The Little Mermaid | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] Plot The film begins on a foggy morning out on the open sea. A ship then comes from the fog, filled with sailors singing stories of the legendary merfolk. (" Fathoms Below ") Aboard that ship is a young prince, named Eric , his dog Max , and his advisor Grimsby . Grimsby denounces the merfolk as, "nautical nonsense", but one sailor insists them to be real. While distracted by Grimsby, a fish the sailor was holding slips from him and falls into the ocean. The fish breathes a sigh of relief before swimming away from the ship. The opening credits play as the fish crosses the deep ocean, until at last, we see merfolk. The merfolk then make their way through the ocean towards a shining underwater castle. The castle is the domain of King Triton and is where he was holding a concert in his name, performed by his seven daughters and the crab court composer, Sebastian . (" Daughters of King Triton ") The concert goes as planned until it is discovered that Triton's youngest daughter, Princess Ariel , is not there, much to his chagrin.

In truth, Ariel was out excavating a ship graveyard with her best friend, Flounder the Fish. Inside one wreck, she finds a pipe and a fork, which fascinates her curiosity, all the while unaware of a shark watching her and Flounder from outside. The shark bursts into the room Ariel and Flounder are in and gives chase to them, all across the graveyard, until the two manage to get the shark ensnared in an anchor ring. They then make their way to the surface, where their friend, a seagull named Scuttle, lives. Ariel asks Scuttle to tell her what the items she collected are. He describes the fork as a dinglehopper , an item humans use to style hair; and the pipe as a snarfblat, an object for making music. Upon hearing the word, "music", Ariel is quickly reminded of the concert she missed and makes haste back home. However, Ariel fails to realize she is being watched by two suspicious eels by the names, Flotsam and Jetsam . The two were spies under the employ of Ursula The Sea Witch a former member of King Triton's court before being banished.

Ursula hates Triton with a passion for his atrocities towards her, and constantly schemes of ways to exact revenge. The moment Ariel caught her eye, Ursula commands her cronies to watch her, hoping to use her to get to the King. The film then moves to the royal palace, where Triton and Sebastian are scorning Ariel for missing the concert. But Flounder moves in to defend her, accidentally letting slip the encounter with Scuttle, which quickly angers Triton. The law of his kingdom forbids going to the surface world, for fears of merfolk being caught by humans. But Ariel believes humans not to be all that bad, which angers Triton to the point of sending Ariel away crying, with Flounder following after. When they've left, Triton asks Sebastian if he was too hard on Ariel, to which Sebastian replies, "definitely not". Sebastian suggests that Ariel needs constant supervision, which gives Triton the idea to send Sebastian to keep an eye on her. Sebastian complies with the King's demands but feels dissatisfied with the idea of, "tagging along some headstrong teenager." However, Sebastian's thoughts are interrupted when he sees Ariel and Flounder swimming off elsewhere, prompting him to follow her.

He is led to a hidden grotto where he discovers a variety of human objects gathered together. Ariel exploring the painting "The Penitent Magdalen with the Smoking Flame" by Georges de la Tour. Ariel, still hurt by her father's words, sings of her collection of human objects, and how she desires to visit the world of humans, despite what her father had to say of them. (" Part of Your World ") The mood is quickly broken by Sebastian crashing in, and threatening to reveal Ariel's grotto to the king. Ariel attempts to reason with him, but before anything could be resolved in the conflict, a large object is seen floating overhead blocking moonlight from the grotto roof. Ariel, being ever curious, swims to the surface to figure out what this massive object was. The object proves to be a human ship, shooting fireworks into the night sky. Ariel swims towards the vessel, in spite of Sebastian's protests, and climbs aboard to behold dancing seamen. Ariel learns that the humans aboard are celebrating the birthday of their prince; one creature that catches her eye is Max, the sheepdog who takes a liking to Ariel.

But Ariel is left enamored when she sees the dog's master, Prince Eric. Eric is given a large statue of himself as a birthday present, by Grimsby, who sourly proclaims that he hoped it would be a wedding present. Eric protests that he just hadn't found the right girl yet, but insists that when he does it will hit him, like lightning. It was then, that the sounds of thunder echoed in the distance, followed by an ever growing gust of wind. Without warning, a hurricane blows in, sweeping up both ship and crew violently in a volley of wind and water. Ariel is thrown off the vessel but manages to catch sight of the ship being struck by lightning setting the ship on fire. When the ship crashes into a gaggle of rocks, the crew is sent overboard, along with the statue of Eric. Though they all made it to the lifeboats, Eric discovers that Max is still on the burning vessel, and goes off to rescue him. While Eric manages to get Max to safety, he is unable to save himself when he gets blown away by a massive explosion and lands into the ocean below underwater. While she sees this and rushes towards his aid, Ariel rescues Eric and takes him back to shore.

