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 loosely 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 an evil sea witch 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.
Introduction
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Introduction
It is based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name. Yes, by Hans Christian Andersen tales Yes, 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name Yes, by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale
what is the crew celebrating in the beginning of the little mermaid
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Prince Eric's birthday.
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what is the genre of the film?
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An animated musical fantasy.
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what is the plot about?
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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.
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who produced it?
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Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney.
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was the plot influenced by any story?
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Katzenberg passed the project over, because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedy "Splash" (1984) and felt "The Little Mermaid" would be too similar a project. The next day, however, Katzenberg approved of the idea for possible development, along with "Oliver & Company". While in production in the 1980s, the staff found, by chance, original story and visual development work done by Kay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Andersen feature. Many of the changes made by the staff in the 1930s to Hans Christian Andersen's original story was coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Development of Story
Eric recognizes the song immediately, and the incognito Ursula casts an enchantment on Eric, which causes him to forget Ariel.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Plot
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 on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Oliver & Company" as more immediate releases. In 1987, songwriter Howard Ashman became involved with the writing and development of "The Little Mermaid" after he was asked to contribute a song to "Oliver & 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.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Development of Story
While in production in the 1980s, the staff found by chance original story and visual development work done by Kay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Andersen feature. 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.
The Little Mermaid | Disney's animated film
At the same time, Katzenberg, Clements, Musker, and Ashman revised the story format to make "The Little Mermaid" a musical with a Broadway-style story structure, with the song sequences serving as the tentpoles of the film. Ashman and composer Alan Menken, both noted for their work as the writers of the successful Off-Broadway stage musical "Little Shop of Horrors", teamed up to compose the entire song score. In 1988, with "Oliver & Company" out of the way, "The Little Mermaid" was slated as the next major Disney release.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Development of Story
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 loosely 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 an evil sea witch 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.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Introduction
The story was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of "The Little Mermaid" in which a mermaid loves a human, but Chow wanted to make it a modern interpretation: "I saw great creative space and development potential from the story". In another interview, Chow said: "I'm actually a big fairy-tale fan. All my previous titles can be understood as fairy tales. In the world of fairy tales, the evil are punished and the good see a happy ending. I buy that idea." Another inspiration comes from Chow's own childhood experiences. "I lived near the sea at a young age and I looked at the sea every day.
The Mermaid (2016 film) | Inspirations
"The Little Mermaid" was originally planned as part of one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package film featuring vignettes of Hans Christian Andersen tales. Development started soon after "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in the late 1930s, but was delayed due to various circumstances. In 1985, Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director on "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) alongside John Musker. Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore. Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater, Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of "The Little Mermaid" Walt Disney Studios to chief Jeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Development of Story
"The Little Mermaid" was considered by some as "the film that brought Broadway into cartoons". Alan Menken wrote the Oscar-winning score, and collaborated with Howard 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 an audience of school 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's "The Wizard of Oz" when it was appealing to Katzenberg.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Music
The Disney company's "The Little Mermaid" is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy romance film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the original tale, the 1989 Disney film tells the story of a mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human; after falling in love with a human prince named Eric. Written, produced, and directed 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, and Pat Carroll among others. "The Little Mermaid" was originally planned as part of one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package film featuring vignettes of Hans Christian Andersen tales.
The Little Mermaid | Disney's animated film
The film was built around a score from Broadway songwriters Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, who was also a co-producer and story consultant on the film. "The Little Mermaid" won two Academy Awards, for Best Original Song and for Best Original Score. "The Little Mermaid" vigorously relaunched a profound new interest in the animation and musical film genres. The film was also the first to feature the use of Disney's Computer Animation Production System (CAPS). Developed for Disney by Pixar, which had grown into a commercial computer animation and technology development company, CAPS/ink & paint would become significant in allowing future Disney films to more seamlessly integrate computer-generated imagery and achieve higher production values with digital ink and paint and compositing techniques.
Walt Disney Animation Studios | 1989–1994: Beginning of the Disney Renaissance, successful releases, impact on the animation industry
Eisner and Katzenberg passed the project over, because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedy "Splash" (1984) and felt "The Little Mermaid" would be too similar a project. The next day, however, Walt Disney Studios chairman Katzenberg greenlit the idea for possible development. While in production in the 1980s, the staff found, by chance, original story and visual development work done by Kay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Anderson feature. 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.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | History
Controversy arose regarding the artwork for the film's original VHS release when consumers noticed an oddly shaped structure on the castle, closely resembling a human penis. Disney and the cover designer insist it was an accident, resulting from a late night rush job to finish the cover artwork. The object does not appear on the cover of the second release of the movie. Another allegation is that the clergyman presiding over the wedding between Eric and Ursula (the latter disguised as Vanessa) is seen to have an erection. The object in question is actually the short, stubby-legged man's knee. The combined incidents led an Arkansas woman to file suit against The Walt Disney Company in 1995, though she dropped the suit two months later.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Controversy
Deciding that she is ready to see the world above, she and Fritz sneak away to the surface with the help of Fritz's uncle, Duke the Whale. There, she sees the handsome young prince on a ship.
Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975 film) | Plot
"Part of Your World", which was referred to by songwriter Howard Ashman as the "I Want" song, was originally going to be cut from the final film, owing to Jeffrey Katzenberg's belief that it slowed the story down, but Ashman and Keane fought to keep it in. Ariel's original design was developed by animator Glen Keane. Her appearance was based on a number of inspirational sources, Alyssa Milano (who was 16 at the time in addition to hosting the making of the special on Disney Channel,) and model-comedian Sherri Stoner, who provided live-action references for the animators during the development of the film.
