The Little Mermaid (1989 film)

The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a beautiful mermaid princess who dreams of becoming human. Written, directed, and produced by Ron Clements and John Musker, with music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (who also served as a co-producer), 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.

The 28th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989 to largely positive reviews, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and $211 million in total lifetime gross worldwide. After the success of the 1988 Disney/Amblin film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after a string of critical or commercial failures produced by Disney that dated back to the early 1970s. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance.

A stage adaptation of the film 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.

Plot
Ariel, a sixteen-year-old mermaid princess, is dissatisfied with underwater life and is curious about the human world. With her best friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts and goes to the surface of the ocean to visit Scuttle the seagull, who offers very inaccurate knowledge of human culture. She ignores the warnings of her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, and his adviser and court composer Sebastian 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 the birthday of Prince Eric on a ship. Ariel quickly becomes enamored with Eric. The birthday celebration is cut short by a violent storm which wrecks the ship and tosses Eric overboard Ariel saves the unconscious Eric from drowning and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but quickly leaves as soon as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Fascinated by the memory of her voice, Eric vows to find who saved and sang to him, and Ariel vows to find a way to join him and his world. Noticing a change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian about her behavior and learns of her love for Eric. Furious, Triton confronts Ariel in her grotto, where she and Flounder store human artifacts, and destroys the objects with his trident to her dismay. 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 agrees 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 saved 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 their narrow escape, 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 finds out that Eric will be married to the disguised Ursula. Scuttle discovers that Vanessa is actually Ursula in disguise, and informs Ariel who immediately pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various animals. In the chaos, the nautilus shell around Ursula's neck is broken, 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 reveals herself and kidnaps Ariel. A furious 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, Eric hits her with a harpoon. Ursula tries to strike down Eric, but Ariel interferes, causing Ursula to inadvertently kill Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow into monstrous proportions.

Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before Ursula grows past and towers over the two. She then gains full control of the entire ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ursula attempts to kill Ariel, Eric steers a wrecked ship towards Ursula, impaling her with the ship's splintered bowsprit. With Ursula destroyed, Triton and the other polyps in Ursula's garden revert into their original forms. Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a human and blesses her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart.

Cast

 * Jodi Benson as Ariel
 * Christopher Daniel Barnes as Eric
 * Pat Carroll as Ursula
 * Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
 * Jason Marin as Flounder
 * Kenneth Mars as King Triton
 * Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
 * Ben Wright as Grimsby
 * Paddi Edwards as Flotsam & Jetsam
 * Edie McClurg as Carlotta
 * Will Ryan as Seahorse
 * René Auberjonois as Louis
 * Kimmy Robertson as Ariel's sisters
 * Caroline Vasicek as Ariel's sisters
 * Frank Welker as Max/Glut the Shark

Additional voices

 * Hamilton Camp
 * Debbie Shapiro
 * Robert Weil
 * Ed Gilbert
 * Charlie Adler
 * Jack Angel
 * Susan Boyd
 * Steve Bulen
 * Nancy Cartwright
 * Philip Clarke
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Allan Davies
 * Gail Farrell
 * Donny Gerrard
 * Mitch Gordon
 * Willie Greene Jr.
 * Linda Harmon
 * Walter S. Harrah
 * Phillip Ingram
 * Luana Jackman
 * William A. Kanady
 * Edie Lehmann
 * Anne Lockhart
 * Sherry Lynn
 * Melissa MacKay
 * Guy Maeda
 * Lynn Dolin Mann
 * Arne B. Markussen
 * Mickie T. McGowan
 * Gene J. Merlino
 * Lewis Morford
 * Kathleen O'Connor
 * Patrick Pinney
 * Marilyn Powell
 * Gloria G. Prosper
 * Michael Redman Jr.
 * Sally Stevens
 * Robert Tebow
 * Rob Trow
 * Joe Turano
 * Jackie Ward
 * Bobbi White
 * Robert S. Zwirn
 * Jim Cummings
 * J.D. Daniels
 * Gerrit Graham
 * Rob McKuen
 * Malachi Pearson

Home media
In a then atypical and controversial move for a new Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid was released as part of the Walt Disney Classics line of VHS and Laserdisc home video releases in May 1990, six months after the release of the film. Before Mermaid, only a select number of Disney's catalog animated films had been released to home video, as the company was afraid of upsetting its profitable practice of theatrically reissuing each film every seven years. Mermaid became that year's top-selling title on home video, with over 10 million units sold (including 7 million in its first month). This success led future Disney films to be released soon after the end of their theatrical runs, rather than delayed for several years.

Following Mermaid's 1997 re-release in theaters, a new VHS version of the film was released in March 1998 as part of the Masterpiece Collection and included a bonus music video of Jodi Benson singing "Part of Your World" during the end credits, replacing "Under the Sea" as the end credit song. The VHS sold 13 million units and ranked as the third best-selling video of the year.

The Little Mermaid was released in a Limited Issue "bare-bones" DVD in 1999, with a standard video transfer and no substantial features. The film was re-released on DVD on October 3, 2006, as part of the Walt Disney Platinum Editions line of classic Walt Disney animated features, including the song "Kiss the Girl" performed by Ashley Tisdale. Deleted scenes and several in-depth documentaries were included, as well as an Academy Award-nominated short film intended for the shelved Fantasia 2006, The Little Match Girl. The DVD sold 1.6 million units on its first day of release, and over 4 million units during its first week, making it the biggest animated DVD debut for October. By year's end, the DVD had sold about 7 million units and was one of the year's top ten selling DVDs. The Platinum Edition DVD was released as part of a "Little Mermaid Trilogy" boxed set on December 16, 2008. The Platinum Edition of the film, along with its sequels, went on moratorium in January 2009. The film was re-released on 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo, a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo and 3D Blu-ray on October 1, 2013, as part of the Walt Disney Diamond Editions line. It was released on Blu-ray Tape and DVD on October 4, 2022 as part of Walt Disney Ultra Collection.