Once at the shore, Ariel sings of her desire to join Eric's world (" Part of Your World (Reprise) "), before fleeing at the sounds of Grimsby and Max approaching. While Ariel sings, Eric only manages to catch a glimpse of her before she leaves; but as Grimsby raises him up, Eric vividly remembers a girl who had saved him, and is determined to find her. As Ariel watches them from a nearby rock, Sebastian tells her that the situation must be kept secret from her father, but Ariel doesn't pay attention. With vigor and determination; Ariel makes a bold proclamation that she will be a part of Eric's world. What Ariel doesn't realize, however, is that she's being watched by Ursula's eels. Ursula is gleeful of the situation and eerily looks to a gaggle of polyps in her lair; all of them, former dreamers who came to her power. She then mutters about Ariel becoming a charming addition to the group. The scene ends there. A few days later, Ariel spends her time daydreaming of Eric, which piques the curiosity of her father, who believes Ariel to be in love with another merman.

All the while, Sebastian is a nervous wreck trying to keep the secret from being found out. Ariel then decides that she wants to visit Eric, but Sebastian is having none of that. He attempts to bring her down to earth with a musical number about how the sea is better than the land. (" Under the Sea ") Sebastian manages to bring a bunch of fish together to sing along, but as this party is happening, Flounder shows up and manages to slip Ariel away unnoticed. By the time the song ends, Ariel was nowhere to be seen, and Sebastian left alone to grumble about her. Suddenly, the royal herald calls for Sebastian to report to the King about Ariel. Sebastian, afraid that Triton figures out what has happened, accidentally slips the truth during the interrogation, and is forced to tell the King everything. Back at Ariel's grotto, Flounder reveals that he had saved the statue of Eric from the wreck, much to Ariel's delight. However, the pleasantries are interrupted by Triton being led to the grotto by Sebastian. After a short argument, Ariel confronts Triton and tells him that she rescued Eric from drowning to death.

In his anger, Triton confronts Ariel and decimates all of her secret grotto treasures and reduces them to a junk pile, leaving Ariel in tears. After Triton leaves, feeling bad over what he did. Ariel begins weeping and tells Sebastian and Flounder to leave her alone to grieve, not allowing them to comfort her. However, unbeknownst to her, Flotsam and Jetsam enter the grotto and sweet talk Ariel into going to Ursula to achieve her dreams of being with Eric. As they leave, Flounder and Sebastian follow after Ariel all the way to Ursula's lair. Ursula comforts Ariel and explains that she can grant Ariel's wish to be human for three days, but she must give Eric the kiss of true love before the sunset on the third day, or she belongs to Ursula. (" Poor Unfortunate Souls ") In exchange for legs, though, she must give away her voice. Ariel agrees to these terms and signs the contract, trapping her voice in a necklace Ursula wore, and giving her human legs.

Once Ariel has been transformed into a human, Sebastian and Flounder escapes Flotsam and Jetsam's grasps and take her to the surface, where the group meets up with Scuttle on a beach near Eric's castle. Sebastian threatens to tell King Triton about the deal between Ariel made with Ursula, but Ariel manages to convince him to help the group. Scuttle then tells Ariel about how to blend in with humans, and the first step was to dress like them. Scuttle takes a portion of a sail for Ariel to wear, just as Prince Eric arrives at their location. Though Eric doesn't know she's the girl who saved his life, he is willing to bring her to his castle to be taken care of, with Sebastian tagging along in a pocket in Ariel's cloth. Later, inside the palace, while Ariel is taking a bath, Sebastian is sent, through a series of misfortunate events, to the castle kitchen. It's there that Sebastian encounters a fish cooking obsessed chef that attempts to cook him. (" Les Poissons ") As this conflict goes on in the kitchen, Ariel meets with Eric and Grimsby in the dining hall for dinner.

