The Little Mermaid (1989 film)

Georges de La Tour's painting Magdalene with the Smoking Flame (1640) 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.[16] Development started soon after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the late 1930s, but was delayed due to various circumstances.[17]

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.[18] Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore.[19] Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater,[18] Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of The Little Mermaid 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.[19] 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.[16] Many of the changes made by the staff in the 1930s to Hans Christian Andersen's original story was coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s.[19]

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.[19] 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.[16] 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.[20]

More money and resources were dedicated to The Little Mermaid than any other Disney animated film in decades.[16] 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.[21] 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.[21] 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.[19][22] 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.[22] Before Benson was cast, Melissa Fahn was considered for the part.[23]

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.[16] 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."[24] The character's body type 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 both footage of Sally Ride when she was in space,[16] and scenes of Stoner in a pool for guidance in animating Ariel's swimming.[25]

The design of the villainous Ursula was based upon drag performer Divine.[16] An additional early inspiration before Divine was Joan Collins in her role as Alexis Carrington in the television show Dynasty, due to a suggestion from Howard Ashman, who was a fan of the series.[26] 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, and Elaine Stritch were considered for the part.[27] Stritch was eventually cast as Ursula, but clashed with Howard Ashman's style of music production and was replaced by Carroll.[27] 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.[26]

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.[16] 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.[16]

The Little Mermaid was the last Disney feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation, as well as the last Disney traditionally cel animated feature film directed by Clements and Musker. 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. 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.[16] The film being both the first film of the Disney Renaissance and the last to use the xerography technology used since the late 1950s with Sleeping Beauty made it somewhat of a transitional film between the two Disney eras.[28][29]

The Little Mermaid was considered by some as "the film that brought Broadway into cartoons".[30] 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 an audience of school 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 popular 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.[26]

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 video releases in May 1990, six months after the release of the film.[20][39] Before The Little Mermaid, only a select number of Disney's catalog animated films had been released to home video, as the company was afraid of upsetting its profitable practice of theatrically reissuing each film every few years.[20] 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).[40] The home video release, along with box office and merchandise sales, contributed to The Little Mermaid generating a total revenue of $1 billion.[41] This success led to future Disney films being released on home video soon after the end of their theatrical runs, rather than delayed for several years.[20]

Following The Little Mermaid's 1997 re-release in theaters, a new VHS version was released in March 1998 as part of the 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.[42] The VHS sold 13 million units and ranked as the third best-selling video of the year.[43][44]

The Little Mermaid was released in a "bare-bones" limited issue DVD in 1999, with a standard video transfer.[45] The film was re-released on DVD on October 3, 2006, as part of the Walt Disney Platinum Editions line of classic Walt Disney animated features, including the song "Kiss the Girl" performed by Ashley Tisdale.[46] Deleted scenes and several in-depth documentaries were included, as well as an Academy Award-nominated short film intended for the shelved Fantasia 2006, The Little Matchgirl.[47] The DVD sold 1.6 million units on its first day of release,[48] and over 4 million units during its first week, making it the biggest animated DVD debut for October. By the year's end, the DVD had sold about 7 million units and was one of the year's top 10 selling DVDs.[49] The Platinum Edition DVD was released as part of a "Little Mermaid Trilogy" boxed set on December 16, 2008.[50] The Platinum Edition of the film, along with its sequels, went on moratorium in January 2009. The film was re-released on a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo, a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo and 3D Blu-ray on October 1, 2013, as part of the Walt Disney Diamond Editions line.[33][51] The Little Mermaid was re-released on HD and 4K digital download on February 12, 2019, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 26, 2019, as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection in honor of the film's 30th anniversary.

In June 2016, Disney held special presentations of the film at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, titled The Little Mermaid in Concert. The performances combined a screening of The Little Mermaid with live accompaniment by guest musicians and celebrities, including Sara Bareilles (who performed as Ariel), Tituss Burgess (who performed as Sebastian as a reprisal of his role in the stage adaptation), Darren Criss (who performed as Prince Eric), Rebel Wilson (who performed as Ursula), Joshua Colley (who performed as Flounder), John Stamos (who performed as Chef Louis) and Norm Lewis (who performed as King Triton as a reprisal of his role in the stage adaptation). The four additional songs written for the stage adaptation were also incorporated into the presentation, accompanied by scenes of the film's original concept art. During the third and final performance, Jodi Benson replaced Bareilles to reprise her original role as Ariel, while Brad Kane (the singing voice of the title character of Aladdin) and Susan Egan (who played Belle in the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast) also made special appearances, singing songs from their respective films, and a duet of "A Whole New World".[52][53]

From May 17–18, 2019, the Hollywood Bowl hosted another live presentation, titled The Little Mermaid: An Immersive Live-to Film Concert Experience. These performances once again combined a screening of the film with live renditions of the film's songs, this time starring Lea Michele as Ariel, Harvey Fierstein as Ursula, Cheech Marin as Chef Louis, Ken Page as Sebastian, Peter Gallagher as King Triton, Leo Gallo as Prince Eric, and an uncredited actor as Scuttle. This presentation utilized the same four songs written for the stage adaptation.[54]

