The Little Mermaid (1989 film)

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in association with Silver Screen Partners IV and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film's score. Featuring the voices of René Auberjonois, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Ben Wright and Samuel E. Wright, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's stories, but scrapped the project. In 1985, while working on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Clements and Musker decided to adapt the fairy tale and proposed it to Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who initially declined due to its similarities to a proposed sequel to the 1984 film Splash, but ultimately approved of it. Ashman became involved and brought in Menken. With supervision from Katzenberg, they made a Broadway-style structure with musical numbers as the staff was working on Oliver & Company (1988). Katzenberg warned that the film would earn less since it appealed to female viewers, but he eventually became convinced that it would be Disney's first blockbuster hit.
The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989, to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release,[4] and $235 million in total lifetime gross worldwide,[3] becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1989. Along with the major success of both Disney's 1986 animated film The Great Mouse Detective[5][6] and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance.[7] The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").
The film's success led to a media franchise. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2000, focusing on Ariel's daughter, Melody. A prequel followed in 2008. The first film was adapted into a stage musical with a book by Doug Wright[8] and additional songs by Alan Menken and new lyricist Glenn Slater opened in Denver in July 2007 and began performances on Broadway January 10, 2008[9][10] starring Sierra Boggess.[11][12][13] Other derived works and material inspired by the film, include a 2019 live musical presentation on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney, and a 2023 live-action film adaptation directed by Rob Marshall and starring Halle Bailey. On December 14, 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[14]
== Plot[edit] ==
Under the Atlantic Ocean, in the kingdom of Atlantica, Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid princess dissatisfied with her life, is fascinated by the human world. With her best friend Flounder, Ariel visits Scuttle, a seagull who gives inaccurate information about humans, and collects human artifacts in her grotto. However, her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, says contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden. One night, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian, a crab who serves as Triton's adviser and court composer, travel to the surface to watch a birthday celebration for Prince Eric. Ariel falls in love with Eric at first sight. A storm later wrecks the ship and knocks Eric overboard. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but leaves just as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Eric vows to find the girl who saved him. Discovering a change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian and learns of her love for Eric. Frustrated, Triton travels to Ariel's grotto and destroys her collection of artifacts in a misguided attempt to protect her. After a remorseful Triton leaves, two eels named Flotsam and Jetsam convince Ariel to visit Ursula the sea witch.
Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel's voice, which Ursula puts in a nautilus shell. Within these three days, if Ariel receives a "true love's kiss", she will remain a human permanently. Otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. After accepting, Ariel is given human legs and taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian. Eric finds Ariel on the beach and takes her to his castle, unaware that she is the one who rescued him earlier. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. Furious at Ariel's close success, Ursula disguises herself as a young woman named Vanessa and appears onshore singing with Ariel's voice. Eric recognizes the song, and Ursula casts a hypnotic enchantment that makes him forget about Ariel.
The next day, Ariel discovers that Eric will be married to Vanessa. Scuttle discovers Vanessa's true identity and informs Ariel, who pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various sea animals. In the chaos, Ursula's shell is destroyed, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking the enchantment over Eric. Realizing that Ariel is the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Turning back into her true form, Ursula kidnaps Ariel. Triton confronts Ursula and demands Ariel's release, but the deal is inviolable. At Ursula's urging, Triton agrees to take Ariel's place as Ursula's prisoner, giving up his trident. Ariel is released as Triton transforms into a polyp and loses his authority over Atlantica. Ursula declares herself the Queen of the Seven Seas, but before she can use the trident, Eric appears with a harpoon. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes, causing Ursula to inadvertently kill Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow in size.
Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before a gigantic Ursula separates them. She then gains full control of the ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ariel is about to be killed, Eric commandeers a wrecked ship and impales Ursula with its splintered bowsprit. With Ursula dead, Triton and the other polyps in her garden revert to their original forms. Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton turns her into a human and approves her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart, with all of Ariel's friends and family watching them as well.
== Voice cast[edit] ==
Main article: List of The Little Mermaid characters
link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheLittleMermaid1989Characters.jpg|right|thumb|265x265px|A promotional image of the principal characters from the film. From left to right: King Triton, Scuttle, Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian, Ursula, and Flounder.
* Jodi Benson as Ariel, the 16-year-old adventurous and headstrong mermaid princess of Atlantica who is fascinated with the human world and falls in love with Prince Eric.[15]
** Benson also voices Vanessa, Ursula's human alter-ego and disguise she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel.
* Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, a dashing and dreamy human prince who is saved by Ariel and is determined to find and marry her.[16]
* Pat Carroll as Ursula, a manipulative and conniving sea witch who takes Ariel's voice in exchange for turning her into a human, planning to use Ariel as ransom to get her father's magical trident and take over Atlantica.[16]
* Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Ariel's strict and overprotective father and the ruler of Atlantica who is prejudiced towards humans.[16]
* Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, a red Caribbean crab with a Jamaican accent who serves as King Triton's advisor and court composer.[16]
* Jason Marin as Flounder, a yellow tropical fish who is Ariel's best friend.[16]
* Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, a seagull who shares Ariel's fascination with humans and teaches her about "human stuff".[16]
* Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's symbiotic and insidious pet green moray eels.[16]
* Ben Wright as Grimsby, Eric's no-nonsense and loyal steward. Wright had played characters in previous Disney films like Roger Radcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Rama in The Jungle Book.[16] This was his last role; he died four months before its release.
