The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and first released on November 15, 1989 by Walt Disney Pictures. The twenty-eighth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is based upon the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." The film grossed over $111 million in the U.S. and an additional $99 million worldwide, and is given credit for breathing life back into the animated feature film genre after a string of critical and commercial failures beginning in the early 1980s.

An upcoming stage adaptation of the film is planned with additional songs by Alan Menken and new lyricist Glenn Slater and is to open on Broadway in 2007. . The book for the musical has been completed by Doug Wright. 

Plot
The film follows the story of a beautiful, headstrong sixteen-year-old mermaid named Ariel, who is dissatisfied with life under the sea and curious about the nearby human world. Ignoring the warnings of her father, King Triton, and the court musician, Sebastian the crab, Ariel and her best friend, a fish named Flounder, often sneak up to sunken ships, where they collect human artifacts, and the surface of the ocean to visit a goofy seagull named Scuttle, whose supposed expert knowledge of human culture is far from accurate; he identifies a fork as a hairstyling device called a "Dinglehopper", and a smoker's pipe as a "Snarfblatt", a musical instrument. Ariel knows that contact between merpeople and the humans is forbidden, but she longs to be part of the human world.

Unknown to anyone, all of this is being observed by Ursula, an evil half-squid, half-woman, sea-witch, who for many years has been seeking a way to exact her revenge upon King Triton for banishing her from the kingdom. She sees Ariel as the perfect pawn in her quest to rule the seas.

Worried about his daughter's behavior (but not knowing about her obsession about all things human), Triton assigns Sebastian to look after her and report on her activities. Sebastian discovers that Ariel has been collecting all of the items she finds from the surface in a secret underwater grotto, but he decides not to tell Triton for Ariel's sake.

Suddenly a strange shape and accompanying sounds pass above the cave. Intrigued, Ariel and Flounder (with the concerned Sebastian in tow) travel again to the surface to watch a fireworks celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, with whom Ariel falls in love. Eric is presented with a giant stone statue of himself, commissioned by his guardian Grimsby, who is pressuring Eric to get married so he can become king. The birthday celebration is cut short when a violent storm destroys the ship. Eric is lost at sea and almost drowns before he is saved by Ariel. Ariel drags him through the ocean and onto a shoreline. She sings to him with her beautiful voice, but she disappears just as he is awakening, but Eric is enthralled by that voice. Sebastian, fearful of the consequences for both Ariel and himself, decides to conceal these events from the King as well, including the fact that Ariel has fallen in love with Eric.

Ariel's dazed behavior the next morning causes her father to become suspicious, and Triton attempts to extract from Sebastian the name of the man (or rather, mer-man) she is in love with. Paranoid that Triton already knows the truth, Sebastian reveals Ariel's secrets in a panic. When King Triton learns that his daughter is in love with a human, he becomes furious and destroys Ariel's grotto, including the stone statue from Eric's birthday party, which Flounder had salvaged from the shipwreck and arranged to be placed there.

Ursula decides that now is the time to make her move, and she assigns her pet eels Flotsam and Jetsam to bring Ariel to her underwater cave. There, Ursula makes a deal with the princess to transform Ariel into a human for three days. Within these three days, if she plans to remain a human, she must get from Eric the "kiss of true love"; otherwise she will transform back into a mermaid at sunset on the third day. If this happens, Ursula will own her very soul and wither her down into a polyp, to join her garden of other lost merfolk. Sebastian tries to stop her, aware of the sea witch's trickery, but Ariel is bitter and blames him for telling her father about her love for Eric.

As agreed, Ursula makes a potion to change the little mermaid. As "payment", she takes Ariel's voice and makes her unable to speak, knowing that Eric remembers Ariel only by her voice. Ursula's spell traps Ariel in a bubble and splits Ariel's tail into two legs. Although her seashell bra remains on, she is naked from the waist down. Sebastian and Flounder drag Ariel to the surface in the iconic scene where she breaks into the sky and takes her first breath of air as a human. Her friends then take her toward the beach. Mean while we discover that Prince Eric has been searching far and wide for the girl who saved him, and sang to him with her beautiful voice, that leads to a scene were Ariel sees her new legs and wiggles her toes, and also where she learns to stand, although somewhat shakily. Scuttle comes along too. Sebastian tries to convince Ariel to let him get Urula, get her to give Ariel back her voice, and go home with every other fish in the sea. But Ariel gives him the "Sad- Eyes" and he says, " All right, all right. I'll try to help ya find dat prince." And scuttle says, " All right Ariel, I'm tellin' ya, if ya wanna be a human, the first thing ya gotta do is dress like one." and pulls up a ship's mast sheet and puts it on Ariel to make it look like a dress. In a matter of minutes, Eric comes along and sees her sitting on a rock, wearing the ship's mast sheet tied on with ropes. His initial hopes that this familiar-looking girl is the one he is looking for are dashed when he learns that she can't speak. He has no idea who Ariel is and what she has done for him, and she is unable to tell him.