Early in the production of The Little Mermaid, Jeffrey Katzenberg cautioned Clements, Musker, and their staff, telling them that since The Little Mermaid was a "girl's film", it would make less money at the box office than Oliver & Company, which had been Disney's biggest animated box office success in a decade.[19][20] However, by the time the film was closer to completion, Katzenberg was convinced The Little Mermaid would be a hit and the first animated feature to earn more than $100 million in its initial run and become a "blockbuster" film.[19][20]

During its original 1989 theatrical release, The Little Mermaid earned $84.4 million at the North American box office,[55] falling short of Katzenberg's expectations but earning 64% more than Oliver & Company[20] and becoming the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run.[56] The film was theatrically reissued on November 14, 1997, on the same day as Anastasia, a Don Bluth animated feature for Fox Animation Studios. The reissue brought $27.2 million in additional gross.[55] The film also drew $123 million in box office earnings outside the United States and Canada between both releases, resulting in a total international box office figure of $233 million.[3]

Review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has a 93% approval score based on 70 reviews and 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".[57] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, was enthusiastic about the film and wrote that, "The Little Mermaid is a jolly and inventive animated fantasy—a movie that's so creative and so much fun it deserves comparison with the best Disney work of the past." Ebert also commented positively on the character of Ariel, stating, "... Ariel is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny."[58] The staff of TV Guide wrote a positive review, praising the film's return to the traditional Disney musical as well as the film's animation. Yet they also wrote that the film is detracted from by the juvenile humor and the human characters' eyes. While still giving a positive review, they stated that the film "can't compare to the real Disney classics (which appealed equally to both kids and adults)."[59] The staff of Variety praised the film for its cast of characters, Ursula in particular, as well as its animation, stating that the animation "proves lush and fluid, augmented by the use of shadow and light as elements like fire, sun and water illuminate the characters." They also praised the musical collaboration between Howard Ashman and Alan Menken "whose songs frequently begin slowly but build in cleverness and intensity."[60]

Todd Gilchrist of IGN wrote a positive review of the film, stating that the film is "an almost perfect achievement." Gilchrist also praised how the film revived interest in animation as it was released at a time when interest in animation was at a lull.[61] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote a mixed review of the film, referring to it as a "likably unspectacular adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic." Hinson went on to write that the film is average even at its highest points. He wrote that while there is nothing wrong with the film, it would be difficult for children to identify with Ariel and that the characters seemed bland. Hinson concluded his review saying that the film is "accomplished but uninspiring, The Little Mermaid has enough to please any kid. All that's missing is the magic."[62] Empire gave a positive review of the film, stating that "[The Little Mermaid is] a charmer of a movie, boasting all the ingredients that make a Disney experience something to treasure yet free of all the politically correct, formulaic elements that have bogged down the more recent productions."[63]

In April 2008 – almost 20 years after the film's initial release in 1989 – Yahoo! users voted "The Little Mermaid" as No. 14 on the top 30 animated films of all time. Later, when Yahoo! updated the list in June of the same year, the film remained on the list but dropped six slots to end at #20. (Only three other traditionally animated Disney animated films - Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, respectively - scored above it in the poll even after the update.)[64] In 2011, Richard Corliss of TIME Magazine named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films".[65]

The Little Mermaid, Disney's first animated fairy tale since Sleeping Beauty (1959),[19] is an important film in animation history for many reasons. Chief among these are its re-establishment of animation as a profitable venture for The Walt Disney Company, as the company's theme parks, television productions, and live-action features had overshadowed the animated output since the 1950s.[20] The Little Mermaid was the second film, following Oliver & Company, produced after Disney began expanding its animated output following its successful live action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and became Disney's first animated major box office and critical hit since The Rescuers in 1977.[20] Walt Disney Feature Animation was further expanded as a result of The Little Mermaid and increasingly successful follow-ups — Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). The staff increased from 300 members in 1988 to 2,200 in 1999 spread across three studios in Burbank, California, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.[21]

In addition, The Little Mermaid signaled the re-establishment of the musical film format as a standard for Disney animated films. The majority of Disney's most popular animated films from the 1930s on had been musicals, though by the 1970s and 1980s the role of music had been de-emphasized in the films.[19] 1988's Oliver & Company had served as a test of sorts to the success of the musical format before Disney committed to the Broadway-style structure of The Little Mermaid.[19]

In January 1990, The Little Mermaid earned three Academy Award nominations, making it the first Disney animated film to earn an Academy Award nomination since The Rescuers in 1977. The film won two of the awards, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea"). The film also earned four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture—Comedy or Musical, and won the awards for Best Original Song ("Under the Sea") and Best Original Score.[66]

In addition to the box office and critical success of the film itself, the film's soundtrack album earned two awards at the 33rd Grammy Awards in 1991: the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children and the Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television ("Under the Sea").[67] Bolstered by the film's success and the soundtrack's Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards, was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in September 1990 for shipments of two million copies of the soundtrack album, an unheard of feat for an animated film at the time.[68] To date, the soundtrack has been certified six times platinum.[68]

