The weakest of the big three, but that makes it Disney's 3rd best film ever.

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2003)

The big three that I am referring to are the three films that sparked the revival of Disney after a 20-year dry spell following Walt Disney's death: Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and the very first of the Renaissance, The Little Mermaid. Mermaid is a wonderful film, with a great feel-good story, lovely artwork, fun characters, and some of the best music in Disney history.
Why then do I think it to be the weakest of the big three? There's nothing inherently wrong with it. What makes great Disney films great is that besides all their technical aspects (in which this film is perfect), they have a certain spunk, an unexplainable phenomena that makes you admire them all the more. This film definitely has that. In fact it has a lot of it. Unfortunately, as much great spunk as Mermaid has, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast have even more.
Nevertheless, this is Disney's third best film ever. Also, I could not agree with nbachris2788 more...it is extremely irritating hearing feminists complain about Ariel. I know many girls who watched this film as children, and none of them have turned out the way these extreme feminists would like one to believe. My point being: Shut up.
A 10/10.
P.S. My New and Improved Top Ten Disney Film List (The list in my Aladdin review was ages ago, I've had time to make a more thorough analysis by now)
1)Aladdin 2)Beauty and the Beast 3)The Little Mermaid 4)The Jungle Book 5)The Sword in the Stone 6)The Fox and the Hound 7)Pinocchio 8)Robin Hood 9)Hercules 10)Dumbo