While Ariel is enjoying life with Eric in the human palace, Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle try to get Ariel and Eric to kiss and break the spell. Ursula, however, is trying to prevent them from doing so. Taking the guise of a beautiful young woman named Vanessa, Ursula appears onshore singing in Ariel's voice, which is housed in a magic nautilus shell around "Vanessa's" neck. She casts a hypnotic spell of enchantment on Eric, who, unwillingly, plans to marry her immediately, much to Ariel's dismay.

The ceremony is set to take place at sunset, which is when Ariel's deal with Ursula ends. Unknowingly to "Vanessa", Scuttle spots her while staring in one of the boat's portholes and sees the reflection of Ursula in the mirror. He rushes towards Ariel and explains the situation. Sebastian swims off to inform Triton, Ariel and Flounder try to reach the galley using a barrel for a floating device, while Scuttle is assigned to distract the wedding party. With the help of various sea and air animals, Scuttle brings the ceremony crashing down in a spectacular fashion, and Eric's sheepdog Max bites "Vanessa's" bottom while she is fighting Scuttle. The nautilus shell around her neck is jerked off and shatters on the deck; Ariel's voice is restored, and Ursula's enchantment over Eric is broken. Realizing that Ariel was the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but he is too late; the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. "Vanessa" transforms back into her horrid form; she grabs Ariel and disappears into the sea.

Triton catches up with Ursula and attempts to destroy the contract she made with Ariel, but is unable to do so, " The contract's legal, binding, and completely unbreakable, even for you!" Ursula says. Before Triton's eyes, Ursula's contract swirls around Ariel and she begins to wither into a polyp. While she is transforming, Ursula offers Triton a deal: she will accept his soul in the place of Ariel's. Triton sacrifices himself for his daughter and is transformed into a helpless polyp.

Ursula takes Triton's crown and trident and declares herself ruler of the ocean. Enraged, Ariel attacks Ursula; the Sea Witch throws her aside and prepares to annihilate her. Eric, who has not given up on Ariel, however, dives into the sea and throws a harpoon at Ursula; it only hits the tip of her shoulder, but it distracts Ursula long enough for Ariel to get free. After Flotsam and Jetsam are unable to drown Eric thanks to Flounder and Sebastian, Ursula decides to remove Eric herself, aiming the trident for a destructive blast. Ariel rushes to stop her and ruins Ursula's aim, making her destroy her pet eels by mistake. An enraged Ursula transforms into a giant monster version of herself and begins to stir up a storm using the magical trident. Ariel and Eric are ripped from one another, and Ursula forms a massive whirlpool that drags wrecked ships from the bottom of the sea. Ariel clings to a rock to avoid them, and watches in dismay as one crashes down on Eric.

Her own problems increase, though, as Ursula spots her and blasts her off of the rock, sending her into the bottom of the whirlpool. Ursula fires blast after blast at her, but Ariel narrowly dodges each one. Ursula then laughs and raises the trident for a final blow, and Ariel gapes in horror. But neither one is aware of Eric - the prince has taken control of one of the shipwrecked ships, and he rams the ship's splintered bowsprit through Ursula's heart just before she can destroy the princess. The trident's power then backfires and the Sea Witch ironically dies an explosive death by the power she craved most. With her last breaths, Ursula uses her tentacles to pull the ship down along with her, unaware that Eric has jumped overboard and made it safely to shore, but is too tired to walk any further than the first five steps onto shore and collapses with exhaustion.

With Ursula gone, the polyps in Ursula's garden, including Triton, are all changed back into merpeople. Noticing how sad his daughter is and how much she truly loves Eric, Triton decides to give Ariel what she wants. Ariel watches in astonished delight as she is changed permanently into a human, and walks gracefully to shore, this time, clothed with a beautiful gown that shimmers like the sea itself, before her proud father's eyes. She runs into Eric's arms, and the two finally kiss.