There, Eric and Grimsby discuss giving Ariel a tour of the kingdom, to which she agrees to. Later that night, Sebastian discusses plans to get Eric to kiss Ariel, though Ariel doesn't listen, being too enamored in the human world's splendors. But down in King Triton's palace, the situation is grim. King Triton has sent several search parties everywhere looking for Ariel and Sebastian but hasn't found a trace of both of them. He is left depressed, blaming himself for their disappearance. Ariel and Eric almost kiss. The next morning, Ariel and Eric begin their tour of the kingdom, starting with the nearby town. Ariel is enamored by every single thing she sees, whether it is puppets, horses, or dancing. The day passes into the evening when Eric takes Ariel on a lagoon cruise. Sebastian, seeing this as the perfect moment, decides to take matters into his own claws, and plays a song to excite the two into kissing. (" Kiss the Girl ") However, the song is quickly interrupted by Flotsam and Jetsam overturning the boat, successively ruining the mood.

Ursula, frustrated with the progress Ariel's making, decides to take matters into her own tentacles and transforms herself into a beautiful young maiden called Vanessa. She then uses Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric just before he could announce his true feelings to her. And the next morning, Eric and Vanessa are announced to be wed by sunset, leaving poor Ariel heartbroken as the wedding ship departs from a port, leaving her and her friends behind while Vanessa convincingly plays her role as a love-struck woman, clinging constantly to Eric's side, raising no suspicion. While Ariel witnesses the ship sailing off, she begins weeping over Eric's loss. Little does anyone know, Scuttle happens to fly over the wedding ship when he hears Ariel's voice coming from the bride's dressing room. (" Vanessa's Song ") He spies from a porthole, and once Vanessa takes a look at the dressing room's mirror, Ursula's reflection was shown. Realizing Vanessa's true identity, Scuttle flies off to inform Ariel and the group about Vanessa. The group then makes a plan, Ariel and Flounder go after the wedding ship on a barrel, Sebastian goes to tell King Triton of what's happening, while Scuttle goes off to stall the wedding.

Scuttle gathers lagoon and sea creatures of all sorts (including bluebirds, flamingos, pelicans, lobsters, starfish, dolphins, and seals) to converse on the wedding ship as the wedding is just under way. There is a little warning for Vanessa when the attack begins, and the ship is sent into disarray, giving Ariel the time she needed to get aboard. Moreover, Vanessa is utterly flustered, disoriented and sidelined from being able to do anything. Thanks to the help of Max, Scuttle manages to snap the necklace off Vanessa's neck, shattering it across the deck, returning Ariel's voice back to her, and releasing Eric from the spell. Eric finds Ariel and admits she's the one who saved him, but Vanessa warns Eric to leave Ariel alone, before realizing that her voice was now Ursula's after her shell broke. But before the two could kiss, the sun sets and Ariel turns back into a mermaid. Ursula transforms herself from the Vanessa form back to her true form again, taking Ariel back with her under the sea. It isn't long before Ursula grabs Ariel and runs into Triton and Sebastian, and a conflict occurs.

Triton confronts Ursula and demands her to release Ariel, but no avail and Ursula confronts Triton by saying to him that Ariel is her slave. After Triton hears Ariel apologizing to him, he attempts to destroy the contract she signed, binding her to Ursula, but finds that he's unable to do so because it's magically enhanced by being legal. So, to save his daughter Ariel, Triton signs the contract and becomes a polyp, thus losing his crown, trident, and kingdom to Ursula. Ursula steals the crown and trident and becomes queen of the sea, which angers Ariel to the point of attacking her when the sea witch almost destroys her. Meanwhile, Eric takes a rowboat from the wedding ship and speeds off towards the location where Ariel is. He goes underwater and attacks Ursula, who then commands Flotsam and Jetsam to go after him. The witch's eels drag him back underwater so she can blast him. To save Eric, Flounder and Sebastian attack Flotsam and Jetsam. Ursula's wrath.

In the midst of the chaos, Ursula attempts to use the trident to destroy Eric, but an angry and furious Ariel confronts and berates Ursula by pulling on her hair, causing her to miss Eric and hit Flotsam and Jetsam instead, reducing them to pieces. Ursula shortly mourns their loss before vengefully turning to the ones responsible. As Ariel hurries to join Eric, the enraged Ursula spouts black ink and begins to enlarge. Ariel attempts to tell Eric to save himself, but he refuses to abandon her, just as Ursula's gigantic form emerges, and leaving Eric and Ariel helpless to her power. But in the midst of her rampage, Ursula creates a whirlpool, raising shipwrecks from the ocean floor. And it is with these shipwrecks that Eric is able to finish off Ursula by ramming its splintered bow into her. As a result just as Ursula prepares to hit Ariel with the trident's blasts, Eric saves Ariel from Ursula by ramming a splintered bowsprit towards the witch's evil aorta and abdomen. Ursula blows up into a scattered mass of organs while Eric falls unconscious on the shore.

