The Disney Movie that Remains Part of Our World

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2019)

30 years ago, the Walt Disney Company released their feature-film adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. Made at a time when the animation studio was in a huge rut, this along with Roger Rabbit and the boost of morale brought them back to their glory days with a whole decade known as their Renaissance era. To this day, it remains one of their most recognizable commodities, spawning a TV series, a sequel, a prequel and even a live-action remake currently in development. But one question remains...does it still hold any water now?
The story follows a young mermaid named Ariel, who wants to become part of the human world after falling in love with a prince named Eric, but learns the tough challenges of steering away from her own undersea life. While this story sounds weak on paper, the execution more than makes up for it. Due to the film being told in the style of a Broadway musical, its emotional core feels incredibly strong and personal with its characters. The musical numbers by the great Howard Ashman and Alan Menken come in all shapes and sizes, from Part of Your World telling us everything we need to know about Ariel's inner desires, to Under the Sea providing us with enough proof as to why the grass is always greener on one side, to Poor Unfortunate Souls being a cautionary reminder of the consequences to your actions, and Kiss the Girl being a harmonious love song on getting with your partner. These songs, along with the wonderful performances from Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright and Pat Carroll, help give the story an identity that no Disney film prior had in years: musical narrative.
In addition, this film is a tour de force of luscious animation and sound design. The characters have the usual Disney style but with a more cartoony flair that utilizes a good amount of squash and stretch. The special effects are a nice touch too, with a lot of magic, water, electricity, fire and even smoke practically popping out of the screen with striking detail and horrific imagery (helps too that airbrushes, CGI and superimposing were used to great effect). The backgrounds as well display the necessary depth needed for a film set both under water and on the land, with only a few locations needed to make the story feel contained without going all over the place. As for the sound work, this had at the time way more sound effects than any other Disney film, and it shows considering all the mixing and editing needing to be done. Of course there are quiet moments, but the scenes with a lot of suspense feel all the more thrilling with the overwhelming noise flooding (no pun intended) the screens. It's almost as if the film wouldn't have sounded quite as epic without the foley work.
But now it's time to comment on what people to this day criticize the film for: its moral. Many have argued that Ariel gets what she wants at the end without learning much of anything and just runs of with a man she barely knows. While I do find those critiques valid in their own right, the one thing many of us have forgot about is that the point of the film is to let your children grow up in their own way. King Triton wants what's best for his daughter without truly understanding, which in turn led Ariel to do whatever it took to be on the land she wanted to explore from the beginning. This resulted in her having to form a connection with Eric voiceless, and even when the tables turned against her, Eric still selflessly fought back against the villainous Ursula to be with the one who he felt was made for her. And that's the key element to remember: the one made for you. Ariel still could have become a human through magic just to be on the surface, but it was the man she fell in love with that gave her journey a true purpose, and from then on, her real story had only just begun.
With highly memorable songs, magical animation and a message on finding your purpose that anyone can relate to, Disney's The Little Mermaid holds up just as well as its big splash in 1989. There are many films that changed cinema forever, and this was one of them for putting the House of Mouse back in the spotlight that they've kept since then. Even if it's not their real crowning achievement in filmmaking and storytelling, it set the bar that most of their movies since then would keep trying to get up to for over three decades, and we have the magic of Broadway and emotional resonance to thank for that.