In the final scene, she and Eric are seen kissing on their wedding day. Both humans and merpeople turn out for the wedding, and Triton accepts Eric as a part of the family. Eric and Ariel sail away into the sunset, Triton creates a rainbow. Then Ariel and Eric kiss again, and the movie fades to black. And they live happily ever after.

Significance
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 and 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 (Computer Animation Production System) 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.


 * This film signaled a renaissance in Disney animation; the films were popular and financial successes, causing Disney's feature animation department to begin significant expansion, from about 300 artists in 1988 to 2,400 by 1999. In fact, The Little Mermaid was Disney's first significant animated success since The Rescuers in 1977.


 * 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.

Production


In 1985, "The Great Mouse Detective" co-director Ron Clements discovered a collection of Hans C. 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 (composer) teamed up to compose the entire songtrack. 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 of 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 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 on 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.

Box office
According to TheNumbers.com

Academy Awards

 * Two Wins
 * Best Original Score
 * Best Original Song - "Under the Sea"
 * One Nomination
 * Best Original Song - "Kiss the Girl"

Golden Globe Award

 * Two Wins
 * Best Original Score - Motion Picture
 * Best Original Song - Motion Picture - "Under the Sea"
 * Two Nominations
 * Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
 * Best Original Song - Motion Picture

Grammy Award

 * One Win
 * Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television - "Under the Sea"
 * Two Nominations
 * Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television
 * Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television

Other Awards

 * BMI Film & TV Awards
 * One Win: BMI Film Music Award
 * Los Angeles Film Critics Association
 * One Win: Best Animation
 * Golden Screen Awards
 * One Win: Golden Screen Award
 * Golden Reel Awards
 * One Win: Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature
 * Young Artist Award
 * One Win: Best Family Motion Picture - Adventure or Cartoon

TV series and sequels

 * The animated series version of this movie titled The Little Mermaid premiered in late 1992.
 * A direct-to-video sequel called The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea was released on September 19, 2000.
 * A second direct-to-video sequel called The Little Mermaid III is in development for a 2007 release. It was originally scheduled for 2008, but when John Lasseter took over Disney Animation, more resources were spent on completing the sequel for a quicker release. In July 2006 Disney announced that work was wrapping up on Cinderella III and continuing on Mermaid III. A trailer and a musical number from The Little Mermaid III are attached to the DVD re-release for the original film.

Theatrical release history

 * November 17, 1989 (original release)
 * November 14, 1997 (re-release)

Home video release history

 * 1990 (VHS - Walt Disney Classics Edition) - The film's home video debut was in May 1990 after a highly successful run at the box-office. Consumers made this the year's top-selling title on home video, with over 10 million units sold (including 7 million in its first month). It was one of the highest-selling home video titles ever at the time. On the cover of this version, one of the pillars on the golden castle bears an uncanny resemblence to a phallus. It is rumored to have been the handiwork of a disgruntled artist.
 * 1998 (VHS - Fully Restored Special Edition) - The growing popularity of Disney films that peaked with The Lion King in 1994 ignited much interest in "The Little Mermaid" from new Disney fans and from a new generation of kids. By the time the movie was re-released on VHS in March 1998, millions of people were eager to set their hands on a copy. The VHS sold 13 million units and ranked as the 3rd best-selling title of the year on the VHS chart.
 * 1999 (DVD - Limited Issue) - The film was included in the Limited Issue line and was released as a "barebones" DVD set with a poor video transfer and no substantial features.
 * 2006 (DVD - Platinum Edition) - The film was re-released on DVD on October 3, 2006, as part of Buena Vista Home Entertainment's Platinum Edition line of classic Walt Disney animated features. Deleted scenes, new musical sequences and several in-depth documentaries were included, as well as the Academy Award-nominated short film intended for the shelved Fantasia 2006, The Little Matchgirl. On its opening day the DVD sold 1.6 million units, and in its first week, over 4 million units, making it the biggest animated DVD debut for October. It ranked second on the DVD sales chart and enjoyed the best first week sales of all the Platinum titles. The Special edition came out in the U.K on November 6 2006.

Re-release soundtrack
A new soundtrack of the film was released with the special-edition DVD on October 3, 2006.

