Review: The Little Mermaid
Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson) is the mermaid
daughter of underwater ruler King Triton (voiced by Kenneth Mars). When the
King hears that his daughter has finally caught herself a mate, he’s overjoyed.
However, his joy turns to…well, the opposite of joy when he learns his daughter
has become infatuated with a human prince named Eric, whom she met whilst on an
unsanctioned visit to the water’s surface. Meanwhile, nefarious witch Ursula
(voiced by Pat Carroll) uses the rather naïve Ariel in her own plotting and
scheming against King Triton. Rene Auberjonois, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, and
Samuel E. Wright voice French chef Louis, seagull Scuttle, tropical fish
Flounder, and Sebastian the Calypso-singing crab, respectively.
I think I first saw this 1989 Disney animated film
in the 4th or 5th grade, but I had such little memory of
it that seeing it in 2018, I was pretty much starting fresh. Co-directed and
co-written by John Musker & Ron Clements (“Aladdin”, the rather
lesser “Hercules”) this represented the first in the new breed of Disney
animated features that probably reached its zenith with 1991’s “Beauty and
the Beast”, but some of the others are fun too, including this underwater
flick.
The animation is in that awkward phase between the
functional “Oliver & Co.” and the gorgeous “Beauty and the Beast”,
but it sure is nice and colourful, though. I’ve never been overly fond of sea
creatures, but this film and the later “Finding Nemo” make me question
that a bit, and I’m not even talking about the mermaid. Flounder, for instance
is a much more likeable character than the often annoying Dory from the “Finding
Nemo” films. The sea horses, meanwhile are simply adorable. As for Ariel,
if one puts aside the rather weird male fantasy aspect (Don’t forget, she’s
meant to be a teenager, guys!), she’s actually one of the more interesting and
appealing Disney princesses. Extremely loosely based on a Hans Christian
Andersen tale, the basic plot is one Disney would re-use to much lesser effect in
the awful “Pocahontas” (The stock-standard ‘Disney Princess falls in
love with someone daddy doesn’t approve of’ deal would also feature in “Aladdin”
now that I think of it). Despite being part fish, I’d argue that Ariel is much
more relatable as a character than Pocahontas, Belle, Jasmine, or Mulan. Of all
the many Disney princesses/heroines, she’s the one who seems most…dare I say
‘normal’. On the villain side of things, Ursula is basically a mixture of
Cruella De Vil and Madame Medusa from “The Rescuers”, the latter in
particular in terms of looks and voice. She’s really effective, and much better
than Jaffar and some of the other Disney villains of the 90s and 00s. King
Triton is expertly conveyed in both image and voice, the latter delivered by a
perfectly blustery Kenneth Mars.
On the downside of things, I loathe the
‘BROOAAAADDDDWWAAAAAYYYY!!!!’-style songs here by Howard Ashman & Alan
Menken. It’d become formula for Disney after this (including the more recent “Frozen”),
but most of these ones are nowhere near as good as anything in the subsequent “Beauty
and the Beast”. The major standout is unquestionably ‘Under the Sea’, which
is also simply one of the best Disney songs of all-time, and pretty much the
only song anyone remembers here (It even won an Oscar).
It’s not quite
as good as “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”,
“Tarzan”, or possibly even “Aladdin” (Which had the added bonus
of humour), but I liked this one. It’s standard storytelling, but one of the
better versions of this standard Disney animated storyline. It’s really, really
nice.
Rating: B-
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