If greatness was made of waves, "The Little Mermaid" is a tsunami ...

Rating: 10/10 (29 October 2014)

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a first step for Disney and a giant leap for animation. No other movie would share the same historical significance, until 1989, the year of "The Little Mermaid", less a giant leap than a big dive that would splash the audience and create a new wave of animated movies, a new age known now as 'Disney Renaissance'.
And 'Renaissance' is the word because it's truly a rebirth of animation after thirty years during which cost-cutting, Xerox processes and images-recycling lowered the very standards of perfectionism that forged Disney's legend. "Little Mermaid" put an end to that period, starting with the story. Adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's most famous work, it is the first Disney movie based on a fairy tale after "Sleeping Beauty", 30 years before, which means a whole generation of kids was deprived from princesses and magical stories, and it was time to make a change.
A darling for trivia fans, "The Little Mermaid" is the most expensive Disney movie made after Pinocchio and the first Oscar-nominated one since "The Rescuers" in 1977. It's also the film that reintroduced a new craving for musicals thanks to the fantastic Calypso numbers lead by Sebastian, the crab maestro, and the unforgettable "Part of your world". "Mermaid" would become the first Disney Golden Globe nominated for Best Musical / Comedy, a feat only surpassed by "Beauty and the Beast" two years later, not only nominated for a Golden Globe, but also an Oscar for Best Picture. Yet had "The Little Mermaid" failed at the box-office, we probably wouldn't have "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" or "The Lion King".
But how could "The Little Mermaid" ever fail? It's infinitely superior to whatever was made after "Sleeping Beauty", the final masterpiece of an era where Disney had already pushed the envelope. "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and its millions of dark spots was still an impressive work but then, "The Sword and the Stone" started recycling images, and Disney buffs know all about the dancing sequences from "Robin Hood" and "The Aristocrats". Don't get me wrong, Disney never made a really bad film, and my favorite, "The Jungle Book" happens to be from the 60's. However, as far as animation was concerned, there was no new Disney milestone, and most movies were made of sketchy images and stories lacking that universal appeal.
The first serious attempt to recreate the old-school magic was "The Fox and the Hound" in 1981 but the film had a vague homely feeling that didn't bring the expected amount of escapism, there were no appealing songs and no risky moves à la Mufasa in "The Lion King". No matter how good the previous films were, something was missing, songs, animation, escapism, a sense of perfectionism on the form and universal appeal on the content, something that only exotic fairy tales could provide, "The Little Mermaid" awaited forty years in Disney's drawers, but it was worth it, the film was a tailor-made project to give animation its letters of nobility back. The film's success would multiply by 10 the working staff and would regularly bring home the two Oscars for Best Song and best Score.
To think that the Studios were reluctant about including the 'boring' "Part of your world" or thought about Sebastian as an English butler, see, the film also had that sparkle of luck, projects-that-must-succeed all have. But it's not just luck, animation, music or special effects, the film had to prove its value on the storytelling department and for that, Disney designed one of their most endearing heroines, Princess Ariel, King Triton's youngest daughter, a rebellious red-head without that bankable bad-assness. In Ariel, we have a teenager, to which any kid or adult can relate, with a thirst for discovery and adventures, a hobby (she collects human's items), a dream (to visit land) and a poignant mix of vulnerability and courage. She's not supposed to be a feminist model, but she's not submissive either so whoever finds her desire to change for a man, something insulting, doesn't know the effect love has on someone, regardless of any gender consideration.
I had –by the way- a huge crush on Ariel, and on Alyssa Milano from "Who's the Boss" so I was pleasantly surprised that she was modeled after her, she's simply sublime, and for a Disney heroine, the animators sure knew how to make her look subtly erotic, from my kid's perspective. And a figure like Ariel allows the film to explore so many cherished universal themes : coming-of-age, impossible love and the famous Faustian bargain. Ariel must trade her voice with the devilish Ursula, the octopus-like sea witch, to become a human and be in love with Eric. And what a Divine (from the original model) villain Ursula is. No other villain impacted viewers since "Maleficent" and "Cruella", with her body language, her voice and her smile, we wouldn't believe how evil she is, until the exciting and heart-pounding climax where she shows what a larger-than-life villain (literally) she is.
"The Little Mermaid" is great on every single department, it's full of colorful and unforgettable creatures, there's also the late Kenneth Mars voicing King Triton, Ariel's patient father, there's the two villainous eels, a buffoonish French cook and there's Sebastian who sings the film's signature songs, "Under the Sea" that would inspire one of "The Simpsons" most hilarious musical numbers, and the atmospheric and subtly erotic "Kiss the Girl", to which I would have given the Oscar. Never had a princess been so expressive with her facial expressions than Ariel in that short segment, more than a plot device, her muteness inspired some of the best drawing from any Disney movie.
Thanks for Disney animators for giving another milestone in Disney movies and on its own, all trivia put apart, one of the greatest animated movies and musicals ever.