Disc one (original soundtrack)

 * 1) Fathoms Below
 * 2) Main Titles (Score)
 * 3) Fanfare (Score)
 * 4) Daughters of Triton
 * 5) Part of Your World
 * 6) Under the Sea
 * 7) Part of Your World (Reprise)
 * 8) Poor Unfortunate Souls
 * 9) Les Poissons
 * 10) Kiss the Girl
 * 11) Fireworks (Score)
 * 12) Jig (Score)
 * 13) The Storm (Score)
 * 14) Descruction of the Grotto (Score)
 * 15) Flotsam and Jetsam (Score)
 * 16) Tour of the Kingdom (Score)
 * 17) Bedtime (Score)
 * 18) Wedding Announcement (Score)
 * 19) Eric to the Rescue (Score)
 * 20) Happy Ending (Score)

Disc two (bonus video and audio content)

 * 1) "Kiss the Girl" - performed by Ashley Tisdale
 * 2) "Poor Unfortunate Souls" - performed by Jonas Brothers
 * 3) "Part of Your World" - performed by Jessica Simpson
 * 4) "Under the Sea" - performed by Raven-Symoné
 * 5) MUSIC VIDEO – "Poor Unfortunate Souls" - performed by Jonas Brothers
 * 6) “MAKING OF” MUSIC VIDEO – "Kiss the Girl" - performed by Ashley Tisdale

Broadway
A Broadway stage version is in the works, with Alan Menken working on the music and Doug Wright working on the book. A demo album was produced featuring Kerry Butler as Ariel and Emily Skinner as Ursula. There is dispute whether Cheyenne Jackson or Gavin Creel was the voice of Prince Eric on the demo. Sierra Boggess has been cast as Ariel; Norm Lewis will play King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott has been cast as Ursula, and Eddie Korbich will play Scuttle.

Trivia

 * The film was originally planned as one of Disney's earliest films. Production started soon after Snow White, but was put on hold due to various circumstances.
 * The idea for the movie was one of Walt Disney's favorites. 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. (source: DVD making of)
 * Glen Keane, the supervising animator for Ariel, jokingly stated on the Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition 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? and the effect of her hair underwater was based on footage of Sally Ride, when she was in space.
 * After Ariel sings "Part of Your World" in her grotto, Sebastian falls from one of the shelves and is covered in all sorts of trinkets from Ariel's "Collection." He then scolds Ariel and rambles on about the Human World and what her father would do if he found out that she had this "collection." While Sebastian is talking, the camera angle switches from behind Sebastian's back, to in front of him, then behind, then in front, and so on. When the camera is in front of Sebastian he clearly has a thimble on his foot. But when it shows his backside, the thimble is gone. On the 2006 DVD commentary, the artists clearly state that they were aware of this and many other mistakes throughout the movie, but they couldn't alter the scenes due to their low budget.
 * In Ursula's spell to turn Ariel human, various references to the throat and voice are made, as well as references to fish.
 * 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, and Goofy can be seen in the audience. Also, one of the audience members in this scene resembles Kermit the Frog.
 * Divine was in part the inspiration for the design of Ursula the Sea Witch.
 * In the contract Ursula has Ariel sign, there is a crude drawing of Mickey Mouse's head amongst a jumble of 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 the scene after Ursula is destroyed, Ariel's pose as she looks longingly at Eric bears no little resemblance to the famous statue of Andersen's little Mermaid in Copenhagen (sculpted by Edward Eriksen)
 * When Grim first meets Vanessa, her hair is brown. But when Vanessa is in her room getting ready, her hair is black.  Then at the wedding scene her hair is brown yet again.
 * 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.
 * The characters of The Little Mermaid, and the kingdom of Atlantica, are featured in all three installments of the popular Square Enix series of Kingdom Hearts games. In the first game, Ariel is featured as a character who joins the party in battle. In Kingdom Hearts II, Atlantica serves as a world of musical mini-games rather than a traditional searching and battle area like in the first two games. Among the songs in the mini-games, new versions of two of the songs from the film, Part of Your World and Under the Sea are featured. Ariel is also the only official Disney Princess featured in the game who is not one of the fabled Princesses of Heart. Strangely, Alice of Alice in Wonderland is featured as a Princess of Heart, while unlike Ariel, she in no way 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".
 * When Scuttle breaks Ursula's necklace near Ariel's feet and releases Ariel's voice, Ariel is shown as not wearing shoes, but the next time Ariel is shown, full body, she is wearing shoes.
 * In the scene when Ariel is going to sleep during the her first day as human, she sits on the bed and then lays down, after Sebastian turns off the candle in the room, Ariel is under the sheets, when a few moments later she falls asleep without covering herself.
 * 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, only a male voice was used on top of the English version.