The Little Mermaid 30th Anniversary at D23

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From DigitalSpy:

The Little Mermaid almost had Ursula as a mermaid
Not exactly a tough choice to change it.

BY IAN SANDWELL
25/08/2019

The Little Mermaid's Ursula is one of Disney's most iconic villains, but she could have looked very different.

During the 30th Anniversary celebration of the original movie at D23 Expo hosted by Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, it was revealed that one of the early ideas for Ursula made the movie a more family affair.

"At one point, Ursula was talked about being a sister to King Triton, so it was sibling rivalry going on. She was another mermaid," recalled The Little Mermaid art director Michael Peraza.

Thankfully, Peraza was inspired by a Jacques Cousteau documentary that featured an octopus that was basically Houdini.

"There was an octopus inside this closed lid inside a jar. The octopus was able to unscrew the lid, got out and slithered out of the aquarium, dropped to the floor and tried to make an escape," Peraza explained.

Of course, the design of Ursula is only part of why she's such a memorable villain. The inimitable Pat Carroll wasn't able to attend the panel, but did send a video message for the crowd.

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
"Now, I've got to say something to all of you who love The Little Mermaid. Yes, you. I do wish I could be with you today for this marvellous celebration, but I'm talking to you from my home, here on Cape Cod, and that's awfully far away. Life's full of tough choices, innit," she said.

"I'm sending you greetings from sea to shining sea, and I hug you with my tentacles. Congratulations to all of you, the cast, the crew and the fans on the 30th anniversary of The Little Mermaid."

The casting of Ursula in the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is proving a huge talking point for fans.

Recently, Melissa McCarthy all-but confirmed the reports linking her to the role.

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From The National:

A blonde Ariel and Jim Carrey as Prince Eric: 'The Little Mermaid' could have been a very different film

Gregory Wakeman
Aug 27, 2019

Many insights into how the beloved movie could have looked were revealed over the weekend at the D23 Expo in California – did you know Ursula was originally modelled on Joan Collins?

With five of the six highest grossing movies of 2019 so far, and both Frozen II and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker still to come, Disney’s complete and utter dominance of the current movie landscape is clear for all to see.

It wasn’t always this way, though. After 1985’s The Black Cauldron flopped the studio was so close to bankruptcy that its legendary animation department, which had thrived for decades under the guidance of Walt Disney until his death in 1966, was in jeopardy. The critical and financial success of The Little Mermaid in 1989 changed all of that, paving the way for what Disney has become today.

It was no surprise then that the D23 Expo, held over the weekend in California, wanted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Little Mermaid in style, as Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel, oversaw an in-depth celebration of the musical.

And Benson had a lot to reveal about the many ways the landmark movie could have been drastically different: it almost starred Jim Carrey and Roseanne Barr, Ursula was nearly a mermaid, and Ariel was almost blonde. Here are the highlights:

The Little Mermaid was originally rejected by Disney
After joining Benson onstage, The Little Mermaid’s co-director Ron Clements recalled how, in January 1985, Disney’s new chief executive Michael Eisner and film president Jeffrey Katzenberg originally rejected his idea for an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy-tale because it was too similar to their planned sequel for Splash.

It didn’t take long for Eisner and Katzenberg to recognise the error of their ways, though. Just three days later they called Clements, who had pitched them a much happier take on Andersen’s incredibly depressing Little Mermaid fable, which actually ends with the main character dying, and told him to develop the story.

Most of the songs were written in two days
After writing their treatment for The Little Mermaid, Clements and his writing and directing partner John Musker were told by Disney that composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, who had just earned their first Oscar nomination for Little Shop Of Horrors, would be writing the music for the film.

Musker and Clements then flew out to New York from Los Angeles to collaborate with Ashman, who immediately suggested that their British crab Clarence should become Caribbean, as he wanted to bring in a “Jamaican and calypso influenced score that would give it a pop feeling”.

As well as helping to create Sebastian, the beloved singer of Under The Sea, Ashman spent the next two days with Musker and Clements identifying “the bulk” of The Little Mermaid’s songs. Musker and Clements then headed back to Los Angeles to write the script and begin the torturous audition process.

Jim Carrey as Prince Eric? Roseanne Barr as Carlotta?
While casting most of the parts was difficult, finding the voice for Ariel proved to be rather simple. Once again, Musker and Clements had Ashman to thank for pointing them in the direction of Jodi Benson. She was actually starring in Ashman’s Broadway musical Smile at the same time as they were all working on The Little Mermaid. Ashman invited Musker and Clements to a performance, which is when they first heard the singing prowess of the young actress.

