaissance is indeed here!

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2018)

This was the final film my aunt and I viewed today, again on VHS. I was really elated from this morning to see this, as it begun what many people my brother's age proclaim as the best Disney era. So here lie my thoughts on it.
While the story doesn't adapt everything in the Andersen tale, it pulled off some really great humor and magic that made Disney glorious again back in 1989. Almost every scene in this movie ended up taking my mind to places of fascination, which I would say even rival some films I consider a 10. The character development was absurdly strong, providing with it the lessons of knowing the implications of selfishness, and I do think Ursula is one of the better Disney Villains from her complex motives and just being all around awesome. The animation is of a quality I cannot describe; I could say that it conveys vivid environments and character designs, and I could say that it really does upgrade the occasional slapstick and sight gags, but that wouldn't scratch the surface of what Disney has achieved here. I will say right now that only Mary Poppins has a better overall score among all the Disney films I have seen; in the animated canon, though, this takes the cake. The 3 main songs of this movie all deserve to be remembered for years and really do serve as a foreshadowing to the career of the amazing Alan Menken.
Any Disney fan or animation historian will want to view this movie for the impact it has made. While I still stand by that the Renaissance actually started with The Great Mouse Detective, this solidified its existence and brought complete stability to the company. Just for that, I want to give this film a special place in my heart. I possess optimism that many of you out there reading this will find at least 2 things to enjoy. For a Disney film, that's well above a compliment, but I feel it meritorious of such.