* René Auberjonois as Louis, Eric's eccentric and unhinged chef who attempts to cook Sebastian, but fails.[16]
* Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Eric's good-hearted and gentle maid.[16]
* Will Ryan as Harold, a seahorse who serves as Triton's herald.[16]
== Production[edit] ==
=== Writing[edit] ===
link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Georges_de_La_Tour_-_Magdalen_of_Night_Light_-_WGA12337.jpg|thumb|Georges de La Tour's 1640 painting Magdalene with the Smoking Flame is shown in the film.
The Little Mermaid was originally planned as part of one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package film featuring vignettes of Hans Christian Andersen tales.[17] Development started soon after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the late 1930s, but was delayed due to various circumstances.[18]
In 1985, Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) alongside John Musker.[19] Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore.[20] Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater,[19] Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of The Little Mermaid at Walt Disney Studios to chief Jeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting. Katzenberg passed the project over, because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedy Splash (1984) and felt The Little Mermaid would be too similar a project.[20] The next day, however, Katzenberg approved of the idea for possible development, along with Oliver & Company. While in production in the 1980s, the staff found, by chance, original story and visual development work done by Kay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Andersen feature.[17] Many of the changes made by the staff in the 1930s to Hans Christian Andersen's original story were coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s.[20]
That year, Clements and Musker expanded the two-page idea into a 20-page rough script, eliminating the role of the mermaid's grandmother and expanding the roles of the Merman King and the sea witch. However, the film's plans were momentarily shelved as Disney focused its attention on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Oliver & Company as more immediate releases.[20] In 1987, songwriter Howard Ashman became involved with the writing and development of The Little Mermaid after he was asked to contribute a song to Oliver & Company. He proposed changing the minor character Clarence, the English-butler crab, to a Jamaican crab and shifting the music style throughout the film to reflect this. At the same time, Katzenberg, Clements, Musker, and Ashman revised the story format to make The Little Mermaid a musical with a Broadway-style story structure, with the song sequences serving as the tentpoles of the film.[17] Ashman and composer Alan Menken, both noted for their work as the writers of the successful Off-Broadway stage musical Little Shop of Horrors, teamed up to compose the entire song score. In 1988, with Oliver & Company out of the way, The Little Mermaid was slated as the next major Disney release.[21]
=== Animation[edit] ===
More money and resources were dedicated to The Little Mermaid than any other Disney animated film in decades.[17] Aside from its main animation facility in Glendale, California, Disney opened a satellite feature animation facility during the production of The Little Mermaid in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (near Orlando, Florida), within Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World.[22] Opening in 1989, the Disney-MGM facility's first projects were to produce an entire Roger Rabbit cartoon short, Roller Coaster Rabbit, and to contribute ink and paint support to The Little Mermaid.[22] Another first for recent years was the filming of live actors and actresses for motion reference material for the animators, a practice used frequently for many of the Disney animated features produced under Walt Disney's supervision. Sherri Lynn Stoner, a former member of Los Angeles' Groundlings improvisation comedy group, and Joshua Finkel, a Broadway actor, performed key scenes as Ariel and Eric respectively.[20][23] Jodi Benson had already been cast as Ariel's voice actor by this time, and her recorded dialogue was used as playback to guide these live-action references.[23] Before Benson was cast, Melissa Fahn was considered for the part.[24]
The Little Mermaid's supervising animators included Glen Keane and Mark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian, Andreas Deja on King Triton, and Ruben Aquino on Ursula.[17] Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large, powerful figures, such as the bear in The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Professor Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Keane, however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. He jokingly stated that his wife looks exactly like Ariel "without the fins."[25] The character's body type and personality were based upon those of Alyssa Milano, then starring on TV's Who's the Boss? and the effect of her hair underwater was based on both footage of Sally Ride when she was in space,[17] and scenes of Stoner in a pool for guidance in animating Ariel's swimming.[26] Many of Stoner's mannerisms also became part of Ariel's character, such as the way she bit her lip or the way she expressed through hand gestures.[27]
The underwater setting required the most special effects animation for a Disney animated feature since Fantasia in 1940. Effects animation supervisor Mark Dindal estimated that over a million bubbles were drawn for this film, in addition to the use of other processes such as airbrushing, backlighting, superimposition, and some computer animation. The artistic manpower needed for The Little Mermaid required Disney to farm out most of the underwater bubble effects animation in the film to Pacific Rim Productions, a China-based firm with production facilities in Beijing.[17] An attempt to use Disney's famed multiplane camera for the first time in years for quality "depth" shots failed because the machine was reputedly in dilapidated condition. The multiplane shots were instead photographed at an outside animation camera facility.[17]