Finding the likes of Prince Eric, Carlotta and Ursula was much more troublesome, though. “It is always hard to find the right voice for the character. We auditioned many, many actors,” noted Clements.

“Young Jim Carrey auditioned for Prince Eric and Roseanne Barr auditioned for Carlotta, the chambermaid.”

The Golden Girls’ Beatrice Arthur was the first choice for Ursula, but for an unknown reason she never actually “came in and never met” the filmmakers. Luckily for the film, Pat Carroll shone in her audition, as well as in The Little Mermaid itself, and the perfect meshing of her voice and the haunting animation for Ursula instantly made her one of Disney’s greatest villains of all time. There were plenty of growing pains during the development of the characters, though.

Ursula was nearly a mermaid, Ariel was almost blonde
While it is impossible now not to imagine Ariel’s as a red-head, when development first started on The Little Mermaid Katzenberg insisted that she would be blonde. Mark Penn, the co-supervising animator for Ariel, recalled the executive telling animators at the time: “All mermaids, all blonde.”

As such, model Christie Brinkley was used as inspiration for the physical look of Ariel. Clements and Penn couldn’t recall exactly why and when the decision was made to change the color of Ariel’s hair, but it immediately became apparent that it was the right way to go with the character.

“Artistically everything fit,” said Penn. “It just made sense [with] all the colors under the sea – the blues and teals. It was like, ‘Why not make her a red-head?”

The biggest alterations were reserved for Ursula, though. Ruben Aquino, the supervising animator for Ursula, revealed that not only was the aquatic foe originally intended to be skinny, with Joan Collins in Dynasty a big inspiration, but she was also supposed to be a mermaid and the sister of King Triton. But after seeing an octopus escape from a closed jar by unscrewing its lid from the inside, art director Michael Peraza suggested adding tentacles to Ursula to make her more “creepy” while still being “fun to look at.”

With everything ironed out, The Little Mermaid was finally released on November, 17, 1989, nearly four years after Clements had initially pitched it.

The film hit cinemas to rave reviews, earned over $233 million (Dh856m) at the worldwide box office and went on to to win two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Most importantly for the studio, though, it sparked a creative renaissance at Disney. Over the course of the next decade Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan all built upon what The Little Mermaid had started, meaning that the foundations for Disney buying Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel and, most recently, 20th Century Fox, and becoming the most powerful studio in Hollywood today were actually laid – under the sea.

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I was on that panel! It was really amazing and so much fun!

It has always been my dream to see Jodi Benson performing "Part of your world", and it finally came true!!!

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I'm a little disappointed that they haven't announce the official cast of the live-action movie.

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Given all I've read about nearly every potential choice declining the role after extended negotiations, perhaps they're having difficulty finding cast to announce.
It can't be very exciting to announce we've got Ariel and Scuttle, sorry, that's it.
So I'm not expecting an announcement until all of the lead roles have been cast.

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From All Those Disney Dolls Tumblr:

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From D23:



The Little Mermaid panel D23 Expo 2019D23 Expo Goes Under the Sea with “The Little Mermaid: The 30th Anniversary Celebration!”
AUGUST 25, 2019
By Courtney Potter

“We got no troubles, life is the bubbles!” On this final morning of D23 Expo 2019, we donned our proverbial mermaid tails, grabbed a couple of whozits and whatzits, and headed over to the D23 Expo Arena for an event three decades in the making: “The Little Mermaid: The 30th Anniversary Celebration! Presented by H2O+”!

The party kicked off with none other than Ariel herself, Disney Legend Jodi Benson, who joined an adorable group of literal “little mermaids” (six talented young girls) on a beautiful rendition of Benson’s now-signature tune, “Part of Your Word.” She then welcomed the large and appreciative crowd to a truly auspicious occasion: “I’m really excited because I get to share with you amazing stories and some wonderful memories,” Benson confessed, “and to be able to introduce some of the incredible creators of our film… I’m thrilled that you’ve come to join us today! And who knows—we may even have a little surprise for you, cuz you know how D23 Expo is!” The crowd, of course, went wild.



As if on cue, one of Benson’s colorful Little Mermaid costars suddenly joined her (in puppet form) onstage—King Triton’s trusted advisor and court composer extraordinaire, Sebastian! Before he could wax too rhapsodic (which, if you know Sebastian, he is wont to do), Benson sent him backstage to help coordinate that special surprise she alluded to earlier… and then welcomed to the stage one of the people responsible for bringing the 1989 animated classic to the big screen: co-director and co-screenwriter Ron Clements, who gave some background on how the film came to be. “The Little Mermaid actually came to life for the first time January of 1985… They had a group of us [animation] directors and story people, and [Disney’s Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg] met with us and they said, ‘We want everybody to come up with five new ideas for animated features. We’re gonna reconvene in two weeks and we want everybody to pitch their ideas.’ So I took this seriously… and I went into a bookstore in North Hollywood, and I picked up a book of fairy tales, just at random. And I came across The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen—and I was reading the story, right in the bookstore. It’s a great story—very visual and very cinematic. And I wondered why they hadn’t done it [as an animated film].” The rest, as they say, is history.



