Review of The Little Mermaid (1989) by Harry W — 17 Nov 2013

The Little Mermaid sounds like a solely female-driven fare being a Disney princess movie about love and mermaids, but it's actually a strongly entertaining and magical story with vibrant animation and magnificent colour.

For one thing, the quality of the animation in The Little Mermaid is incredible for a hand-drawn feature as it is full of magical colour and a bright aesthetic tone which makes it thoroughly appealing matched against its dark premise.

The plot in The Little Mermaid is dark and an exploration of complicated territory as it focuses largely on how many sacrifices must be made to achieve what is viewed as true happiness, and it makes the successful choice of never forcing any of the themes but by making them come naturally to the story through Disney's strong storytelling medium and true feel of magic within the atmosphere. The Little Mermaid is a strong film which explores its themes through magnificent animation which hits a peak of perfection during the final scene, which is gripping, intense and excellently animated.

The musical score is also a powerful one, as is the various magical songs used which give the true feel that a Disney film of this calibre needs. The script is also very clever and witty at times, and the voice acting is excellent. The characters are all memorable and really it's all just a powerful visual experience.

The only real issues are how simple the narrative is and the fact that the main character Ariel has neglected to understand the kind of chaos she has caused for everyone due to her selfish actions. I know this is a Disney princess movie, but it teaches that loving someone that you have to make a massive change for is ok, even when that change destroys lives.

But still, The Little Mermaid has all the colour and all the magic to pass as a largely successful Disney animated film.