Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Way Back Wednesday - The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid was released in 1989 by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Can you believe it's been 20 years? The film is given credit for reviving the animated feature film genre and starting of the era known as the Disney Renaissance.

Ariel is a 16-year-old mermaid princess and dissatisfied with life under the sea and curious about the human world. With her best fish friend Flounder, Ariel collects human artifacts and goes to the surface of the ocean to visit Scuttle the seagull, who offers very inaccurate and comical knowledge of human culture. Ignoring the warnings of her father, King Triton, and court musician, Sebastian the crab, that contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden, Ariel still longs to be part of the human world; to this end she has filled a secret grotto with all the human artifacts she has found.

Of course, what Disney movie would be complete without a hero and a villian? Prince Eric is the human love interest of Ariel. After saving Prince Eric from drowning, Ariel falls hopelessly in love, but King Triton refuses to accept the "human." In a fit of misery, Ariel visits the evil Ursula and makes a deal.

Ariel is transformed from a mermaid to a real girl and has 3 days for Prince Eric to give her "loves real kiss" or she'll be turned back into a mermaid and become Ursula's slave. Payment for this service is Ariel's singing voice.

Like all Disney movies, this one has a feel-good meaning and a happy ending. Beautiful animation and uplifting songs help bring this classic story to life.

2 comments:

Julia Phillips Smith said...

I do love this version - who couldn't? - but the animated version from the 70's narrated by Richard Chamberlain is my favorite. It doesn't have a happily-ever-after in the slightest, but I just adore it. Actually, I don't always need a happily-ever-after. Sometimes I prefer not to get it in my fiction.

Thanks for the head's up about Robin Hood season 3. I've already watched it on You Tube, but those episodes have been removed now. (Can you say obsessed?) I'm trying to find it listed on BBC Canada. More incredible goings-on in Nottingham, Bobbi...

Thomma Lyn said...

ACK!!! It's been twenty years since The Little Mermaid... twenty years? Goodness, I feel so old!

Thanks for the blast from the past! :)