Ariel (The Little Mermaid) | Development
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." The character's body type and personality were based upon that of Alyssa Milano, then starring on TV's "Who's the Boss?" and the effect of her hair underwater was based on both footage of Sally Ride when she was in space, and scenes of Stoner in a pool for guidance in animating Ariel's swimming. The design of the villainous Ursula was based upon drag performer Divine.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Animation
An additional early inspiration before Divine was Joan Collins in her role as Alexis Carrington in the television show "Dynasty", due to a suggestion from Howard Ashman, who was a fan of the series. Pat Carroll was not Clements and Musker's first choice to voice Ursula; the original script had been written with Bea Arthur of the Disney-owned TV series "The Golden Girls" in mind. After Arthur turned the part down, actresses such as Nancy Marchand, Nancy Wilson, Roseanne, Charlotte Rae, and Elaine Stritch were considered for the part. Stritch was eventually cast as Ursula, but clashed with Howard Ashman's style of music production and was replaced by Carroll.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Animation
Producer Wayne Young said his passion for the environment was his motivation for making the film, saying the film was "blatantly environmental, although we have gone to a lot of trouble to avoid preaching. We also want it to be viewed as entertainment." The inspiration for "FernGully" came from stories written by his former wife, Diana Young. Diana first wrote the story of "FernGully" 15 years before the film's release. Wayne said the couple planned a film adaptation for five years, then spent "seven years of dreaming and hustling, followed by another three years of production". Wayne stated their dream was not possible until the success of Walt Disney Feature Animation's 1989 film "The Little Mermaid", which brought popularity back to animation.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest | Production
At the behest of Disney executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, director and screenwriter Ron Clements was among several filmmakers instructed to research new story ideas that could potentially be adapted into the studio's next major animated film release. Clements first discovered Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" at a local bookstore, and began deliberating why Disney had never attempted to adapt the story before. Clements eventually learned that Walt Disney himself had actually attempted to adapt the fairy tale into a feature-length animated film as early as the 1930s, but the project was ultimately shelved due in part to its sad ending.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) | Conception and writing
Deepening her own voice for the role, Carroll based her performance on a combination of Shakespearean actresses and car salespeople. Animated by Ruben A. Aquino, Ursula's original design was inspired by several different sea creatures, including manta rays and scorpion fish, before Clements finally decided to base the character on an octopus; her number of tentacles was reduced from eight to six for financial reasons. Ursula's appearance was also inspired by American actor and drag queen Divine. When "The Little Mermaid" was first released in 1989, Ursula was immediately embraced as one of Disney's best villains, and continues to be ranked highly among the studio's greatest by the media.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) | Introduction
The special effects were handled by, among others, animators Wah Chang, Gene Warren and Jim Danforth. In their defence, they didn't build the models themselves and, therefore, they were not as mobile as they would have liked, limiting the model's movements somewhat and reducing the smoothness of the animation. Stafford points out that the screenplay is based on Cornish folklore, but the plot resembles the damsel in distress theme of "7th Voyage": a hero battles giants and monsters to rescue a princess held captive by a sorcerer. Some elements appear to be borrowed from other films Stafford notes. The disembodied torch-carrying arms, for example, recall those in Cocteau's "La Belle et La Bête", the dragon suggests that in Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty", and Pendragon's witches and demons were probably inspired by the banshees in Disney's "Darby O'Gill and the Little People".
Jack the Giant Killer | 1962 film
Ariel falls in love with the prince instantly. Soon a violent storm arrives, wrecking the ship. Ariel rescues Eric from drowning and brings him to shore. She sings to him but returns to the sea just as he regains consciousness to avoid being discovered. Fascinated by the memory of her mesmerizing voice, Eric vows to find and marry the girl who saved his life, and Ariel vows to find a way to join him as a human being. Noticing a sudden change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian, who accidentally exposes that Ariel has come in contact with humans and fallen in love with Prince Eric.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Plot
The fairy-tale plot is based on "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen and the female main characters are played by Scandinavian actresses. The film takes a summery stroll through the Swiss landscape, with dreamy underwater shots of lakes and rivers standing out in particular.
I Was a Swiss Banker | Background
Fairy tales have provided a source of inspiration for the Disney studio. Sometimes, Walt Disney Pictures alters gruesome fairy tales in order to make them more appropriate for children. The silent short cartoons produced at the Laugh-O-Gram Studio during Walt Disney's early career consisted of humorous, modern retellings of traditional stories. Later, Walt Disney and his studio turned to traditional fairy tales as the source for shorts in the "Silly Symphony" series, and later animated features such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", his first full-length feature. After a hiatus from the fairy tale genre, the modern Disney company once more looked to classic fairy tales during the late 80s and 90s, resulting in popular films such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast".
List of Disney animated films based on fairy tales | Introduction
Among the changes Katzenberg requested from Clements and Musker were to not be dependent on Ashman's vision, and the removal of Aladdin's mother, remarking, "Eighty-six the mother. The mom's a zero." Katzenberg also influenced in changing the plot element about Jasmine's marriage, which originally had her required by law to be married by sixteen, to remove the age—the Sultan only says "your next birthday"—and make it more specific that her suitor needed to be a prince, which would also set up the ending where the Sultan, inspired by Aladdin's altruism, changes the law to make Jasmine able to marry anyone she deems worthy.
