Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's stories, but he scrapped the project. In 1985, while working onThe Great Mouse Detective (1986), Clements and Musker decided to adapt the fairy tale. They proposed it toWalt Disney Studios chairmanJeffrey Katzenberg, who initially declined due to its similarities to a proposed sequel to the 1984 filmSplash, but ultimately approved it. Ashman became involved, and brought in Menken. With supervision from Katzenberg, they made aBroadway-style structure with musical numbers as the staff was working onOliver & Company (1988). Katzenberg warned that the film would earn less since it appealed to female viewers, but he eventually became convinced that it would be anotherblockbuster hit for the company.
The Little Mermaid was released in 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,[4] and$235 million in total lifetime gross worldwide,[3] becoming thesixth-highest-grossing film of 1989. Along with the major successes ofThe Great Mouse Detective,[5][6] the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit andOliver & Company,The Little Mermaid is given credit for revitalizing the art of Disney animated feature films after an uneven period. It also marked the start of the era known as theDisney Renaissance.[7] The film won two Academy Awards forBest Original Score andBest Original Song ("Under the Sea").
Under the Atlantic Ocean, in the kingdom of Atlantica, the youngmermaidAriel is fascinated by the human world and collects human artifacts in hergrotto. With her best friendFlounder, they both visitScuttle, a seagull who gives inaccurate information about humans. However, her fatherKing Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, says contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden.
One night, Ariel, Flounder, andSebastian, a crab who serves as Triton's adviser and court composer, travel to the surface to watch a birthday celebration for Prince Eric. Ariel falls in love with Eric at first sight. A storm wrecks the ship and knocks Eric overboard. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but leaves just as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Discovering a change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian and learns of her love for Eric. Outraged, Triton travels to Ariel's grotto and destroys her collection of artifacts in a misguided attempt to protect her, causing Ariel to break down in tears.
After a remorseful Triton leaves, Ariel is approached by twoeels namedFlotsam and Jetsam, who take her toUrsula thesea 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. If Ariel receives a "true love's kiss" within that time, she will remain a human permanently. Otherwise, she will turn back into a mermaid and become Ursula's property. After accepting, Ariel is 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 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. Furious at Ariel's close success, Ursula disguises herself as a young woman named Vanessa and uses Ariel's voice to cast a hypnotic enchantment on Eric that makes him forget about Ariel. The next day, Ariel discovers that Eric will be married to Vanessa, leaving her heartbroken. Scuttle discovers that Vanessa is really Ursula and informs Ariel, who pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various sea animals. In the chaos, Ursula's shell is destroyed, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking the 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.
Turning back into her true form, Ursula 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 apolyp and loses his authority over Atlantica. With her true goal complete, Ursula declares herself the Queen of Atlantica, and claims Triton's trident when Eric appears with a harpoon. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes, causing Ursula to inadvertently kill Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow in size. Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before a gigantic Ursula separates them. She then gains full control of the ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ariel is about to be killed, Eric commandeers a wrecked ship and impales Ursula with its splinteredbowsprit. With Ursula dead, Triton and the otherpolyps in her garden revert to their original forms.
Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton turns her into a human and approves her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart, with all of Ariel's friends and family watching them as well.
A promotional image of the principal characters from the film. From left to right: King Triton, Scuttle, Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian, Ursula, and Flounder.
René Auberjonois as Chef Louis, Eric's eccentric and unhinged chef who attempts to cook Sebastian, but fails.[15]
Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, a dashing and dreamy human prince who is saved by Ariel and is determined to find and marry her.[15]
Jodi Benson asAriel, the 16-year-old adventurous and headstrong mermaid princess of Atlantica who is fascinated with the human world and falls in love with Prince Eric.[16]
Benson also voices Vanessa, Ursula's human alter-ego and disguise she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel.
Pat Carroll asUrsula, a manipulative and dastardly sea witch who takes Ariel's voice in exchange for turning her into a human, planning to use Ariel as ransom to get her father's magical trident and take over Atlantica.[15]
Ben Wright as Grimsby, Eric's no-nonsense and loyalsteward. Wright had played characters in previous Disney films like Roger Radcliffe inOne Hundred and One Dalmatians and Rama inThe Jungle Book.[15] This was his last role; he died four months before the film's release.
Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, a red Jamaican-accented Caribbeancrab who serves as King Triton's advisor and court composer.[15]
In 1985,Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director onThe Great Mouse Detective (1986) withJohn Musker.[19] Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through abookstore.[20] Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater,[19] Clements wrote and presented a two-pagetreatment ofThe Little Mermaid atWalt Disney Studios to chiefJeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting. Katzenberg passed over the proposal because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedySplash (1984) and feltThe Little Mermaid would be too similar a project.[20] The next day, however, Katzenberg approved of the idea for possible development, along withOliver & Company. While in production in the 1980s, the staff found by chance original story and visual development work done byKay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Andersen feature.[17] Many of the changes made by the staff in the 1930s to Hans Christian Andersen's original story were coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s.[20]
That year, Clements and Musker expanded the two-page idea into a 20-page rough script, eliminating the role of the mermaid's grandmother and expanding the roles of the Merman King and the sea witch. However, the film's plans were momentarily shelved as Disney focused its attention onWho Framed Roger Rabbit andOliver & Company as more immediate releases.[20] In 1987, songwriterHoward Ashman became involved with the writing and development ofThe Little Mermaid after he was asked to contribute a song toOliver & Company. He proposed changing the minor character Clarence, the English-butler crab, to a Jamaican crab and shifting the music style throughout the film to reflect this. At the same time, Katzenberg, Clements, Musker, and Ashman revised the story format to makeThe Little Mermaid a musical with a Broadway-style story structure, with the song sequences serving as the tentpoles of the film.[17] Ashman and composerAlan Menken, both noted for their work as the writers of the successfulOff-Broadway stage musicalLittle Shop of Horrors, teamed up to compose the entire song score. In 1988, withOliver & Company out of the way,The Little Mermaid was slated as the next major Disney release.[21]
More money and resources were dedicated toThe Little Mermaid than any other Disney animated film in decades.[17] Aside from its main animation facility inGlendale, California, Disney opened a satellite feature animation facility during the production ofThe Little Mermaid inLake Buena Vista, Florida (nearOrlando, Florida), withinDisney-MGM Studios Theme Park atWalt Disney World.[22] Opening in 1989, the Disney-MGM facility's first projects were to produce an entireRoger Rabbit cartoon short,Roller Coaster Rabbit, and to contribute ink and paint support toThe Little Mermaid.[22] Another first for recent years was the filming of live actors and actresses for motion reference material for the animators, a practice used frequently for many of the Disney animated features produced under Walt Disney's supervision.Sherri Lynn Stoner, a former member of Los Angeles'Groundlings improvisation comedy group, and Joshua Finkel, a Broadway actor, performed key scenes as Ariel and Eric respectively.[20][23]Jodi Benson had already been cast as Ariel's voice actor by this time, and her recorded dialogue was used as playback to guide these live-action references.[23] Before Benson was cast,Melissa Fahn was considered for the part.[24]
The Little Mermaid's supervising animators includedGlen Keane andMark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian,Andreas Deja on King Triton, and Ruben Aquino on Ursula.[17] Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large, powerful figures, such as the bear inThe Fox and the Hound (1981) and Professor Ratigan inThe Great Mouse Detective (1986). Keane, however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. He jokingly stated that his wife looks exactly like Ariel "without the fins."[25] The character's body type and personality were based upon those ofAlyssa Milano, then starring on TV'sWho's the Boss? and the effect of her hair underwater was based on both footage ofSally Ride when she was in space,[17] and scenes of Stoner in a pool for guidance in animating Ariel's swimming.[26] Many of Stoner's mannerisms also became part of Ariel's character, such as the way she bit her lip or the way she expressed through hand gestures.[27]
The underwater setting required the most special effects animation for a Disney animated feature sinceFantasia in 1940. Effects animation supervisorMark Dindal estimated that over a million bubbles were drawn for this film, in addition to the use of other processes such asairbrushing, backlighting, superimposition, and somecomputer animation. The artistic manpower needed forThe Little Mermaid required Disney to farm out most of the underwater bubble effects animation in the film to Pacific Rim Productions, a China-based firm with production facilities in Beijing.[17] An attempt to use Disney's famedmultiplane camera for the first time in years for quality "depth" shots failed because the machine was reputedly in dilapidated condition. The multiplane shots, three in total, were instead photographed at an outside animation camera facility.[17][28]