After Ursula's remains sink to the ocean floor, her curse is removed from the merfolk in her garden, as well as King Triton, and peace is once again restored to the ocean now that Triton regains his crown, trident, and kingdom. They lived happily ever after. Back on the surface, Triton decides that he has to let Ariel be free to lead her own life and tells Sebastian that he is going to miss her. He then transforms her once more into a human - this time permanently. Ariel goes to Eric, they finally kiss, and the two are immediately wed shortly after. And at this ceremony after Ariel and Eric are married onboard the wedding ship, Ariel bids her friends and family, including her six older sisters, her father Triton, Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle, goodbye to live her new life in Eric's world. (" Part of Your World (Finale) ") Cast Voice actress Melissa Fahn auditioned for the role of Ariel, and was called back many times, but was turned down because she sounded a little too young. Development In 1986 , The Great Mouse Detective co-director Ron Clements discovered a collection of Hans Christian Andersen 's fairy tales while browsing a bookstore.

He presented a two-page draft of a movie based on The Little Mermaid to CEO Michael Eisner , who passed it over because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to Splash . But the next day, Walt Disney Pictures boss Jeffrey Katzenberg , green-lighted the idea for possible development, along with Oliver & Company . That year, Clements and Great Mouse Detective co-director John 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. In 1987 , songwriter Howard Ashman became involved with Mermaid after he was asked to contribute to Oliver & Company. He proposed changing the minor character Clarence, the English-butler crab, to a Jamaican Rastafarian crab and shifting the music style throughout the film to reflect this. At the same time, Katzenberg, Clements, Musker, and Ashman changed the story format to make Mermaid like an animated Broadway musical.

Ashman and Alan Menken teamed up to compose the entire soundtrack. In 1988, with Oliver out of the way, Mermaid was slated as the next major Disney release. More money and resources were dedicated to Mermaid than any other Disney animated film in decades. The artistic manpower needed for Mermaid required Disney to farm out most of the bubble-drawing in the film to Pacific Rim Productions, a China-based firm with production facilities in Beijing. Principal artists worked on the animation - Glen Keane and Mark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian, Andreas Deja on King Triton and Ruben Aquino on Ursula. Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large, powerful figures (the bear in The Fox and the Hound , Professor Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective .) Keane, however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite, charming Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. Another first for recent years was that live actors and actresses were filmed for reference material for the animators.

Broadway actress Jodi Benson was chosen to play Ariel, and Sherri Lynn Stoner , a former member of Los Angeles' Groundlings improv comedy group, acted out Ariel's key scenes. Not all of Disney's animators approved the use of live-action reference; one artist quit the project over the issue. 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 a dilapidated condition. Aside from its main animation facility in Glendale, California , Disney opened a satellite feature animation facility during the production of Mermaid near Orlando, Florida, within the still-unfinished Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World . Though the park opened to the public a year later, work at the animation studio began in May 1988, and the Disney-MGM facility's first projects were to produce an entire Roger Rabbit cartoon short, and contribute ink and paint support to Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is the last Disney feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation.

Disney's next film, The Rescuers Down Under , used a digital method of coloring and combining scanned drawings— CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), which eliminated the need for cels. A CAPS prototype was used experimentally in a few scenes in Mermaid, including the final wedding scene. Other CGI includes 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. (Notice that the wheels aren't moving when it comes down for a landing.) On November 15, 1989 , The Little Mermaid began critics' screenings in Los Angeles and New York City . On November 17, 1989 , the world premiere of The Little Mermaid took place near Orlando, Florida on all ten AMC Pleasure Island screens at Walt Disney World's newly-built Pleasure Island nightclub. Music The film contains 10 songs in total; including three reprises. With lyrics by Howard Ashman and a score by Alan Menken . A soundtrack was released for the film on October 13, 1989, and was met with great praise and accolades.