Aladdin (1992 Disney film) | Script and development
I was frightened and curious. I was very nervous when I swam in the sea and felt there might be something hidden below. I’ve been fascinated with the (mermaid) story since then, and I felt I could do the film, creating the concept 6 years ago and beginning to write the script four or five years ago."
The Mermaid (2016 film) | Inspirations
Both characters now have much smaller breasts and the mermaid is now wearing a seashell bra rather than just starfish pasties. Lasseter defended the changes by saying, "It wasn’t big bad Disney coming in and insisting we do this … it was our own choice. It was just crossing the line for me personally as a father. So I made the decision to reduce [these characters’] breast size." This updated version is preceded with the message ""In 1989, six years before Toy Story, Pixar Animation Studios made this short film."" This version was first made available with the "Finding Nemo" DVD.
Knick Knack | Release and later re-releases
Realizing that Ariel was the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to kiss her, but the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Ursula reverts to her true form and kidnaps Ariel.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | Plot and themes
On the strength of the success of "Little Shop of Horrors", Menken and Ashman were hired by Walt Disney Studios to write the music for "The Little Mermaid" (1989). The challenge was to create an animated musical film of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that could sit alongside the Disney films "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Cinderella". "The Little Mermaid" opened to critical and commercial success and signaled a new Disney era called the Disney Renaissance. The film gave them their first Oscar win: Best Song for the song "Under the Sea". Menken also won the 1989 Oscar for Best Score.
Alan Menken | Disney Renaissance and later films
"The Little Mermaid" is the original film of the franchise. It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and was released to theaters on November 17, 1989 by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman. The film was a critical and commercial success. "The Little Mermaid" is the 28th Disney animated feature film and belongs to an era known as the Disney Renaissance. It is based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale of the same name.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | "The Little Mermaid"
In comparison with Disney's previous version of the same plot "("Mother Goose Melodies")" ""Old King Cole"" is in colour and has a more detailed look. Both story and animation are much better executed. This plot of this cartoon was very influential. Various cartoons have made use of a storyline in which story books come to life and the protagonists of the stories interact with each other. For instance "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (1938) and "The Truth About Mother Goose" (1957) by the Disney Studios themselves, the Betty Boop cartoon "Mother Goose Land" (1933) by the Fleischer Studios and "Have You Got Any Castles?" (1938), "A Gander at Mother Goose" (1940), "A Coy Decoy" (1941) and "Book Revue" (1946) by the Looney Tunes.
Old King Cole (film) | Influence
In this case, the rhyme refers to "Ten Little Fat Boys". (The film's plot bears no resemblance to Arthur Conan Doyle's original story of the same name.) The author of the movie's screenplay, Robert Florey, "doubted that [Christie] had seen "A Study in Scarlet", but he regarded it as a compliment if it had helped inspire her".
And Then There Were None | Possible inspirations
In particular, the biblical figures Moses and Joseph served as creative inspiration for the character. Producer Don Hahn said that, like them, Simba is "born into royalty, is then exiled, and has to return to claim [his] kingdom." Unlike the studio's three previous films "The Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and "Aladdin" (1992) which are essentially love stories, "The Lion King" revolves around Simba's relationship with his father instead, which Allers identified as "The real heart and emotional underpinning of the whole story". In April 1992, the filmmakers hosted a "brainstorming session" in which much of the film's original story was largely re-written, particularly Simba's personality.
Simba | Conception
During the 1970s and 1980s, Walt Disney Feature Animation struggled to release animated feature films that achieved the levels of success of some of the studio's earlier productions did. In 1989, Walt Disney Pictures released "The Little Mermaid. "An animated musical that features songs written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, "The Little Mermaid" was both a tremendous critical and commercial success. Hoping to release a film that achieved similar success, the studio decided to adapt the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont into an animated film. Prior to getting professionally involved with Disney, Ashman and Menken had collaborated on a musical adaptation of "Little Shop of Horrors" and its subsequent musical film adaptation.
Beauty and the Beast (1991 soundtrack) | Background
The story was part of the inspiration for American writer Washington Irving's 1819 short story "Rip Van Winkle".
Peter Klaus | Influence
An unnamed man, implied to be an artist, is looking at a drop of water by his window. In it, he sees the clown Pierrot being spurned by his beloved Columbine, who is riding in a horse-drawn carriage.
Inspiration (1949 film) | Plot synopsis
The angry king confronts Ariel, uncovers her grotto, and destroys her beloved collection. After Triton leaves, two eels named Flotsam and Jetsam convince the devastated young princess to visit Ursula, the evil sea witch. Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her form into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel's voice, which Ursula puts in a nautilus shell she keeps around her neck. Within these three days, Ariel must cause the prince to fall in love with her and give her the "kiss of true love." If Ariel gets Eric to kiss her, she will remain human permanently.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Plot
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 lead 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".
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Introduction
As the story opens, a busful of tourists are touring Copenhagen. Their guide draws their attention to the beautiful statue at Langelinie. At that, the film's focus moves below the waterline, where several fish tell the story of. A galleon is foundering on the rough ocean. It's master, a young prince, is trying his best to keep the ship out of harm, but he fails, and eventually falls into the waves. Meanwhile, four mermaid princesses come from a magnificent alabaster underwater palace. The three older mermaids, clad in blue, give their younger sister a red cloak, indirectly indicating whom the protagonist is.