The Little Mermaid is the lastWalt Disney Animation Studios feature film to use the traditionalhand-painted cel method of animation.[29] Disney's next film,The Rescuers Down Under, used a digital method of coloring and combining scanned drawings developed for Disney byPixar called CAPS/ink & paint (Computer Animation Production System), which would eliminate the need for cels, the multiplane camera, and many of the optical effects used for the last time inThe Little Mermaid. Clements and Musker's next film,Aladdin, also used digital coloring via CAPS. A CAPS/ink & paint prototype was used experimentally on a few scenes inThe Little Mermaid, and one shot produced using CAPS/ink & paint—the penultimate shot in the film, of Ariel and Eric's wedding ship sailing away under a rainbow—appears in the finished film.Computer-generated imagery was used to create some of the wrecked ships in the final battle, a staircase behind a shot of Ariel in Eric's castle, and the carriage Eric and Ariel are riding in when she bounces it over a ravine. These objects were animated using 3D wireframe models, which wereplotted as line art to cels and painted traditionally.[17] The film being both the only film of theDisney Renaissance and the last in the studio's history overall to use thexerography technology used since 1961 withOne Hundred and One Dalmatians made it somewhat of a transitional film between the two Disney eras.[30][31]
The design of the villainousUrsula was based upon drag performerDivine.[17] An additional early inspiration before Divine wasJoan Collins in her role asAlexis Carrington in the television seriesDynasty, due to a suggestion from Howard Ashman, who was a fan of the series.[32]Pat Carroll was not Clements and Musker's first choice to voice Ursula; the original script had been written withBea Arthur of the Disney-owned TV seriesThe Golden Girls in mind. After Arthur turned the part down, actresses such asNancy Marchand,Nancy Wilson,Roseanne,Charlotte Rae,Jennifer Saunders andElaine Stritch were considered for the part.[33] Stritch was eventually cast as Ursula, but clashed with Howard Ashman's style of music production and was replaced by Carroll.[33] Various actorsauditioned for additional roles in the film, includingJim Carrey for the role of Prince Eric, and comediansBill Maher andMichael Richards for the role of Scuttle.[32]
The Little Mermaid was considered by some as "the film that broughtBroadway into cartoons".[34]Alan Menken wrote theOscar-winning score, and collaborated withHoward Ashman on the songs. One of the film's most prominent songs, "Part of Your World", was nearly cut from the film when it seemingly tested poorly with children, who became rowdy during the scene. This caused Jeffrey Katzenberg to feel that the song needed to be cut, an idea that was resisted by Musker, Clements and Keane. Both Musker and Clements cited the similar situation of the song "Over the Rainbow" nearly being cut from 1939'sThe Wizard of Oz when it was appealing to Katzenberg. Keane pushed for the song to remain until the film was in a more finalized state. During a second test screening, the scene, now colorized and further developed, tested well with a separate child audience, and the musical number was kept.[32]
The film was originally released on November 17, 1989; there was a subsequent re-release on November 14, 1997.[35] After the success of the 3D re-release ofThe Lion King, Disney announced a 3D re-release ofThe Little Mermaid scheduled for September 13, 2013,[36] but this was cancelled on January 14, 2013, due to the under-performances of other Disney 3D re-releases until further notice.[37] The 3D version was released onBlu-ray instead,[38][39] but it did play a limited engagement at theEl Capitan Theatre from September to October 2013.[40] On September 20, 2013,The Little Mermaid began playing in select theaters where audiences could bringiPads and use an app called Second Screen Live.[41]AMC Theatres screened the movie from September 6–12, 2019.[42] The film was also screened out of competition at the1990 Cannes Film Festival.[43]
In a then-atypical and controversial move for a new Disney animated film,The Little Mermaid was released as part of theWalt Disney Classics line ofVHS,LaserDisc,Betamax andVideo 8 home media releases on May 18, 1990, six months after the release of the film.[21] BeforeThe Little Mermaid, onlya select number of Disney's catalog animated films had been released to home media, as the company was afraid of upsetting its profitable practice of theatrically reissuing each film every few years.[21]The Little Mermaid became that year's top-selling title on home video, with over 10 million units sold (including 7 million in its first month) and 13 million units by October 1993.[44][45] The home video release, along with box office and merchandise sales, contributed toThe Little Mermaid generating a total revenue of$1 billion.[46] This success led to future Disney animated films being released on home video soon after the end of their theatrical runs, rather than delayed for several years, makingThe Little Mermaid the first Disney animated feature to be released on home video 1 year after its theatrical release.[21]