The soundtrack would be rereleased in 2006 as well. Reception The Little Mermaid was released to rave reviews upon its initial release. It quickly became a cultural phenomenon, with many critics hailing it as a return to the quality filmmaking Disney animation was known for during the days of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. It won a number of accolades, specifically for its music, including two Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Score, two Golden Globes and one Grammy, among others. Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has a 93% "Certified Fresh" score based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads "The Little Mermaid ushered in a new golden era for Disney animation with warm and charming hand-drawn characters and catchy musical sequences". Lasting Legacy The Little Mermaid is an important film in animation history for many reasons: It marked a return to the musical format that made Disney films popular from the 1930s to the 1970s, after a test run with Oliver & Company the year before.

It featured seven original songs by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman , who also served as the film's producer. It had the most special effects for a Disney animated feature since Fantasia was released forty-nine years earlier. 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 flat-shaded computer animation. The Little Mermaid was a box office success and grossed over $200,000,000 worldwide. This film marked the first use of CAPS in a Disney feature, seen in the movie's final scene. CAPS is a digital ink-and-paint and animation production system that colors the animators' drawings digitally, as opposed to the traditional animation method of tracing ink and paint onto cels (see Traditional animation ). All subsequent 2D animated Disney features have used CAPS instead of ink-and-paint, with Home on the Range as the last one. Causing Disney's feature animation department to begin significant expansion, from about 300 artists to 2,400.

In fact, The Little Mermaid was Disney's first significant animated success since The Rescuers in 1977, and Disney's first animated "bona fide" hit since The Jungle Book in 1967. The Little Mermaid won the 1990 Academy Award for Original Music Score . " Kiss the Girl " and " Under the Sea " were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song ; the Oscar went to "Under the Sea". The soundtrack, riding high on the heels of the film's popularity and the Academy, Golden Globes, and Grammy Awards, went triple platinum, an unheard-of feat for an animated movie at the time. The Little Mermaid started the Disney Renaissance . A decade where Disney movies would be a string of successes, lasting until the release of Tarzan in 1999. Release Add a photo to this gallery Trivia The film was originally planned as one of Disney 's earliest films. Production started soon after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , but was put on hold due to various circumstances. In the 1980s, the Disney company did not know that Walt had intended to make a Little Mermaid film. The Disney Company thought of the idea independently.

While in production in the 1980s, someone found Walt's Mermaid script by chance. Many of his changes to Hans Christian Andersen's original story were coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s. Glen Keane , the supervising animator for Ariel, jokingly stated on the 100 Greatest Cartoons DVD that Ariel looks exactly like his wife "without the fins." The character's body shape and personality were based upon that of Alyssa Milano, then starring on TV's Who's the Boss?; the effect of her hair underwater was based on footage of Sally Ride when she was in space, and her live-action reference model was Sherri Stoner . When Scuttle is providing "vocal romantic stimulation" while Eric and Ariel are out at the lagoon, he is actually squawking his own version of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet". A number of backgrounds used during the "Kiss the Girl" number were recycled from Disney's earlier film The Rescuers . The dress Carlotta wears is a larger version of the one used by Cinderella in Cinderella .

The Little Mermaid ranks as #51 of the 100 Greatest Cartoons as voted in Great Britain. Near the start of the film when King Triton is seen riding a dolphin-pulled chariot over an audience of mermaids and mermen, Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , Goofy & Kermit can be seen in the audience. Ursula's design was based off the famous drag queen, Divine . In the contract Ursula has Ariel sign, if one were to pause as the camera pans down, one could see a Hidden Mickey between a bunch of jumbled letters. During Scuttle's disruption of the wedding between Eric and Vanessa, The Grand Duke and King from Cinderella can be seen standing together in the background. In scenes of transformation in the franchise, one only sees the mermaid to human transition, where the tail splits in half with each becoming a leg. In this film we see that happen to Ariel when Ursula turns her into a human, in the sequel the same thing happens to Melody , when Ursula's magic from a bottle wears out on her, whilst she was trapped in an ice cave with Flounder .

But it is never the other way round, in this movie, in Vanessa's wedding scene when Ariel is about to kiss Eric, she only jerks upward in pain and slips down on the deck (she is only shown to the waist), a clip later, her tail is shown having just transformed and in the sequel, when Melody is transformed, her feet are covered in swirling green lights before her tail pops out. In the scene after Ursula is destroyed, Ariel's pose as she looks longingly at Eric bears resemblance to the famous statue of Andersen's little Mermaid in Copenhagen (sculpted by Edward Eriksen ). According to the DVD commentary, the shark that chases Ariel and Flounder at the beginning is named Glut, and he was planned to return for a rematch with Flounder later on. In the video game series Kingdom Hearts , Ariel and Mulan are the only official Disney Princesses featured in the game who are not of the fabled Princesses of Heart. Strangely, Alice of Alice in Wonderland is featured as a Princess of Heart, while unlike Ariel, is not a princess. The color that Disney Imagineers created for Ariel's tail was, in fact, created just for the movie and was aptly called "Ariel".