Clements then talked about how he and co-director/co-screenwriter John Musker hooked up with lyricist Howard Ashman—who had just come off of creating the Off-Broadway hit Little Shop of Horrors with collaborator Alan Menken. And the filmmakers even found their Ariel through Ashman; at the time, Benson was starring in a Broadway musical he’d directed (and written the songs for, with the late Marvin Hamlisch) called Smile, about the world of beauty pageants. Coincidentally enough, Benson’s big song in the show was called “Disneyland”!

After showing some behind-the-scenes clips of Benson working in the recording studio with Ashman on “Part of Your World”—including one in which Ashman had turned off most of the lights to simulate an underwater “grotto”—Clements revealed that a young Jim Carrey had actually auditioned for the role of Prince Eric. As for late Disney Legend Buddy Hackett, who lent his incredibly memorable voice to the role of Scuttle, Clements admitted that no audition took place; knowing he was interested in the role, they went to meet Hackett at a restaurant in Glendale and knew right away they had their seagull.

Benson then welcomed The Little Mermaid art director Michael Peraza to the stage, who explained that he first found out that “Ron and John” (as they’re colloquially known) were directing The Little Mermaid at a party; Musker had come over to Peraza’s table and asked if he’d like to be involved. Peraza immediately said, “Where do I sign?” As an art director, Peraza was in charge of the “look” of the film—and to demonstrate, he showed some of his very early sketches for the film’s castles; Prince Eric’s royal bath; and Ariel’s underwater hangout. More of Peraza’s sketches appeared in the next clip—an early version of “Under the Sea” (with Ashman singing lead vocals).

Next to join the panel was Disney animator Mark Henn, who (with Glen Keane) was responsible for animating Ariel. Did you know Ariel was almost a blonde? In fact, the filmmakers looked to supermodel Christie Brinkley for inspiration. Ultimately, though, they decided on that now insanely recognizable red hair.

Benson then introduced a clip of her and composer Alan Menken discussing how “Part of Your World” almost didn’t make the final film. (“Can you imagine?” exclaimed Benson.) Menken couldn’t make this year’s D23 Expo (he’s currently working on the brand-new stage adaptation of Disney’s Hercules for the Public Theatre in New York City)—but he sent a video, thanking the fans and offering all manner of best wishes.



After an adorable interlude—in which a blushing Benson and an audience member (chosen for his resemblance to Prince Eric) were serenaded by a live quartet with the film’s romantic “Kiss the Girl”—Benson then introduced principal Ursula animator Ruben Aquino, who discussed how they locked into the look and personality of the iconic villain. (Another fun fact: Some of Ursula’s bearing was inspired by the ’80s TV series Dynasty and its stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans, all favorites of Ashman’s.) Peraza then told what he called the Ursula “jar story”; he and his wife were at home one night watching TV, and the show they were viewing included footage of an octopus in a jar inside an aquarium… All by itself, the octopus opened the jar, escaped the aquarium, and tried to make a break for it! And that’s where Ursula’s half-human, half-octopus form began! And speaking of Ursula, Benson introduced some clips of the actress behind her ridiculously recognizable voice: Pat Carroll! Carroll is unable to travel, so she sent through some hilariously adorable well wishes (and some flawless Ursula cackles!) from her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.



Following some great footage of Broadway actor Samuel Wright (voice of Sebastian) in the recording studio, Benson surprised the audience with a very special guest: Auliʻi Cravalho, who’s starring as Ariel in the upcoming live ABC special celebrating The Little Mermaid’s 30th, this November 5! “I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said, “and so thankful to be able to come back and play another princess that’s related to the ocean!” Cravalho then showed some sneak-peek concept art for what the stage will look like for the ABC special, which will incorporate live musical numbers into the original ’89 film.



Finally, Benson brought the memorable panel to a close by inviting Sebastian back to the stage to kick off the big surprise—a huge group of dancers and singers performing a rollicking rendition of “Under the Sea,” complete with bubbles cascading down from the rafters! To paraphrase the song, they got the spirit and we got to hear it… and it was a swimmingly spectacular way to start the final day of D23 Expo 2019.

Special thanks to H2O+ for helping us make a splash with this panel! D23 Gold Members, don’t forget that you can get 25% off your purchase at H2Oplus.com!