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The Little Mermaid (1989) More at IMDbPro »

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153 comments in total

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84 out of 91 people found the following comment useful :-
This is my favourite movie of all time..., 17 December 1998

Author: Richard Galloway (rg397@soton.ac.uk) from Southampton, England

I probably never would have seen this movie if my mother hadn't persuaded me to take my little brother to see it. I enjoyed it a lot the first time, but it was only when I saw it again a couple of years later on video I realised just how superb a movie it is. It's not a clever or complex movie, it's not the kind of film which works on an adult level as well as on a children's one. However, three aspects of it make it truly great:

1: The music. 'Under The Sea' richly deserved its Oscar, but 'Part Of Your World' deserved it even more.

2. The animation. Quite simply, it's absolutely gorgeous. The underwater scenes in particular take your breath away.

3. The Story. How can you resist a love story that touching?

I urge anyone with even a touch of sentimentality about them to set their predjudices aside and see this movie.

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46 out of 49 people found the following comment useful :-
May Have Saved Disney's Movie Franchise., 3 July 2002
Author: tfrizzell from United States

Disney animated films had become somewhat second-rate by 1989 and it appeared that one of the great genres in the cinema was on life-support. But that all changed with "The Little Mermaid". The film is a cinematic classic that tells the story of a young mermaid princess who just wants to be human so she makes a deal with an evil sea witch to get her wish, but she loses her beautiful voice in the process and she must be kissed by her true love to get it back. A really great motion picture that has some really memorable songs in it. 5 stars out of 5.

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45 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
Life must be great under the sea!, 20 January 2004

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

The Little Mermaid is one of the best Disney films of the 80's! It's such a wonderful film and is such a tear jerker, lol. The songs, the story, the animation, the voices, were just so wonderful and perfect. This is the film that I'm sure will go on for generations to come, I just showed it to my cousin recently, he's 6, and he just loves it as well. I remember watching this movie when I was a little girl and I just wanted a friend like Sebastian, he was so much fun, even though he's somewhat of a buzz kill, he can really get the party going. Just the whole story is a blast to watch and is so beautiful.

Ariel is one of the many princesses of King Triton's mighty kingdom under the sea, but she has a different dream. She goes up constantly to the shore to collect human items and wonders what it would be like to be a human instead of a mermaid. One day when she gets into a nasty fight with her father, Ursella, an evil octopus woman who wants to take over King Triton's kingdom, grants Ariel's wish, but she can only stay human if she can get her crush, Eric, to say her name, sounds easy, right? Well, Ursella takes her voice away, but her intentions are for Ariel to fail and make sure that she takes over the kingdom.

The Little Mermaid is such a fun Disney film and is a great treasure of our time. I just love the song "Under the sea", it's so much fun to sing and dance too, I admit it, I'm a dork, I still sing and dance to it when I see it. I highly recommend this movie for anyone, it's a true Disney classic that is so much fun, I guarantee you that you might shed a tear when Ariel says "Daddy", you'll see what I mean when you watch it.

10/10

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33 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
An incredibly romantic movie!, 6 August 1999

Author: Michael Bregman from London, England

Yeah, yeah... It's the little mermaid, the same cute barbie-like character little girls love so much... But the movie is great. If you just free yourself from the sissy pink image of the movie you're in for a treat.

The songs are great, by the same team who gave us Little Shop Of Horrors: Alan Menken and Howard Ashman who teamed up in Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin as well. Aladdin was their last project together with Ashman's untimely death from AIDS in 1991.

The story is funny and romantic, so who cares if it's not following the original tale? A perfect movie for everyone, not just little girls.

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26 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Among the best fantasy films of all time, 23 August 1999

Author: Spleen from Canberra, Australia

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.

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25 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Wait a minute - there are actually people who HATE this?, 6 October 2002

Author: Victor Field from London, England

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.

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22 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Disney at it's best, 6 November 2000
Author: White Dolphin

The Little Mermaid is one of Disney's best animated motion pictures. It tells the classic Hans Christian Anderson story of a mermaid who wishes she could be human in order to capture the love of a human prince. The animation is beautiful, in fact I think this is one of Disney's most flawless films. It features lovable characters: Ariel the little mermaid is one of my favorite 'Disney girls', Sebastian the crab, Scuttle the wacky seagull, Flounder the... flounder, Triton Ariel's father the Sea King and of course prince charming- Eric. And don't think I forgot the most despised octopus of the oceans- Ursula and her two eels Flotsam and Jetsum. Great beginning and great ending... and of course a lovable story. The music is beautiful (and rightfully won the Oscar for best score and best song). The score is by Alan Menken (who also provided us with the scores of Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast). Some of the most beautiful Disney songs are in The Little Mermaid- Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl and for a little bit of dancin' Under the Sea. A movie for all ages, you will be enchanted by Ariel's world under the sea, by the wacky characters, the cruel but in a strange way lovable Ursula, the score, the songs, the story and the animation. I hope everybody has The Little Mermaid in their video collection to one day show their children and grandchildren or any youngster (or adult for that matter). You will be captured by Ariel and want to be part of her (most intriguing) world.

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Little Mermaid" Surprised Me, 28 April 1999
Author: JKearse from Columbia, SC

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.

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28 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
Great movie for little kids, 5 August 2002
Author: Llamas Rule (smurfmunchkin@yahoo.com) from NM, USA

I saw this movie when I was very young and I loved it. It had a perfect fairy-tale ending and totally followed the formula for Disney movies in a great way. It really got it's message across with catchy tunes and fun characters.

On the down side, while it had a great message, it didn't stay true to what Hans Christian Andersen wrote. I hadn't read Andersen's version until very recently, but I loved it. I thought it had a much better and far more realistic message than the Disney movie. Andersen said that if you're a good person, while you may not get your reward in life, being good is it's own reward. Disney, on the other hand, said that if you risk everything for the one you love, things will work out in the end. While that's a nice message for little kids that is very unrealistic. Good people are hurt all the time.

I've heard people say that if girls grow up watching this, they will learn that big breasts, a small waist, and having a man by your side are what's important in life. This movie was made the year I was born, so naturally, I grew up on it. I don't hold myself to unrealistic standards or feel like I must have a man to go on. So, while I don't know about all the other little girls out there, but Disney didn't corrupt me.

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28 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
Gorgeous, 17 February 2000
Author: Monika-5 from United States

Ariel is a fiery, independent teenage mermaid who falls in love with a prince. She literally makes a deal with the devil to get her man. I love how sweet Ariel is with Eric, especially when she can't talk! Sebastian, Scuttle, and Flounder are all very funny, the animation, voice-overs and music are incredible! Who can resist the urge to sing and dance to "Under The Sea"? A fun, enjoyable movie that the whole family will love and treasure.

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