The Little Mermaid is the last Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation.[28] Disney's next film, The Rescuers Down Under, used a digital method of coloring and combining scanned drawings developed for Disney by Pixar called CAPS/ink & paint (Computer Animation Production System), which would eliminate the need for cels, the multiplane camera, and many of the optical effects used for the last time in The Little Mermaid. Clements and Musker's next film, Aladdin, also used digital coloring via CAPS. A CAPS/ink & paint prototype was used experimentally on a few scenes in The Little Mermaid, and one shot produced using CAPS/ink & paint—the penultimate shot in the film, of Ariel and Eric's wedding ship sailing away under a rainbow—appears in the finished film. Computer-generated imagery was used to create some of the wrecked ships in the final battle, a staircase behind a shot of Ariel in Eric's castle, and the carriage Eric and Ariel are riding in when she bounces it over a ravine. These objects were animated using 3D wireframe models, which were plotted as line art to cels and painted traditionally.[17] The film being both the only film of the Disney Renaissance and the last in the studio's history overall to use the xerography technology used since 1961 with One Hundred and One Dalmatians made it somewhat of a transitional film between the two Disney eras.[29][30]
=== Casting[edit] ===
The design of the villainous Ursula was based upon drag performer Divine.[17] An additional early inspiration before Divine was Joan Collins in her role as Alexis Carrington in the television series Dynasty, due to a suggestion from Howard Ashman, who was a fan of the series.[31] Pat Carroll was not Clements and Musker's first choice to voice Ursula; the original script had been written with Bea Arthur of the Disney-owned TV series The Golden Girls in mind. After Arthur turned the part down, actresses such as Nancy Marchand, Nancy Wilson, Roseanne, Charlotte Rae, Jennifer Saunders and Elaine Stritch were considered for the part.[32] Stritch was eventually cast as Ursula, but clashed with Howard Ashman's style of music production and was replaced by Carroll.[32] Various actors auditioned for additional roles in the film, including Jim Carrey for the role of Prince Eric, and comedians Bill Maher and Michael Richards for the role of Scuttle.[31]
=== Music[edit] ===
Main article: The Little Mermaid (1989 soundtrack)
The Little Mermaid was considered by some as "the film that brought Broadway into cartoons".[33] Alan Menken wrote the Oscar-winning score, and collaborated with Howard Ashman on the songs. One of the film's most prominent songs, "Part of Your World", was nearly cut from the film when it seemingly tested poorly with children, who became rowdy during the scene. This caused Jeffrey Katzenberg to feel that the song needed to be cut, an idea that was resisted by Musker, Clements and Keane. Both Musker and Clements cited the similar situation of the song "Over the Rainbow" nearly being cut from 1939's The Wizard of Oz when it was appealing to Katzenberg. Keane pushed for the song to remain until the film was in a more finalized state. During a second test screening, the scene, now colorized and further developed, tested well with a separate child audience, and the musical number was kept.[31]
== Release[edit] ==
The film was originally released on November 17, 1989, followed by a re-release on November 14, 1997.[34] After the success of the 3D re-release of The Lion King, Disney announced a 3D re-release of The Little Mermaid scheduled for September 13, 2013,[35] but this was cancelled on January 14, 2013, due to the under-performances of other Disney 3D re-releases until further notice.[36] The 3D version was released on Blu-ray instead,[37][38] but it did play a limited engagement at the El Capitan Theatre from September to October 2013.[39] On September 20, 2013, The Little Mermaid began playing in select theaters where audiences could bring iPads and use an app called Second Screen Live.[40] AMC Theatres screened the movie from September 6–12, 2019.[41] The film was also screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.[42]
=== Home media[edit] ===
In a then-atypical and controversial move for a new Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid was released as part of the Walt Disney Classics line of VHS, LaserDisc, Betamax and Video 8 home media releases on May 18, 1990, six months after the release of the film.[21] Before The Little Mermaid, only a select number of Disney's catalog animated films had been released to home media, as the company was afraid of upsetting its profitable practice of theatrically reissuing each film every few years.[21] The Little Mermaid became that year's top-selling title on home video, with over 10 million units sold (including 7 million in its first month) and 13 million units by October 1993.[43][44] The home video release, along with box office and merchandise sales, contributed to The Little Mermaid generating a total revenue of $1 billion.[45] This success led to future Disney animated films being released on home video soon after the end of their theatrical runs, rather than delayed for several years, making The Little Mermaid the first Disney animated feature to be released on home video 1 year after its theatrical release.[21]
Following The Little Mermaid's November 14, 1997 re-release in theaters, a new VHS version was released on March 31, 1998, as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection and included a bonus music video of Jodi Benson singing "Part of Your World" during the end credits, replacing "Under the Sea" as the end credits song.[46] The VHS sold 13 million units and ranked as the third best-selling video of the year.[47][48]