The Little Mermaid (1989)

Directors:

Ron Clements
John Musker

Writers:

John Musker (written by) and
Ron Clements (written by) ...

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:

Mermaid | King | Sea | Sea Witch | Witch

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Rene Auberjonois	...	Louis (voice)
Christopher Daniel Barnes	...	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	...	Triton (voice)
Edie McClurg	...	Carlotta (voice)
Will Ryan	...	Seahorse (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Grimsby (voice)
Samuel E. Wright	...	Sebastian (voice)
Hamilton Camp	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Debbie Shapiro Gravitte	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Debbie Shapiro)
Robert Weil	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

La sirenita (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
A Pequena Sereia (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Arielle, die Meerjungfrau (West Germany) [de]
But Ha-Yum Ha-Ktana (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
De kleine zeemeermin (Netherlands) [nl]
Den lilla sjöjungfrun (Sweden) [sv]
Den lille havfrue (Denmark) [da]
Den lille havfruen (Norway) [no]
I mikri gorgona (Greece) [el]
Küçük denizkizi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
La petite sirène (France) [fr]
La sirenetta (Italy) [it]
Mala syrenka (Poland) [pl]
Pieni merenneito (Finland) [fi]
Ritoru maameido (Japan) [ja]

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 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:

Singapore:G | Iceland:L | West Germany:o.Al. | Canada:G (Quebec) | Portugal:M/4 | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | 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 (PCA #29385) | West Germany:0 (re-release) | Ireland:G | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Ben Wright's final film. When he got the part of Grimsby, Prince Eric's butler, the erstwhile Disney folks had no idea that he had been the voice of Roger in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). He had to tell them.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the dressing room scene with Ariel and her sisters, the sea flower she picks for her father does not appear until just after she looks at herself in the mirror.

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 Brice de Nice (2005)

Soundtrack:

Les Poissons

Wait a minute - there are actually people who HATE this?

I was definitely no kid when I saw "The Little Mermaid"; in fact, I was 20. I was thoroughly captivated by this movie - one of the last real delights from Disney's regular animation crews (before they had to get help from Pixar and Tim Burton) - and the Mouse couldn't have wished for a better movie to get them back on the proper road, animation-wise. (Of course, after this, "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" they've slipped a bit - though they're still better than DreamWorks.)

Though not exactly loyal to the original story - Hans Christian Andersen was much more keen on unhappy endings - it's doubtful it would have worked as well if it had. The movie has just about everything going for it... lush animation, spirited musical numbers (this started Alan Menken's run of success for Disney, and he's surely had enough time to refresh himself by now, and for us all to forget "Pocahontas"), wonderfully evil villain, likeable supporting players, and my all-time favourite Disney heroine, the endearing and lovely Ariel (remember the episode of "Cheers" when Norm said he fancied her? She got a lot of real life guys' hearts - beat that, Princess Fiona from "Shrek").

And as a plus, the subsequent TV series (set before the movie) even managed to capture some of the spirit of the movie. But go for the original... a classic.