The Little Mermaid won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score as well as Best Original Song for Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's "Under the Sea", sung by Samuel E. Wright in a memorable scene.[69] Another song from the film, "Kiss the Girl", was nominated but lost to "Under the Sea".[69] The film also won two Golden Globes for Best Original Score as well Best Original Song for "Under the Sea". It was also nominated in two other categories, Best Picture—Comedy or Musical and another Best Original Song. Menken and Ashman also won a Grammy Award in 1991 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television for "Under the Sea."[70]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated[71]
• 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
  • Ursula – Nominated Villain[72]
• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "Under the Sea" – Nominated[73]
• 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[74]
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Nominated Animation Film[75]

Controversy arose regarding the artwork for the film's original VHS release when consumers noticed an oddly shaped structure on the castle, closely resembling a human penis.[76][77] Disney and the cover designer insist it was an accident, resulting from a late night rush job to finish the cover artwork. The object does not appear on the cover of the second release of the movie.[76]

Another allegation is that the clergyman presiding over the wedding between Eric and Ursula (the latter disguised as Vanessa) is seen to have an erection.[78][79] The object in question is actually the short, stubby-legged man's knee.[80]

The combined incidents led an Arkansas woman to file suit against The Walt Disney Company in 1995, though she dropped the suit two months later.[79][80][81][82][83]

In May 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Disney was in early development for a live-action adaptation of the film.[85]

In August, it was announced that Alan Menken would return as the film's composer and write new songs alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, who will also co-produce the film with Marc Platt.[86]

Studio veterans Lindsay Lohan and Chris Evans expressed interest in starring in the adaptation.[87][88][89]

In December 2017, Rob Marshall was being courted by the Walt Disney Company to direct the film, while Jane Goldman would serve as screenwriter.[90] In December 2018, Marshall said that he, along with John DeLuca and Marc Platt were hired to begin developing the project for a film adaptation.[91] The same month, Marshall was officially hired as director for the film.[92][93] David Magee will co-write the script with Goldman.

In May 2019, Menken stated that The Little Mermaid would be his next project, following the release of the live-action adaptation of Aladdin.[94] In June, it was announced that Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina were in talks to portray Ursula, Flounder, and a gender-swapped Scuttle, respectively.[95][96]

By July, Halle Bailey was cast in the starring role as Ariel.[97] It was also announced the same month that Harry Styles and Javier Bardem were in talks to play Prince Eric and King Triton, respectively.[98][99] However, by August, Styles stepped down as Prince Eric due to focusing on his music career.[100][101]

Later, in September, it was reported that Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King were two of the finalists to play Prince Eric.[102] In November 2019, Hauer-King was officially cast in the role.[103]

In October, it was also announced that Daveed Diggs was in talks to voice Sebastian.[104]

In February 2020, Melissa McCarthy confirmed her casting as Ursula during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: “I play Ursula, the sea witch. It is so fun, we’re just in rehearsals. It’s been an absolute blast. Stepping into the world of Rob Marshall, it’s like a fever dream, I just went to London for a week, I was like, ‘I don’t get to go to dance camp for a week.’ All day he’s like, ‘Do you want to slide down this 40-foot clam shell?’ I’m like, ‘Yes! Of course I do. What are you, crazy?’ It’s been wildly creative.”[105]

In March 2020, it was confirmed that other characters like Vanessa, Grimsby, Max, Chef Louis, and the rest of Ariel's family, including her mother and sisters, will also appear in the film.[106]

Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in April 2020 at Pinewood Studios, London, United Kingdom and in Cornwall, South West England, but production on the film was temporarily halted in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[107][108][109][110] Filming is expected to begin as early as July 2020.[106][111]

On May 16, 2017, ABC announced that it planned to air The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live, on October 3, 2017, which would have featured a broadcast of the film with a similar format to the aforementioned Hollywood Bowl concerts. The special aimed to appeal to the recent trend of live made-for-TV productions of Broadway musicals on network television, such as those of NBC.[112] However, on August 3, 2017, it was announced that the special had been dropped due to budget issues.[113]

On August 5, 2019, it was announced that the project had been revived to mark the 30th anniversary of the film's original release, and would be aired on November 5, 2019. Auli'i Cravalho, Queen Latifah and Shaggy starred as Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian, respectively.[114] Other cast members included John Stamos as Chef Louis and Graham Phillips as Prince Eric.[115] The special featured performances of songs from the film and its Broadway adaptations in a themed "dive-in theater" setting at the Disney lot, accompanied by the film itself.[114][116] It was produced by Done and Dusted, with director-executive producer Hamish Hamilton and executive producer Richard Kraft (who had also worked on the aforementioned concerts).[117] Amber Riley portrayed Emcee, the lead singer of the song "Daughters of Triton".[118] Jodi Benson introduced the special.[119]

In addition to marking the film's anniversary, the special was also used as a pre-launch promotional push for the new Disney+ streaming service, which was launched on November 12, 2019.[120][121]