The Little Mermaid (1968 film) | Plot
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.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Music
Disney had been developing "The Little Mermaid" since the 1930s, and by 1988, after the success of "Roger Rabbit", the studio had decided to make it into an animated musical, much like many of its previous animated movies, but with a more Broadway feel to it. Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, who worked on Broadway years earlier on productions such as "Little Shop of Horrors", became involved in the production, writing and composing the songs and score for the film. Released on November 14, 1989, "The Little Mermaid" was a critical and commercial success and garnered a higher weekend gross than Bluth's "All Dogs Go to Heaven", which opened the same weekend, eventually breaking "The Land Before Time"s record of highest-grossing animated film.
Disney Renaissance | 1989: "The Little Mermaid"
A grandmother tells her two granddaughters a version of "The Little Mermaid" in which a mermaid princess is tricked by a wizard who steals her soul, and forced to live a life away from her ocean home enslaved to the wizard for eternity. When the girls say they do not believe the story is real, their grandmother begins a tale of a girl she knew who met a mermaid. Cam, a young reporter, writes a letter while his niece, Elle, plays outside. Elle has an undiagnosed condition with no cure. She starts coughing and Cam carries her inside before going to work.
The Little Mermaid (2018 film) | Plot
(In "All The Cats Join In", Moore personally animated the sequence at the beginning, when the girl answers the telephone and then quickly showers and dresses, through to her scene putting on lipstick in front of her mirror). Moore's enduring influence can also be seen in the design of Casey's daughters in the 1954 short "Casey Bats Again". His good girl art remains iconic and influential. A model sheet for Ariel in the 1989 Disney film "The Little Mermaid" made specific distinctions between the design of that character and a "Freddie Moore Girl."
Fred Moore (animator) | Early life and career beginnings
The story department drew inspiration from films such as "Midnight Run" and "The Odd Couple", and Lasseter screened Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky" (1986) for further influence. "Toy Story"s script was strongly influenced by the ideas of screenwriter Robert McKee. The members of Pixar's story team—Lasseter, Stanton, Docter and Joe Ranft—were aware that most of them were beginners at feature-film writing. None of them had any feature story or writing credits to their name besides Ranft, who had taught a story class at CalArts and done some storyboard work. Seeking insight, Lasseter and Docter attended a three-day seminar in Los Angeles given by McKee.
Toy Story | Writing
Unlike in the original story of "The Little Mermaid", in this adaptation (created by Toei's planning team and featuring Masaki Tsuji as head writer), the mermaid is still able to speak while in human form, and this adaptation also does not end in tragedy as the original story did. Toei made a more faithful adaptation of the story as a feature film in 1975, which used some of the same staff as this TV series, including animator Shingo Araki.
Mahō no Mako-chan | Plot
The latter scene was also inspired by "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931), to which Disney made specific reference in story meetings.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film) | Cinematic influences
The movie opens in live-action Denmark. The narrator mentions Hans Christian Andersen and his authorship of the original story. After a brief shot of a live-action ocean and the opening title card (with a mermaid song in the background), the scene dissolves to 2-D hand-drawn anime. Princess Marina, who lives in the undersea kingdom with her father, grandmother and five older sisters, is playing with her best friend Fritz, a dolphin. On her way home, the Sea Witch conjures a powerful storm. Marina is scolded by her sisters for being late, reminding her that their grandmother will not give her the pearl hairpin that signifies adulthood unless she is responsible.
Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (1975 film) | Plot
In 1987, songwriter Howard Ashman became involved with the writing and development of "Mermaid" after he was asked to contribute a song to "Oliver & Company". He proposed changing the minor character Clarence, the English-butler crab, to a Jamaican Rastafarian 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 make "Mermaid" a musical with a Broadway-style story structure, with the song sequences serving as the tentpoles of the film. Ashman and composer Alan Menken, both noted for their work as the writers of the successful Off-Broadway stage musical "Little Shop of Horrors", teamed up to compose the entire song score.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | Music
In 1986, Ashman was brought in to write lyrics for a song in Disney's "Oliver & Company". While there, he was told about another project that they had been working on for a couple years. The film was "The Little Mermaid", Disney's first fairy tale in 30 years. Ashman, along with Alan Menken, wrote all of the songs for the film. Ashman became a driving force during the early years of the Disney Renaissance. He would hold story meetings and said the animation and musical styles were made for each other which is why Disney needed to continue making musical movies.
Howard Ashman | Career
Floyd Norman wrote the 1985 and 1986 sequences, and Fallberg wrote the last story in 1987. When Norman was given the assignment to write the "Christmas Story" in 1985, he was bothered by the way that the stories mixed up characters from different films. He recalled in a 2013 blog post, "I couldn't help but find this approach somewhat bizarre. Mickey and Pluto didn't fit in the same world as Dumbo and the seven dwarfs certainly didn't mix well with Jaq and Gus Gus from Cinderella. I decided if I was going to write a holiday story the characters used would have to be consistent...
Disney Christmas Story | Development
In an attempt to replicate the unprecedented success of "The Little Mermaid "(1989), Walt Disney Animation Studios decided to adapt the traditional fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" into an animated feature film. Although originally conceived as an animated film with "no songs in it whatsoever" under the direction of Richard Purdum, Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was unsatisfied with the dark and somber direction in which the film was headed, and ultimately ordered that it be re-written as a "Broadway-style musical with a strong heroine" instead, similar in concept to "The Little Mermaid". Disney then hired lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken to write the film's songs and assist in the "transform[ing of] "Beauty and the Beast" into a musical", the pair having just recently collaborated on scoring "The Little Mermaid".
Belle (Disney song) | History and writing
The book inspired the parody "1066 and All That".
