The Little Mermaid (1989 film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Little Mermaid |
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Original theatrical release poster by John Alvin
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| Music by | Alan Menken |
| Editing by | Mark Hester |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 17, 1989 |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Money made | $233 million |
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film tells the story of a mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him. Written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (who also served as co-producer alongside John Musker), and art direction by Michael Peraza Jr. and Donald A. Towns, the film features the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Buddy Hackett, and René Auberjonois.
Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's stories, but scrapped the project. In 1985, while working on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Clements and Musker decided to adapt the fairy tale and proposed it to Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who initially declined due to its similarities to a proposed sequel to the 1984 film Splash, but ultimately approved of it. Ashman became involved and brought in Menken. With supervision from Katzenberg, they made a Broadway-style structure with musical numbers as the staff was working on Oliver & Company (1988). Katzenberg warned that the film would earn less since it appealed to females, but he eventually became convinced that it would be Disney's first blockbuster hit.
The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989 to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and $233 million in total lifetime gross worldwide. After the major success of both the 1986 Disney animated film The Great Mouse Detective and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").
The film's success led to a stage adaptation with a book by Doug Wright and additional songs by Alan Menken and new lyricist Glenn Slater opened in Denver in July 2007 and began performances on Broadway January 10, 2008 starring Sierra Boggess. Other derived works and material inspired by the movie, include a live-action film adaptation, directed by Rob Marshall, currently in production, and a 2019 live musical presentation of the film airing on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney.
Plot
Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid princess is dissatisfied with underwater life in the kingdom of Atlantica, a fantasy kingdom near the coast of Norway in the Atlantic Ocean. She is fascinated by the human world. With her best friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts in her grotto and visits Scuttle, a seagull who offers inaccurate knowledge of human culture. She ignores the warnings of her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, and Sebastian, a crab who serves as Triton's adviser and court composer, that contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden.
One night, Ariel, Flounder, and an unwilling Sebastian travel to the ocean surface to watch a celebration for Prince Eric's birthday on a ship. Ariel falls in love with Eric. A violent storm arrives, wrecking the ship. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but leaves just as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Fascinated by the memory of her voice, Eric vows to find the girl who saved and sang to him, and Ariel vows to find a way to join him in his world. Discovering a change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian about her behavior and learns of her love for Eric. An outraged Triton travels to Ariel's grotto and destroys her collection of artifacts. After Triton leaves, two eels named Flotsam and Jetsam convince Ariel to visit Ursula the sea witch.
Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel's voice, which Ursula puts in a nautilus shell. Within these three days, Ariel must receive the "kiss of true love" from Eric. If Ariel gets Eric to kiss her, she will remain a human permanently. Otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. Ariel accepts and is then given human legs and taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian. Eric finds Ariel on the beach and takes her to his castle, unaware that she is the one who had rescued him earlier. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. Angered at Ariel's close success, Ursula disguises herself as a beautiful young woman named Vanessa and appears onshore singing with Ariel's voice. Eric recognizes the song and, in her disguise, Ursula casts a hypnotic enchantment on Eric to make him forget about Ariel.
The next day, Ariel discovers that Eric will be married to Vanessa. Scuttle discovers Vanessa's true identity and informs Ariel, who immediately pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various sea animals. In the chaos, the nautilus shell around Ursula's neck is destroyed, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking Ursula's enchantment over Eric. Realizing that Ariel is the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Ursula then kidnaps Ariel. Triton confronts Ursula and demands Ariel's release, but the deal is inviolable. At Ursula's urging, Triton agrees to take Ariel's place as Ursula's prisoner, giving up his trident. Ariel is released as Triton transforms into a polyp and loses his authority over Atlantica. Ursula declares herself the new ruler, but before she can use the trident, Ariel intervenes, followed by Eric. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes, causing Ursula to inadvertently kill Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow to a monstrous size.
Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before Ursula grows past and towers over them. She then gains full control of the entire ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ursula is about to kill Ariel, Eric commandeers a wrecked ship and kills Ursula by impaling her with its splintered bowsprit. With Ursula defeated, Triton and the other polyps in Ursula's garden revert to their original forms. Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a human permanently and approves her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart.
Voice cast
- Jodi Benson as Princess Ariel, the 16-year-old mermaid princess of Atlantica who is fascinated with humans, especially Prince Eric.
- Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, a human prince who is saved by Ariel and is determined to find and marry her.
- Pat Carroll as Ursula, a sea witch who took Ariel's voice in exchange for human legs, and is determined to ruin her attempts to get Eric to love her.
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- Jodi Benson voices Vanessa, Ursula's human alter-ego and disguise.
- Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Ariel's father and the ruler of Atlantica who is prejudiced towards humans.
- Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, a Jamaican crab who serves as King Triton's advisor and court composer.
- Jason Marin as Flounder, Ariel's fish best friend.
- Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, a dimwitted seagull who shares Ariel's fascination with humans and teaches her about "human stuff."
- Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's symbiotic and insidious pet eels.
- Ben Wright as Sir Grimsby, Eric's loyal steward.
- Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Eric's maid.
- Kimmy Robertson as Andrina, Arista, Adella, and Alana, four of Ariel's sisters.
- Caroline Vasicek as Aquata and Attina, two more of Ariel's sisters.
- Will Ryan as Harold, a seahorse and Triton's herald.
- René Auberjonois as Chef Louis, Eric's mad chef who attempts to cook Sebastian, but fails.
Live-action
Live-action film adaptation
In May 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Disney was in early development for a live-action adaptation of the film.
In August 2016, 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.
Studio veterans Lindsay Lohan and Chris Evans expressed interest in starring in the adaptation.
In December 2017, Rob Marshall was being courted by the Walt Disney Company to direct the film, while Jane Goldman would serve as screenwriter. 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. The same month, Marshall was officially hired as director for the film. 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. In June 2019, it was announced that Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina were in talks to portray Ursula, Flounder, and a gender-swapped Scuttle, respectively.
By July 2019, Halle Bailey was cast in the starring role as Ariel. It was also announced the same month that Harry Styles and Javier Bardem were in talks to play Prince Eric and King Triton, respectively. However, by August 2019, it was announced that Styles turned down the role of Eric.
Later, in September 2019, it was reported that Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King were two of the finalists to play Prince Eric. In November 2019, Hauer-King was officially cast in the role.
In October 2019, it was also announced that Daveed Diggs was in talks to voice Sebastian.
In January 2020, Daveed Diggs said that the updates in the live-action film adaptation include giving more power back to Ariel.
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.”
In March 2020, it was confirmed that other characters like Grimsby, Max, Chef Louis, and the rest of Ariel's family, including her mother and sisters, will also appear in the film.
In July 2020, it was announced that Kacey Musgraves was in talks for playing Vanessa (Ursula's human form), but she eventually turned down the role. At the end of that month, Jacob Tremblay began recording his lines as Flounder.
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 COVID-19 pandemic. Filming was expected to begin in mid-2020, but instead started in January 2021 in order to accommodate McCarthy's schedule for the Hulu miniseries, Nine Perfect Strangers.
The Little Mermaid Live!
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. However, on August 3, 2017, it was announced that the special had been dropped due to budget issues.
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. Other cast members included John Stamos as Chef Louis and Graham Phillips as Prince Eric. 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. 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). Amber Riley portrayed Emcee, the lead singer of the song "Daughters of Triton". Jodi Benson introduced the special.
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.
See also
In Spanish: La sirenita (película de 1989) para niños