FollowingThe Little Mermaid's November 14, 1997 re-release in theaters, a new VHS version was released on March 31, 1998, as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection and included a bonus music video ofJodi Benson singing "Part of Your World" during the end credits, replacing "Under the Sea" as the end credits song.[47] The VHS sold 13 million units and ranked as the third best-selling video of the year.[48][49]
The Little Mermaid was released in a "bare-bones" Walt Disney Limited IssueDVD on December 7, 1999, with a standard video transfer.[50] The film was re-released on DVD on October 3, 2006, as part of the Walt Disney Platinum Editions of features, alongside the music video for the cover version of "Kiss The Girl" performed byAshley Tisdale.[51] Deleted scenes and several in-depth documentaries were included, as well as an Academy Award-nominated short film intended for the shelvedFantasia 2006,The Little Matchgirl.[52] The DVD sold 1.6 million units on its first day of release,[53] and over 4 million units during its first week, making it the biggest animated DVD debut for October. By the year's end, the DVD had sold about 7 million units and was one of the year's top 10 selling DVDs.[54] The Walt Disney Platinum Edition DVD was released as part of a "Little Mermaid Trilogy" boxed set on December 16, 2008.[55] The Walt Disney Platinum Edition of the film, along with its sequels, went on moratorium in January 2009. The film was re-released on a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo, a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo and3D Blu-ray on October 1, 2013, as part of the Walt Disney Diamond Edition line.[38][56]The Little Mermaid was re-released on HD and4K digital download on February 12, 2019, with a physical media re-release on Blu-ray andUltra HD Blu-ray on February 26, 2019, as part of theWalt Disney Signature Collection of the film's 30th anniversary.[57]
In June 2016, Disney held special presentations of the film at theHollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, titledThe Little Mermaid in Concert. The performances combined a screening ofThe Little Mermaid with live accompaniment by guest musicians and celebrities, includingSara Bareilles (who performed as Ariel),Tituss Burgess (who performed as Sebastian as a reprisal of his role in the stage adaptation),Darren Criss (who performed as Prince Eric),Rebel Wilson (who performed as Ursula),Joshua Colley (who performed as Flounder),John Stamos (who performed as Chef Louis) andNorm Lewis (who performed as King Triton as a reprisal of his role in the stage adaptation). The four additional songs written for thestage adaptation were also incorporated into the presentation, accompanied by scenes of the film's original concept art. During the third and final performance,Jodi Benson replaced Bareilles to reprise her original role as Ariel, whileBrad Kane (the singing voice of the title character ofAladdin) andSusan Egan (who played Belle in the stage adaptation ofBeauty and the Beast) also made special appearances, singing songs from their respective films, and a duet of "A Whole New World".[58][59]
From May 17–18, 2019, the Hollywood Bowl hosted another live presentation, titledThe Little Mermaid: An Immersive Live-to Film Concert Experience. These performances once again combined a screening of the film with live renditions of the film's songs, this time starringLea Michele as Ariel,Harvey Fierstein as Ursula,Cheech Marin as Chef Louis,Ken Page as Sebastian,Peter Gallagher as King Triton, Leo Gallo as Prince Eric, Joshua Turchin as Flounder, and an uncredited actor as Scuttle. This presentation utilized the some songs written for the screen adaptation and some from the stage adaptation, including Joshua Turchin singing "She's in Love" from the Broadway adaptation,The Little Mermaid.[60][61]
Early in the production ofThe Little Mermaid,Jeffrey Katzenberg cautioned Clements, Musker, and their staff, telling them that sinceThe Little Mermaid was a "girl's film", it would make less money at the box office thanOliver & Company, which had been Disney's biggest animated box office success in a decade.[20][21] However, by the time the film was closer to completion, Katzenberg was convincedThe Little Mermaid would be a hit and the first animated feature to earn more than $100 million in its initial run and become a "blockbuster" film.[20][21]