Our Island Story | Influence
Early in the production of "The Little Mermaid", Jeffrey Katzenberg cautioned Clements, Musker, and their staff, telling them that since "The Little Mermaid" was a "girl's film", it would make less money at the box office than "Oliver & Company", which had been Disney's biggest animated box office success in a decade. However, by the time the film was closer to completion, Katzenberg was convinced "The 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. During its original 1989 theatrical release, "The Little Mermaid" earned $84.4 million at the North American box office, falling short of Katzenberg's expectations but earning 64% more than "Oliver & Company" and becoming the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Box office
The characters in the house are based on Ursula from "The Little Mermaid".
Disney: Twisted-Wonderland | Octavinelle
Ariel is a fully realized female character who thinks and acts independently, even rebelliously, instead of hanging around passively while the fates decide her destiny." The staff of "TV Guide" wrote a positive review, praising the film's return to the traditional Disney musical as well as the film's animation. Yet they also wrote that the film is detracted from by the juvenile humor and the human characters' eyes. While still giving a positive review, they stated that the film "can't compare to the real Disney classics (which appealed equally to both kids and adults)." The staff of "Variety" 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." Todd Gilchrist of IGN 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 animation was at a lull.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Critical reception
Originally, "Beauty and the Beast", under the direction of Richard Purdum, was not intended to be a musical. Then-studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg made the decision to turn the film into a Broadway-style musical similar to "The Little Mermaid" (1989), Disney's previous animated film, after he, displeased with the film's initial story reel, ordered the film scrapped and restarted from scratch. As a result, Purdum resigned, and first-time feature film directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale replaced him. Following the Academy Award-winning success of "The Little Mermaid", Katzenberg asked "The Little Mermaid" songwriting duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken to write the songs for and score "Beauty and the Beast".
Be Our Guest | Background
López agreed to act in the movie and received the script one year later; he said that "it was exactly the same, it was incredible. In his little head he had all the history with a lot of little detail, a lot of characters, like now when you look at the movie, it was exactly what he had in his head". Del Toro got the idea of the faun from childhood experiences with "lucid dreaming". He stated on "The Charlie Rose Show" that every midnight, he would wake up, and a faun would gradually step out from behind the grandfather's clock.
Pan's Labyrinth | Influences
By this time Gary's hotel is famous and the owner is certain of a big summer business."
The Mermaid (1910 film) | Plot
The story popularised the mystery of the "Mary Celeste". Doyle drew heavily on the original incident, but some of the fictional elements that he introduced have come to replace the real events in the popular imagination. Doyle changes a number of details, including the names of the captain, crew, and passengers, and also the name of the vessel, from "Mary Celeste" to "Marie Celeste". In the story, the ship is in an almost perfect state when discovered (the "Mary Celeste" had been in heavy weather and was waterlogged) and the boats are still present (the "Mary Celeste" one boat was actually missing).
J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement | Influence
The animators then studied the way in which octopuses move, explaining, "There was a very kind of seductive and yet scary aspect", which they incorporated into the character's own gait. The "Pink Flamingos"-inspired Mohawk was ultimately discarded because Disney felt that the hairstyle was "too over-the-top" for the film. Additionally, Ursula's face was also inspired by that of Madame Medusa from Disney's "The Rescuers" (1977)"." According to "The Gospel according to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust" author Mark I. Pinsky, Ursula became "the most grotesque characterization Disney ... have created for a female villain" at that time. Having animated previous Disney villains, Keane was originally approached to be the supervising animator of Ursula, but declined in favor of animating Ariel because he longed to do something different.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) | Design
In some later productions, however, the song is sung to try to stop Ariel from thinking about Eric like in the film. In the musical, the storm at sea sequence is simplified, and Eric merely falls overboard; his sheepdog, Max, is not included, and there is no gunpowder explosion. Ursula's alter ego, Vanessa, is also not included, thereby omitting the subplot of Eric's brainwashing, leading to "The Contest". In the film, Flotsam and Jetsam are killed when Ursula accidentally zaps them with the trident; in the musical they swim away after Ariel takes Ursula's nautilus shell.
The Little Mermaid Jr. | Changes from the 1989 film
The film borrows elements from Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". As part of the film's mythology, merpeople are said to live for hundreds of years, but do not have an immortal soul. There is also a legend that states that if a human loves a merperson, they will share half of their soul. June's subplot in the film is also derived from the Hans Christian Andersen story. June saves the life of her beloved when he is about to drown. When June drags him to shore, he is half-conscious, but only manages to see a vague shadow of her.
Mermaids (2003 film) | Influences
"The Little Mermaid" was the first of a series of blockbusters that would be released over the next decade by Walt Disney Feature Animation, a period later designated by the term Disney Renaissance. Accompanied in theaters by the Mickey Mouse featurette "The Prince and the Pauper", "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990) was Disney's first animated feature sequel and the studio's first film to be fully colored and composited via computer using the CAPS/ink & paint system. However, the film did not duplicate the success of "The Little Mermaid". The next Disney animated feature, "Beauty and the Beast", had begun production in London but was moved back to Burbank after Disney decided to shutter the London satellite office and retool the film into a musical-comedy format similar to "The Little Mermaid".
Walt Disney Animation Studios | 1989–1994: Beginning of the Disney Renaissance, successful releases, impact on the animation industry
In adapting the film into a live stage musical, the following significant changes are made: Music by Alan Menken and All Lyrics by Glenn Slater, except as noted:
The Little Mermaid (musical) | Changes from the 1989 film
The Little Mermaid () is a 1968 Soviet animated film based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid".