On the main menu (disc 1) of Finding Nemo , one of the things Dory says is: "I'm so excited! I've always wanted to see The Little Mermaid!" When this film was re-released in theatres in 1997, some of the foreign translations were redubbed. The original dubbings were returned when the film was released on DVD. The first-ever Russian dubbing of this film was made in 2006. Prior to this, one male voice was dubbed on top of the English version. The final defeat of Ursula is very similar to the climax of Howard Philips Lovecraft's short story, "The Call of Cthulhu". Cthulhu is also a giant human-octopus hybrid (although his overall appearance is closer to that of Davy Jones ) who is also vanquished by the prow of a ship being rammed into him. In the original story, The Little Mermaid didn't have a happy ending. However, Hans Christian Andersen believed this ending to be too depressing, and altered it.

In his revised version, the Little Mermaid still does not marry the Prince, but is instead offered the opportunity to slay him and return to life as a mermaid. Her refusal to do so is an act of true love, and thus as she is turning into seafoam (the manner in which merfolk die) and reborn as a Sylph; an aerial spirit with an immortal soul devoted to helping children, and will enter heaven. In the Norwegian version, Ursula was voiced by Frøydis Armand and Sebastian was voiced by Helge Jordal. The two actors were married at the time and had one child. It should be noted that The Little Mermaid is considered to be a transitional film; it was one of the last Disney movies use xerography and the first movie to introduce the CAPS system. The Little Mermaid is the only Disney film Howard Ashman was alive to see fully finished. Ashman died during production of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin . See also The Little Mermaid (1989) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title.

Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $14.99 (HD) on Amazon Video ON DISC A mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain with an unscrupulous sea-witch in order to meet a human prince on land. Directors: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

a list of 36 titles created 28 May 2011 a list of 28 titles created 12 Oct 2011 a list of 39 titles created 14 Sep 2013 a list of 22 titles created 08 Jun 2014 a list of 35 titles created 16 Nov 2015 Title: The Little Mermaid (1989) 7.6/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations. See more awards » Videos When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her. Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker Stars: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroines in the process.

Directors: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook Stars: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 1 more credit » Stars: Ilene Woods, James MacDonald, Eleanor Audley Directors: William Cottrell, David Hand, and 4 more credits » Stars: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne A man raised by gorillas must decide where he really belongs when he discovers he is a human. Directors: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima Stars: Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Brian Blessed The son of the Greek Gods Zeus and Hera is stripped of his immortality as an infant and must become a true hero in order to reclaim it. Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker Stars: Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, James Woods Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 2 more credits » Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth-century Virginia.

Directors: Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg Stars: Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Christian Bale After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies. Director: Clyde Geronimi A young woman whose father has been imprisoned by a terrifying beast offers herself in his place, unaware that her captor is actually a prince, physically altered by a magic spell. Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise Stars: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jesse Corti A deformed bell-ringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancer. Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise Stars: Demi Moore, Jason Alexander, Tom Hulce Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, and 5 more credits » Stars: Hardie Albright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audrey Edit Storyline In Disney's beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince.

Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers, the king must make the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter. Written by Jwelch5742 17 November 1989 (USA) See more » Also Known As: The Little Mermaid 3D See more » Box Office $9,814,520 (USA) (14 November 1997) Gross: Dolby Stereo (L-R)| DTS (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1)| 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Color: Movie was adapted as a Broadway musical in 2007. See more » Goofs In the opening sequence, Eric helps a sailor tighten a rope. The next shot is a close-up of Eric, where he is holding a much thinner, darker rope in his hand, which was nowhere to be seen earlier. See more » Quotes [first lines] Prince Eric : Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face.

