The Little Mermaid (1989)

Directors:

Ron Clements
John Musker

Writers:

Roger Allers (story)
Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale)

Release Date:

17 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Somewhere under the sea and beyond your imagination is an adventure in fantasy.

Plot:

A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.

Plot Keywords:

Teen Angst | Fish Out Of Water | Whimsical | Romance | Magical

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Rene Auberjonois	...	Louis (voice)
Christopher Daniel Barnes	...	Prince Eric (voice)
Jodi Benson	...	Ariel (voice)
Pat Carroll	...	Ursula (voice)
Paddi Edwards	...	Flotsam & Jetsam (voice)
Buddy Hackett	...	Scuttle (voice)
Jason Marin	...	Flounder (voice)
Kenneth Mars	...	King Triton (voice)
Edie McClurg	...	Carlotta (voice)
Will Ryan	...	Seahorse (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Grimsby (voice)
Samuel E. Wright	...	Sebastian (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Adler	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jack Angel	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Hamilton Camp	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Additional Voices (voice)
J.D. Daniels	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jennifer Darling	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Gail Farrell	...	Additional Vocalist (voice)
Ed Gilbert	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Gerrit Graham	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Anne Lockhart	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mickie McGowan	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Rod McKuen	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Malachi Pearson	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Kimmy Robertson	...	Alana (voice)
Lee Tockar	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Robert Weil	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (original release) | DTS (re-release) (1997) | Dolby Digital (re-release) (1997) | Dolby (35 mm prints) (original release) | SDDS (re-release) (1997)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Singapore:G | Portugal:M/4 | West Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Belgium:KT | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-6/3 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:0 (re-release) | Ireland:G | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Silver Screen Partners IV

Trivia:

Another first for recent years: Live actors and actresses were filmed for reference material for the animators. Sherri Stoner acted out Ariel's key scenes. Not all of Disney's animators approved the use of live-action reference; Glen Keane, the co-supervising animator of Ariel said in an interview with the Orange County Register that one artist quit the project rather than work with live-action reference.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eric is waiting for Ariel to arrive at dinner, he doesn't cast a shadow.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Make Room for Lisa (#10.16)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Part of Your World

Among the best fantasy films of all time

The mermaid herself is charming. She is animated with real passion - and voiced with real passion too, by Jodi Benson, who provides a powerful argument that whoever provides the speaking voice should also provide the singing voice. She is an innocent heroine but by no means a colourless one. That the prince should fall in love with her, on just seeing her and hearing her voice, is entirely credible.

The same could not be said for Andersen's original mermaid, who is a very cold fish indeed, solely concerned with grabbing immortality, considering the prince as no more than a handy means to it. It's this (and the high value placed on Christianity at the expense of decency) that makes Andersen's ending so insufferable. Obviously, another ending had to be found; and while it must be said that the big ending Musker and Clements came up with is a weak one, it must also be said that it's an improvement.

Musker and Clements still have a problem with their finales (witness `Aladdin' and `Hercules'), but they have countervailing strengths, and those strengths are most apparent here. The songs are all exceptionally staged (the well-known `Under the Sea' actually being the least effective), the comedy is sharp and well-timed, and - more obviously here than anywhere else - they really believe in what they're doing. They give credit to Howard Ashman for this and they could be right; whatever the reason, an air of innocence and sincerity pervades `The Little Mermaid' which makes it - and her - utterly irresistible.