The Little Mermaid (1968 film) | Introduction
The tale inspired such works as the poem "Sadko" by Alexei Tolstoy (1817–75), the opera "Sadko" composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and the painting by Ilya Repin.
Mermaid | Eastern Europe
The desire for revenge and power is her motivation for the show. The musical's plot is similar to the film, with the exceptions that Ursula doesn't transform into Vanessa, and she is ultimately defeated by Ariel rather than Eric, when the mermaid destroys the Nautilus shell that contains Ursula's power. In the revamped version of the musical developed by Glenn Casale in 2012, Ursula and Triton's backstory was changed, making them the seventh and eighth of eight siblings respectively. Ursula killed their older siblings one by one until she became a queen, and she forgot about Triton until he became old enough to depose her and become king.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) | Broadway musical
However, Katzenberg did not approve of Purdum's dark, somber version of the fairy tale, and ultimately ordered that it be restarted from scratch in favor of creating a Broadway-style musical film starring a strong heroine, more similar to "The Little Mermaid". Opting instead for a "feminist twist" on the original story, largely in response to critics' negative reception to Ariel regarding her pursuit of Eric being her overall character, Katzenberg hired television writer Linda Woolverton, who had never written an animated film before, to write the film's screenplay. Before "Beauty and the Beast", Disney's tradition of depicting female characters as victims had already long been established.
Belle (Beauty and the Beast) | Conception and writing
The little mermaid heads toward the surface and sees the now-unconscious prince in the water. She carries him to the shore, where she sings a sweet mermaid song for him. Then a bell tolls from a nearby convent and several women come out. The little mermaid jumps into the sea, waiting to see what becomes of the prince. One of the ladies finds the prince and helps him to the convent.
The Little Mermaid (1968 film) | Plot
The film is an adaptation of three fairy tales classics of children literature. "The Maiden of the Sea" tells the story of Coraline, a mermaid who wants to be human after she falls in love with a Sailor Prince. "The 3 hairs of the Devil" tells the story of Tomasin, a young man of humble background, which a seer had a presentiment that he would marry the daughter of the king, who must perform a series of tests to avoid death, and marriage the princess is accepted by the king. "The Wizard of Oz" tells the story of Sylvia, a girl who get lost in the woods with her dog Toto, and along with her friends The Scarecrow, The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, have been snatched the brain, heart and courage, respectively.
Fantasía... 3 | Plot
J. Carr; "King Triton, Beware!", "The Haunted Palace" and "The Boyfriend Mix-Up" by Katherine Applegate; "The Practical-Joke War" by Stephanie St. Pierre; "The Dolphins of Coral Cove" by K. S. Rodriguez; and "Alana's Secret Friend" by Jess Christopher. Also published in 1994 is "Tales from Under the Sea", an illustrated book containing 22 stories and poems about the characters from the film. In 2009 Disney Press started a young adult novel series retelling various films of the animated Disney canon but set from the point of view of its villains. The novels are written by Serena Valentino, and the third entry in the series was "Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch", which was released in July 2016.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | Printed adaptations
In addition, Katzenberg asked songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who had written the song score for "The Little Mermaid", to turn "Beauty and the Beast" into a Broadway-style musical film in the same vein as "Mermaid". Ashman, who at the time had learned he was dying of complications from AIDS, had been working with Disney on a pet project of his, "Aladdin", and only reluctantly agreed to join the struggling production team. To accommodate Ashman's failing health, pre-production of "Beauty and the Beast" was moved from London to the Residence Inn in Fishkill, New York, close to Ashman's New York City home.
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) | Script rewrite and musicalization
In 1939 Nielsen left for California and worked for Hollywood companies. A personal recommendation from Joe Grant to Walt Disney secured Nielsen a job with The Walt Disney Company, where his work was used in the "Night on Bald Mountain"/"Ave Maria" sequences of "Fantasia". Nielsen was renowned at the Disney studio for his concept art and he contributed artwork for many Disney films, including concept paintings for a proposed adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid". The adaptation was to be part of a package film containing various segments based on Andersen's fairy tales. The film, however, was not made within Nielsen's lifetime and his work went unused until production started on the 1989 film.
Kay Nielsen | Work at Disney
Disney Theatrical had success with stage adaptations of its animated musical films "Beauty and the Beast" in 1994 and "The Lion King" in 1997. Thomas Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical, proposed another adaptation, this time of the 1989 film "The Little Mermaid", approaching songwriter Alan Menken, who had composed the music for the film, to be part of the production team. Schumacher initially brought on director/choreographer Matthew Bourne to helm the musical, but Bourne left when their visions on the project differed. Schumacher then approached Francesca Zambello, telling her that "We haven't found a way to do the water". Zambello's experience with the fantasy elements of opera made her open to the project, and the decision was made that there would be no water, wires or flying in the production.
The Little Mermaid (musical) | Development
This story, along with several of Irving's others, was influential in American folklore tales of Pirates and buried treasure.
Kidd the Pirate | Influence
If she fails, Ariel will become a miserable polyp and belong to Ursula. Ariel accepts and is then given human legs and taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian. Eric finds Ariel alone on the beach and takes her to his castle, but is still unaware that she is the one who saved him before due to her muteness. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. That night, to ensure Ariel's failure, Ursula disguises herself as a beautiful young woman named Vanessa and appears on the shore in front of Eric's castle, singing with Ariel's voice.