During its original 1989 theatrical releaseThe Little Mermaid made $6.1 million in its opening weekend, ranking in third place behindLook Who's Talking andHarlem Nights and beating outDon Bluth'sAll Dogs Go to Heaven which was released on the same weekend asThe Little Mermaid.[62] In its second weekend, the film remained in third with $8.4 million behindHarlem Nights andBack to the Future Part II.[63] Throughout the initial run, it earned $84.4 million at the North American box office,[64] falling short of Katzenberg's expectations but earning 64% more thanOliver & Company[21] and becoming the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run.[65] The film was theatrically reissued on November 14, 1997, on the same day asAnastasia, a Don Bluth andGary Goldman animated feature forFox Animation Studios and20th Century Fox. For this release, it ranked in third place behindThe Jackal andStarship Troopers, collecting $9.8 million during its first weekend.[66] The reissue brought $27.2 million in additional gross.[64] The film also drew$123 million in box office earnings outside the United States and Canada between both releases, resulting in a total international box office figure of$235 million.[3]
The Little Mermaid was released to widespread acclaim,[67] receiving praise from film critics particularly for its music.[68][69] Review aggregation siteRotten Tomatoes reported that the film has a 92% approval score based on 126 reviews and an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's consensus reads "The Little Mermaid ushered in a new golden era for Disney animation with warm and charming hand-drawn characters and catchy musical sequences."[70] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[71]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times was enthusiastic about the film, writing, "The Little Mermaid is a jolly and inventive animated fantasy—a movie that's so creative and so much fun it deserves comparison with the best Disney work of the past." Ebert also commented positively on the character ofAriel, stating she "is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny."[72]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune wrote, "While the story won't win any prizes from the women's liberation movement, the animation is so full and colorful and the songs so beguiling that this is a case of where someone made one like they used to. The drawing of the evil octopus witch who is jealous of the mermaid's singing voice is particularly outstanding."[73]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times praised the film as a "marvel of skillful animation, witty songwriting and smart planning. It is designed to delight filmgoers of every conceivable stripe... Adults will be charmed by the film's bright, outstandingly pretty look and by its robust score. Small children will be enchanted by the film's sunniness and by its perfect simplicity."[74]
Variety magazine praised the film for its cast of characters,Ursula in particular, as well as its animation, stating that the animation "proves lush and fluid, augmented by the use of shadow and light as elements like fire, sun and water illuminate the characters." They also praised the musical collaboration between Howard Ashman and Alan Menken "whose songs frequently begin slowly but build in cleverness and intensity."[75] During the film's 1997 re-release, Hal Hinson ofThe Washington Post wrote a mixed review, referring to it as a "likably unspectacular adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic."[76]
The staff ofTV Guide wrote a positive review, praising the film's return to the traditional Disney musical as well as the film's animation. However, they also wrote that the film is compromised by the juvenile humor and the human characters' eyes. While still giving a positive review, the staff stated that the film "can't compare to the real Disney classics (which appealed equally to both kids and adults)."[77] Todd Gilchrist ofIGN wrote a positive review of the film, stating that the film is "an almost perfect achievement". Gilchrist also praised how the film revived interest in animation as it was released at a time when interest in that format was at a lull.[78]Empire gave a positive review of the film, stating that "[The Little Mermaid is] a charmer of a movie, boasting all the ingredients that make a Disney experience something to treasure yet free of all the politically correct, formulaic elements that have bogged down the more recent productions."[79]
In April 2008 – 19 years after the film's initial release in 1989 –Yahoo! users votedThe Little Mermaid as No. 14 on the top 30 animated films of all time. In June, that same year, the film remained on the list but dropped six slots to end at #20. (Only three other traditionally animated Disney animated films -Aladdin,Beauty and the Beast, andThe Lion King, respectively - scored above it in the poll even after the update.)[80] In 2011,Richard Corliss ofTime magazine named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films".[81]
The film earned threeAcademy Award nominations, making it the first Disney animated film to earn nominations sinceThe Rescuers in1977.
