Post by veu on Mar 23, 2022 16:43:34 GMT -5
Source: screenrant.com/little-mermaid-1989-disney-animated-movies-ariel-change/
How Disney's The Little Mermaid Changed Studio’s Approach to Fairytales
In a recent retrospective, ex-employees have described how The Little Mermaid changed the way in which Disney studios approached fairy tales.
BY JOSEPH CUMNER
PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO
In a recent retrospective, former Disney employees have described how The Little Mermaid was a turning point in the company's approach to fairy tales. Walt Disney initially conceived the film as part of an anthology in the 30s but was eventually scrapped. The story sat undiscovered until 1985 when Ron Clements, the director of The Great Mouse Detective, proposed the idea of adapting the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale to the newly-anointed head of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Katzenberg, who had assumed the role during the company's shake-up in 1984, approved the project for development and The Little Mermaid went into production. After an arduous animation process due to the complexity of the underwater scenes, the film was eventually released in 1989 to critical acclaim and became a box-office smash. It went on to win two Academy Awards out of a possible three nominations and revived Disney's reputation as a profitable animation studio. The years that followed have since been dubbed the 'Disney Renaissance' and saw the release of fan favorites such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Pocahontas. A vital element of these 'Renaissance' years was that the films often focused on strong female characters, upsetting archetypal fairy tale tropes that often dealt with princes rescuing damsels in distress.
The focus on strong heroines in films like Beauty and the Beast wouldn't have been possible without the success of The Little Mermaid. As THR report in a retrospective, Gary Trousdale and Terry Press, two of the critical minds working on Beauty and the Beast, see The Little Mermaid as the progenitor of the fresh approach that made Belle's story so inspiring. Press even explains how it wouldn't have been possible to make Belle such a strong character without the earlier film's success. Find the full quote below:
GARY TROUSDALE, Disney animator (B&B co-director): The Little Mermaid was the classic fairy tale thing that Disney had been doing for decades, but with new energy to it.
TERRY PRESS: There really is no Beauty and the Beast without Little Mermaid. The idea of a heroine with her own mind, “I’m going to get what I want, and hang out with these cute characters, and we’re going to sing, and some bad stuff is going to happen, but in the end I’m smart, so I’m going to figure this out” — they are of a thing.
Press's comments about the nature of Ariel's character are a great indicator of how The Little Mermaid paved the way for the Renaissance-era heroines. Both she and Belle are not only headstrong characters who work hard to achieve their goals, but they are also wonderfully kind-hearted while doing so. For a long time, many Disney Princesses were simply passengers in the plot, destined to experience some hardship from which someone (usually a Prince) could rescue them. Ariel and Belle, on the other hand, embody the sympathetic emotionality of characters like Cinderella and Snow White, but they don't sit around in towers waiting for their hero; they go out there and get what they want.
The Little Mermaid's impact on animation in the late 20th century cannot be overstated, and its legacy can be felt in the way that Disney tells stories centered around women. A majority of the most highly acclaimed animated films that have come out in recent years, such as Moana, Encanto, and Frozen, have had female protagonists, all of which have been celebrated as complex, interesting characters. Long gone are the days of damsels in distress waiting for the handsome prince, and we can hope that it never returns.
How Disney's The Little Mermaid Changed Studio’s Approach to Fairytales
In a recent retrospective, ex-employees have described how The Little Mermaid changed the way in which Disney studios approached fairy tales.
BY JOSEPH CUMNER
PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO
In a recent retrospective, former Disney employees have described how The Little Mermaid was a turning point in the company's approach to fairy tales. Walt Disney initially conceived the film as part of an anthology in the 30s but was eventually scrapped. The story sat undiscovered until 1985 when Ron Clements, the director of The Great Mouse Detective, proposed the idea of adapting the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale to the newly-anointed head of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Katzenberg, who had assumed the role during the company's shake-up in 1984, approved the project for development and The Little Mermaid went into production. After an arduous animation process due to the complexity of the underwater scenes, the film was eventually released in 1989 to critical acclaim and became a box-office smash. It went on to win two Academy Awards out of a possible three nominations and revived Disney's reputation as a profitable animation studio. The years that followed have since been dubbed the 'Disney Renaissance' and saw the release of fan favorites such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Pocahontas. A vital element of these 'Renaissance' years was that the films often focused on strong female characters, upsetting archetypal fairy tale tropes that often dealt with princes rescuing damsels in distress.
The focus on strong heroines in films like Beauty and the Beast wouldn't have been possible without the success of The Little Mermaid. As THR report in a retrospective, Gary Trousdale and Terry Press, two of the critical minds working on Beauty and the Beast, see The Little Mermaid as the progenitor of the fresh approach that made Belle's story so inspiring. Press even explains how it wouldn't have been possible to make Belle such a strong character without the earlier film's success. Find the full quote below:
GARY TROUSDALE, Disney animator (B&B co-director): The Little Mermaid was the classic fairy tale thing that Disney had been doing for decades, but with new energy to it.
TERRY PRESS: There really is no Beauty and the Beast without Little Mermaid. The idea of a heroine with her own mind, “I’m going to get what I want, and hang out with these cute characters, and we’re going to sing, and some bad stuff is going to happen, but in the end I’m smart, so I’m going to figure this out” — they are of a thing.
Press's comments about the nature of Ariel's character are a great indicator of how The Little Mermaid paved the way for the Renaissance-era heroines. Both she and Belle are not only headstrong characters who work hard to achieve their goals, but they are also wonderfully kind-hearted while doing so. For a long time, many Disney Princesses were simply passengers in the plot, destined to experience some hardship from which someone (usually a Prince) could rescue them. Ariel and Belle, on the other hand, embody the sympathetic emotionality of characters like Cinderella and Snow White, but they don't sit around in towers waiting for their hero; they go out there and get what they want.
The Little Mermaid's impact on animation in the late 20th century cannot be overstated, and its legacy can be felt in the way that Disney tells stories centered around women. A majority of the most highly acclaimed animated films that have come out in recent years, such as Moana, Encanto, and Frozen, have had female protagonists, all of which have been celebrated as complex, interesting characters. Long gone are the days of damsels in distress waiting for the handsome prince, and we can hope that it never returns.