Aaah, the perfect day to be at sea! Grimsby : [leaning over rail] Oh, yes urp delightful. "The Little Mermaid" Surprised Me 28 April 1999 | by JKearse (Columbia, SC) – See all my reviews It has been ten years since "The Little Mermaid" was released. Back when Disney originally released the film, I was both excited and apprehensive. Excited, because it is one of the best children's stories and one of my favorites. Apprehensive, because I knew Disney would change the ending and give it a happy ending, which is understandable but still unfortunate. When I first saw it, I liked it much more than I thought I would, and after each repeated viewing, I have liked it more and more. I am now convinced this is the second best American Animated film, after "Beauty and the Beast". The music, story, writing, and animation are superb as others have stated, but the villainess, Ursula, is also a major factor in the success of the film. She is the best written and performed of all Disney villains. She is purely evil but totally believable.

Pat Carroll, who I have often noticed but never really considered, did a fabulous job with Ursula's characterization. The music and songs are consistantly very good. There is no deep thought to this one, but "The Little Mermaid" is artfully near-perfect entainment. 23 of 27 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Super Reviewer ½ Definitely not one of the better Disney-animated films out there, feeling a little dull at times, but the heart of the film is always in the right place, making it a very enjoyable film to watch. Ariel's character is very likeable as she is given a chance to have legs and fall in love with a prince. Sure, the idea is as old as the hills, but when it's done right, time never makes a difference. "The Little Marmaid" is a classic tale that will never get old, but it's not one of their efforts that will stay in my heart. It's fun and then it's over. There is not much to this one, but it's very likeable!

KJ Proulx Super Reviewer The Little Mermaid is a good animated film, but compared to many previous Disney features, this film isn't as memorable. Of course this is a good film that is a must watch for the entire family, however I think that it's pretty far from the first few Disney classics that put Disney on the map. Although very entertaining, The Little Mermaid does not belong among the greatest films in Disney's history. Despite this, the film is still worth watching and is lots of fun. I don't view it as an all time classic, but it does manage to bring back elements of some Disney classics. Compared to others in Disney's repertoire, The Little Mermaid is fairly average. Nonetheless if you're a fan of animated flicks, then watch this one. The film has a story everyone will enjoy no matter what age you are. A fun filled film with a good voice cast; this is a film that conveys old school ideas with a modern twist. If you love Disney's other films, and then give this one a view. The film may not be as great as the classics such as Snow White, but it still is entertaining and fun for the entire family.

As a whole, The Little Mermaid is a good film, but like I said isn't the best film in Disney's catalogue. For me personally, I much prefer the older Disney classics. Despite this, I still recommend this film. Entertaining, and lots of fun for people of all ages. A very good animated film, just not in the same category as other Disney films. I still think that The Lion King is the best Disney flick that stands among the traditional Disney classics. Alex roy Amazon.com: The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Diamond Edition: Blu-ray / DVD in DVD Packaging): Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Rene Auberjonois, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Ben Wright, Samuel E. Wright, Edie McClurg, Will Ryan, Ron Clements, John Musker: Movies & TV 5.0 out of 5 stars Disney's beloved classic returns!! By Technophobe on July 6, 2006 One of the most beloved Disney films, "The Little Mermaid" returns on dvd, fully restored and remastered in an all new 2 disc set this October!

Rather than talking about the film (c'mon we all know what it is all about and most of are quite familiar with its charm and beauty! Though the first "The Little mermaid" dvd released years ago was just a barebone disc with non-anamorphic transfer, this one will have everything to fulfill every mermaid fan's desire! Here's what to look forward to in this special 2 disc set: Fully restored with an all-new Disney Home Theatre 5.1 mix. Backstage Disney, including an all new commentary. Treasures Untold: The Making of The Little Mermaid. The Story Behind The Story. Deleted Scenes, including Backstage With Sebastian, Sebastian Lost In The Castle, Advice From Sebastian and Fight With Ursula. Music Video "Kiss The Girl" Games and Activities inclue The Little Mermaid Under The Sea Adventure: The Virtual Ride, Behind The Ride That Almost Was With Disney Imagineers and DisneyPedia: Life Under The Sea.... ....And much more!! "The Little Mermaid" is surely one of the finest films Disney ever produced and this long awaited platinum edition of this classic would surely be a welcome addition in any dvd collector's shelf!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good if you don't mind minor edits By Dark Helmet on October 28, 2006 Finally got around to watching this last night. In this review I'm not going to bother to review the movie itself. It's seventeen years old. I'm sure if you are interested in it you've seen it by now. Rather, I'm going to review the technical quality of the film and the extras provided on the DVD. One thing that feel I should point out up front is that the movie HAS been edited, but only in one scene. The infamous 'clergyman sporting an erection' that caused such a stupid flundie flap has been photoshopped. The theatrical poster artwork is not on the cover or anywhere on the disc for a similar reason. You can find out more by going to Snopes and looking in the Disney films section. I personally don't care, but some people do. Now, on to the review. This version is widescreen, but it's 16:9 widescreen and not theatrical widescreen, but this has been the case in pretty much all the Disney movie DVDs so no surprises there.