Bolstered by the film's success and the soundtrack's award wins, it was certified double platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America in September 1990 for shipments of two million copies of the soundtrack album, an unheard of feat for an animated film at the time.[82] To date, the soundtrack has been certified six times platinum.[82]
The Little Mermaid, which was Disney's first animated fairy tale sinceSleeping Beauty (1959),[20] is an important film in animation history for many reasons. It was instrumental in re-establishing feature-length animation as a profitable venture for the Walt Disney Company, as the company's theme parks, television productions, and live-action features had overshadowed the animated output since the 1950s.[21]The Little Mermaid was the second film, followingOliver & Company, produced after Disney began expanding its animated output following its successful live action/animated filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit, and became Disney's first animated major box office and critical hit sinceThe Jungle Book (1967), 22 years earlier.[21] Walt Disney Feature Animation was further expanded as a result ofThe Little Mermaid and increasingly successful follow-ups –Beauty and the Beast (1991),Aladdin (1992), andThe Lion King (1994). The staff increased from 300 members in 1988 to 2,200 in 1999 spread across three studios inBurbank, California, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, andMontreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.[22]
In addition,The Little Mermaid signaled the re-establishment of the musical film format as a standard for Disney animated films. The majority of Disney's most popular animated films from the 1930s on had been musicals, though by the 1970s and 1980s the role of music had been de-emphasized in the films.[20] 1988'sOliver & Company had served as a test of sorts to the success of the musical format before Disney committed to the Broadway-style structure ofThe Little Mermaid.[20]
In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[14]
The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live was set to air on October 3, 2017, and would have featured a broadcast of the film with a similar format to the Hollywood Bowl concerts.[99] However, on August 3, 2017, it was announced that the special had been dropped due to budget issues.[100] The project was revived to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the film's original release, and was aired on November 5, 2019.Auliʻi Cravalho,Queen Latifah andShaggy starred as Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian, respectively.[101] Other cast members includedJohn Stamos as Chef Louis andGraham Phillips as Prince Eric.[102] The special featured performances of songs from the film and its Broadway adaptations in a themed "dive-in theater" setting at theDisney lot, accompanied by the film itself.[101][103] It was produced byDone and Dusted, with director-executive producerHamish Hamilton.[104] In addition to marking the film's anniversary, the special was also used as a pre-launch promotional push for the newDisney+ streaming service, which was launched on November 12, 2019.[105][106]
^Grant, John (1998).Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters (3rd ed.). Hyperion. pp. 344–345.ISBN0-7868-6336-6.
^abcdefghijThe Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition — Audio Commentary (DVD). John Musker, Ron Clements, and Alan Menken. Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 2006.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^abcdefghijTreasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' (DVD).The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 2006.
^The Little Mermaid (Fully Restored Special Edition) [VHS]: Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, René Auberjonois, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Edie McClurg, Will Ryan, Ben Wright, John Musker, Ron Clements, Chris Hubbell, Gerrit Graham, Hans Christian Andersen, Howard Ashman: Movies & TV. Walt Disney Music Company.ISBN0788812408.
^Hinson, Hal (November 17, 1997)."'The Little Mermaid'".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. RetrievedDecember 24, 2009.
^Shaffer, Joshua C (July 17, 2017).Discovering the Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide - Second Edition. Synergy Book Publishing. p. 629.ISBN978-0-9991664-0-6.
^The Little Mermaid II - Return to the Sea: Tara Charendoff, Pat Carroll, Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Buddy Hackett, Kenneth Mars, Max Casella, Stephen Furst, Rob Paulsen, Clancy Brown, Cam Clarke, René Auberjonois, Brian Smith, Jim Kammerud, David Lovegren, Leslie Hough, Eddie Guzelian, Elise D'Haene, Elizabeth Anderson, Temple Mathews: Movies & TV.ASIN6305940959.
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