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) | Plot
After the success of Walt Disney Productions' first feature-length animated film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), filmmaker Walt Disney himself made several attempts to adapt the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont into one of the studio's earliest animated feature films during the 1930s and 1950s. However, the project was continuously abandoned due to the fairy tale's "static" plot and main characters. The filmmaker was also concerned about the "unnecessary intensity" required to depict Belle's imprisonment. Inspired by the unprecedented success of "The Little Mermaid "(1989), Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg green-lit another attempt at adapting "Beauty and the Beast" under the direction of Richard Purdum.
Belle (Beauty and the Beast) | Conception and writing
The plot is inspired by the 1946 movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life", a title that is repeatedly alluded to in the dialogue.
The Duck Who Never Was | Inspiration
The Little Mermaid Jr. is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (written for the film), with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater. Its underwater setting and story about aquatic characters requires unusual technical designs and strategies to create gliding movements for the actors.
The Little Mermaid Jr. | Introduction
In adapting the film into a live stage musical, the following significant changes are made: The shark chase sequence that introduced Ariel and Flounder early in the film has been replaced by a new introductory song for Ariel in which she admires a fork from "The World Above". Other new songs are "Human Stuff","One Step Closer",and "The Contest", and some songs from the film are extended, such as "Fathoms Below". "Under the Sea" is the same as the film version, but in the film it was performed while Sebastian is trying to stop Ariel from daydreaming about Eric; in the musical it occurs later, after King Triton destroys Ariel's collection of human things.
The Little Mermaid Jr. | Changes from the 1989 film
"The Little Mermaid" was originally planned as part of one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package film featuring vignettes of Hans Christian Andersen tales. Development started soon after "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in the late 1930s, but was put on hold due to various circumstances. In 1985, "The Great Mouse Detective" co-director Ron Clements discovered a collection of Andersen's fairy tales while browsing a bookstore. He presented a two-page draft of a movie based on "The Little Mermaid" to CEO Michael Eisner and Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting.
The Little Mermaid (franchise) | History
Barnz's script was inspired by the film "Say Anything...". He "immediately fell for it, because [he] saw that there was an amazing opportunity to tell a modern version of this fairytale and [he] loved the idea of it." Barnz was happy that the story would be told from the beast's perspective and that it focused more on the romance elements than the supernatural.
Beastly (film) | Development
The Little Mermaid is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic 1837 story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find true love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (written for the film), with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater. Its underwater setting and story about aquatic characters requires unusual technical designs and strategies to create gliding movements for the actors.
The Little Mermaid (musical) | Introduction
"The Little Mermaid" () is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. The tale was first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The original story has been a subject of multiple analyses by scholars such as Jacob Bøggild and Pernille Heegaard as well as the folklorist Maria Tatar. These analyses cover various aspects of the story from interpreting the themes to discussing why Andersen chose to write a tragic story with a happy ending.
The Little Mermaid | Introduction
The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea is the third of three original albums inspired by Disney's "The Little Mermaid" film. It is a concept album; listening to the tracks in order will present the story of a typical day in the life of the mermaid Ariel (set sometime before the events of the film). Ariel (Jodi Benson), Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright), Scuttle (Buddy Hackett), King Triton (Kenneth Mars), and Ariel's sisters sing the songs.
The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea | Introduction
The concept of an animated film based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rapunzel" originated from Disney animator Glen Keane in 1996. Veteran Disney composer Alan Menken had just recently completed scoring Walt Disney Pictures' "Enchanted" (2007) when he received a telephone call from Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2008, who invited him to compose the music for the studio's then-upcoming animated film "Tangled." Upon accepting, Menken invited frequent collaborator Glenn Slater, with whom he had previously worked on Disney's "Home on the Range" (2004) and the Broadway musical adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" (1989), to serve alongside him as his co-writing lyricist once again.
I See the Light | Background
I'm sure that's wrong! It would depend rather much on chance, wouldn't it? I won't accept that sort of thing in this world. I have permitted my mermaid to follow a more natural, more divine path." Other scholars like Jacob Bøggild and Pernille Heegaard notice the ending's shift away from tragedy as well. They point out that the events leading up to the mermaid's death should culminate in tragedy, but that the sudden twist allows the narrative to finish on a hopeful success. Bøggild and Heegaard argue that this disjointed ending was not the result of Anderson's sentimentality and religious beliefs, which have been attributed to his choice to stray from the tragic path he established in the rest of the narrative, but a conscious choice for ambiguity that stemmed from Andersen's skepticism towards idealized physical and religious symbols.
The Little Mermaid | Debate over ending
Development started in the late 1930s but was delayed due to various circumstances. In 1985, Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director on "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986). Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore. Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater, Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of "Mermaid" to Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who approved of the idea for possible development the next day.
The Little Mermaid | Disney's animated film
After the success of the 1989 movie, The Walt Disney Company planned to produce a children's television series for its Disney Channel cable outlet called "The Little Mermaid's Island". The proposed series would feature puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop interacting with a "live" Ariel. As the video release of "The Little Mermaid" soared in sales during 1990 and early 1991, Disney quietly dropped plans for "The Little Mermaid's Island" in favor of a more ambitious plan: an animated weekly series for the CBS network. The new show would concern the adventures of Ariel and her friends before the events in the movie.