The Little Mermaid was the next to last movie Disney did using painted cels, and the film has gone through some kind of digital restoration process. There are comparison shots on the back of the DVD box that show the difference. The colors are very vibrant, and I didn't notice any problems with the encoding or animation. There is support for surround sound and audio tracks in English, French, and Spanish. It's a two disk set. Disc one has the movie, the configuration options (subtitles, commentary, language ect), a music video of the song 'Kiss the Girl' by someone I've never heard of, a bunch of previews that will be outdated in a few months, and a preview of what's on disc 2. On the box it touts something called Fast Play, which basically means when you load it in, after the standard FBI warnings and all that, the disc gives you the option of immediately starting the movie or going to the menu with the stuff I just mentioned. If you choose to start the movie directly, it plays a bunch of previews that you can skip past using chapter forward on your remote, if you go to the menu and pick play movie, it starts right away.

You're actually not forced to sit through ten minutes of BS previews with no way to skip them like on some of the previous Disney DVDs. I approve. The majority of the extras are on disc 2. It's broken up into three major sections: Backstage Disney, Deleted Scenes, and Games. Backstage Disney is the largest section. It has scads of concept art (imagine Ursula as a lionfish or manta ray instead of an octopus), a videos on how the movie was made, and a new animated short, The Little Match Girl. A silent film with a musical background and is amazingly enough, actually true to the story. It's pretty well done, IMHO. Deleted scenes is just that, stuff that was cut. There really isn't much. Only three selections, and two of them are just pieces that were cut from scenes that did make it in. There's an expanded version of the opening song, a very short scene where Triton's daughters tell Sebastian that Ariel isn't at the recital before it starts, and an extra verse in Ursula's song.

All of these were cut before the final animation was done, and so as you watch it switches back and forth between storyboard still shots and very rough sketchy animation. The games I didn't even bother with, because has there ever been a DVD player game that hasn't totally sucked? Didn't think so. Overall, it's going to boil down to how much you like the movie, and how much you hate minor edits. If not seeing Jessica Rabbit with no underwear for three frames bothered you, then this DVD is not for you. Otherwise, it is a comprehensive look at the movie that marked the beginning of Disney's second golden age. I give it 9 out of 10 voice containing seashells. By XXX on October 12, 2005 Format: DVD This movie is wonderful, but wait for Disney to release the Platinum version, and then purchase it directly from Amazon or another authorized seller. There are fake copies being sold through 3rd party sellers. They look new packaged and sealed. It is a violation of Amazon rules for a 3rd party seller to knowingly sell fake copies. If you have received a fake copy you must send it back to the seller.

If they do not refund your money immediately you can use Amazon's a-z guarantee to get your money back. This is regardless whether you have opened the copy or used it. Do not let a seller force you to leave good feedback in order to receive a refund that is also a violation of Amazon's polices. BUYER BEWARE. Disney's The Little Mermaid | Music Theatre International Music Theatre International Request Licenses & Perusals, Pay Invoices Your Web Profile We are working quickly to merge our two logins. Region Disney's The Little Mermaid Revised Regional Version In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, the beautiful young mermaid, Ariel, longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen's most beloved stories and the classic animated film, Disney's The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages.

With music by eight-time Academy Award winner, Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater and a compelling book by Doug Wright, this fishy fable will capture your heart with its irresistible songs, including "Under the Sea," "Kiss the Girl" and "Part of Your World." Ariel, King Triton's youngest daughter, wishes to pursue the human Prince Eric in the world above, bargaining with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to trade her tail for legs. But the bargain is not what it seems, and Ariel needs the help of her colorful friends, Flounder the fish, Scuttle the seagull and Sebastian the crab to restore order under the sea. Disney's The Little Mermaid offers a fantastic creative opportunity for rich costumes and sets, as well as the chance to perform some of the best-known songs from the past 30 years.

Question: In the Disney cartoon what was the name of The Little Mermaid?
Answer: Ariel