Review of The Little Mermaid (1989) by Adam H — 18 Jul 2013

"The Little Mermaid" is a real work of art. It's one of Walt Disney Studio's finest animated films; a musical that's sure to win the hearts of children and adults alike and an unforgettable fairy tale. The songs are catchy, the animation spectacular and the characters are memorable. It's the film that put Walt Disney studios back on the map as the forerunner in North American animated motion pictures and you would be doing yourself a disservice by not seeing it at least once. This fable is about Ariel, a 16 year-old mermaid who dreams of living on the surface world. Despite her father King Triton's warnings the young mermaid's curiosity about the land above and the humans that live there drives her to frequently visit the surface and collect artifacts from shipwrecks. One night, Ariel and some of her sea creature friends happen upon a celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric, the prince of a nearby kingdom. The boat on which the party is taking place stumbles into a storm and the ship is destroyed. Ariel, a victim of love at first sight, saves Eric from drowning and brings him back to land. She leaves before he can see her, though he does hear her beautiful singing voice as she leaves. When Triton learns what happened, he becomes enraged and destroys Ariel's collection of artifacts. Heartbroken, Ariel visit the sea witch Ursula in a desperate attempt to join the human world. Ursula creates a potion that will make Ariel human for three days. If during that time she can get Eric to fall in love with her and kiss her, she'll stay human forever. If she fails, she will transform back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. The sea which also demands Ariel's voice as payment for the potion, meaning Eric's only clue to the woman he is looking for, the woman with the beautiful voice that saved him from drowning will be a dead end. To complicate things further, Ursula wants the Princess to fail so that she can strong-arm Triton into giving up his power over the seven seas. Ariel has to get Eric to fall in love with her against all odds, not only to be happy but to prevent Ursula from taking over the kingdom of Atlantica.

The first that needs to be brought to attention is the look of the film. The animation is amazing. Keep in mind that the picture was made before the use of computers was very popular. This means that every single bubble is hand drawn and that every single cell was pain-stakingly coloured by hand. If you're an enthusiast of the animated genre or an illustrator yourself It is breath-taking to watch the elaborate sequences where dozens of sea creatures are zipping through the screen, dragging bubbles behind them. You'll also notice the effective use of light in the film. The sequence where Ursula sings "Poor Unfortunate souls" uses light dramatically, particularly towards the end. Pay particular attention to the shadows when she is standing next to her cauldron and when Ariel is looking at the glowing contract. The light that emanates isn't just brightening up the skin tones and the background, it's creating atmosphere and altering the colors as real light does. Some subtler examples of the use of light include when Ariel is in her collection. You'll be genuinely impressed when you notice the cracks of light reflecting on the sandy seafloor and even though you'll be too busy while the story is progressing to notice all the little details, on repeat viewings you'll be taken aback trying to figure out how they pulled it all off. The fact that most of the film is set underwater presented a significant challenge for the animators because you'll notice that the characters' hair and fins are constantly flowing as they move through the water and several shots near the surface of the ocean feature picture distortions similar to the real life blurring that occurs when you look at something that is underwater. The animation on Ursula is particularly impressive. Her tentacles are constantly moving but her character always stays on-model (so there aren't any frames where the animators got lazy and the suction cups disappear). The characters are moving in three dimensions constantly and it isn't like most Disney films where most of the characters are humans ("Sleeping Beauty") or most of the characters are one or two species of animals ("101 Dalmatians"). Here there are dozens of different types of fish or sea life that form the chorus of singers and the side characters and the main cast of Ursula, Eric and Ariel are all distinct species meaning visually no two are alike.

The cast are well established and memorable. Although Ariel's goal in the end is to go to the surface world so that she can be with the prince she's fallen in love with (well, what do you expect from a teenager really?) there's a lot more to her character than that. From the beginning of the story she's established as a talented singer, a daring risk-taker that's curious and a young woman that's constantly defiant. She isn't just sitting idly by while the action is happening around her. She's the driving force behind the movie. Similarly, Ursula is more than a villain out to get the king's crown. She's shown to have a twisted sense of humor, is manipulative and intelligent. When she and Ariel are interacting it's clear that Ursula knows exactly which buttons to push to get the young mermaid to go along with her plan. She's a memorable and credible villain that poses a genuine threat, particularly towards the film's climax. Even some of the side characters are well fleshed out despite their limited screen time (think of Scuttle, Sebastian or Flounder) or if they're a one-joke character the joke has a good payoff (I personally get a real kick out of the French cook that barely speaks any French and has an explosive temper). With their personalities and their unique look you're never confused about who is who and you will instantly latch on to them and care about where the story takes these merpeople.

The film contains quite a bit of humor and some good recurring jokes (Ariel's mis-use of forks being a prominent example) so you've got the romantic and tragic aspect, the humour and a musical segments too. The film has moments of genuine heart when Triton sees his daughter crying over her destroyed collection, real joy when Ariel and Eric are finally together on the surface world getting to know each other and even a couple of moments with some pretty intense stuff that are a bit scary when Ursula is going all-out in her lair and during the climax of the film. The story also contains some wonderful songs, sung by the actual voice actors. That means that Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian, voiced by Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll and Samuel E. Wright are the only characters that sing. Prince Eric doesn't suddenly develop amazing vocals for a single scene and that means the songs/score written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman mesh perfectly with the rest of the film. The action doesn't stop so the fishes can have their song and dance numbers, these musical sequences add to the story and character development. There really isn't a single song that will stand out as "the one to look out for" either. "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", "Kiss the Girl" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" are all equally good and original in their choice of voices, beat and instruments so it's not like the movie goes downhill musically after a certain amount of minutes.

If you're young you'll be swept away by the spectacle that's contained in the film and if you're an adult, congratulations! You're now old enough to fully appreciate all the little details that make this movie great. Its beautiful to watch and features some of Disney's best and catchiest songs, the characters are developed and likeable, the jokes are funny and the story is exciting, even moving at times. If you're a father the film will really hit a soft spot and if you're looking to connect (or re-connect) with your little princess, watching this on Dvd (or Blu-ray as of September 2013) is a perfect opportunity to do so. "The Little Mermaid" won over audiences when it was first released in 1989 and it still works wonders today. (Dvd, July 16, 2013).