The Little Mermaid (TV series) | Production and development
Upon seeing the initial storyboard reels in 1989, Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered that the film be scrapped and started over from scratch. A few months after starting anew, Purdum resigned as director. The studio had approached John Musker and Ron Clements to direct the film, but they turned down the offer, saying they were "tired" after just having finished directing Disney's recent success "The Little Mermaid". Disney then hired first-time feature directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. Wise and Trousdale had previously directed the animated sections of "Cranium Command", a short film for a Disney EPCOT theme park attraction.
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) | Script rewrite and musicalization
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" was published in 1837. The story was adapted into a Disney film with a bowdlerized plot. In the original version, The Little Mermaid is the youngest daughter of a sea king who lives at the bottom of the sea. To pursue a prince with whom she has fallen in love, the mermaid gets a sea witch to give her legs and agrees to give up her tongue in return. Though she is found on the beach by the prince, he marries another. Told she must stab the prince in the heart to return to her sisters, she can't do it out of love for him.
Sailors' superstitions | Mermaids and mermen
Stokowski disagreed with the switch, believing that Disney's "idea of mythology ... is not quite what this symphony is about". He was also concerned about the reception from classical music enthusiasts who would criticize Disney for venturing too far from the composer's intent. Taylor on the other hand welcomed the change, describing it as "a stunning one", and saw "no possible objection to it".
Fantasia (1940 film) | Story meetings and program selection
Jasmine is based on the princess who appears in the Middle Eastern folk tale collection "One Thousand and One Nights", specifically the story "Aladdin and the Magical Lamp." Lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken had first begun to develop "Aladdin" while they were still writing songs for "The Little Mermaid" (1989), but further development was abandoned in favor of working on "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) instead. However, "Aladdin" was finally resurrected as "Beauty and the Beast" neared completion. While the princess in the original tale is named Badroulbadour, the studio decided to rename the character the more familiar "Jasmine" after actress Jasmine Guy.
Jasmine (Disney character) | Conception and writing
The two-minute climax scene used computer-generated imagery (CGI), making it the first Disney film to extensively use computer animation, a fact that Disney used to promote the film during marketing. Glen Keane, a leading animator for Disney films such as "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin", has also credited Miyazaki's work as a "huge influence" on Disney's animated films ever since "The Rescuers Down Under".
Disney Renaissance | 1986–88: Disney vs. Don Bluth
The reason for why the film's story and characters were so well developed was that Disney had already realized the success of animated films depended upon telling emotionally gripping stories that would grab the audience and not let go. This realization led to an important innovation around the time "Pigs" was in development: a "story department," separate from the animators, with storyboard artists who would be dedicated to working on a "story development" phase of the production pipeline. The moderate, but not blockbuster, success of the further "Three Pigs" cartoons was seen as a factor in Walt Disney's decision not to rest on his laurels, but instead to continue to move forward with risk-taking projects, such as the multiplane camera and the first feature-length animated movie.
Three Little Pigs (film) | Reaction and legacy
What I heard that Sunday afternoon, so long ago, that has never left my thoughts for even one week, through all those years, was this: Ellison goes on to relate the plot (at least as he remembers it after several decades, admitting that time might have altered some of the details), and asks, "[H]ow many stories you heard or saw or read fifteen years ago, ten years ago, even "five" years ago...do you remember that clearly today? And I heard 'Five Miles Down' at least "forty" years ago. And it's still with me."
Quiet, Please | Influence
Downplaying the dark subject matter, he described the story as "a playful call to be responsible and to be careful". In his efforts for "balance" in respect to the abortion scene, Villeneuve said he was pro-choice but the operation "should never be taken lightly". The inspiration for the narration was a trout he had for dinner, which gave him food poisoning. This led him to choose a fish as the storyteller, which he also liked because it would add "a purely fictional element" to an otherwise realistic story. He had also contemplated the alternative of a talking dog, based on a puppy his family had recently adopted, but preferred the metaphor of "a fish out of water".
Maelström (film) | Development
A violent storm hits, sinking the ship, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here, she waits until a young woman from the temple and her ladies in waiting find him. To her dismay, the prince never sees the Little Mermaid or even realizes that it was she who had originally saved his life. The Little Mermaid becomes melancholic and asks her grandmother if humans can live forever. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than a mermaid's 300 years, but that, when mermaids die, they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in heaven.
The Little Mermaid | Plot summary
"New York" in 1971 stated that Jenny resembled the "myopic, athletic, brisk princess" Brenda Patimkin in Philip Roth's "Goodbye, Columbus". It is sometimes said that Al Gore falsely claimed that the plot is based on his life at Harvard. In fact, Al Gore mentioned, correctly, that he had read that the characters were based on him and his wife. In 1997, Segal confirmed Gore's account, explaining that he had been inaccurately quoted in the "Nashville Tennessean" and that "only the emotional family baggage of the romantic hero... was inspired by a young Al Gore. But it was Gore's Harvard roommate, Tommy Lee Jones, who inspired the half of the character that was a sensitive stud, a macho athlete with the heart of a poet".
Love Story (novel) | Sources
Disney had already begun working out the details for the segments, and showed greater enthusiasm and eagerness as opposed to his anxiety while starting on "Pinocchio". "Clair de Lune" was soon removed from the "Fantasia" program, but Disney and his writers encountered problems of setting a concrete story to "Cydalise". Its opening march, "The Entry of the Little Fauns", attracted Disney to the piece which at first provided suitable depictions of fauns he wanted. On January 5, 1939, following a search for a stronger piece to fit the mythological theme, the piece was replaced with sections of Beethoven's sixth symphony.
Fantasia (1940 film) | Story meetings and program selection