20 facts you might not know about 'The Little Mermaid'
Jul 9, 2022 4:18:14 GMT -5
critteriffic likes this
Post by veu on Jul 9, 2022 4:18:14 GMT -5
Source: www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/20_facts_you_might_not_know_about_the_little_mermaid/s1__37660985#slide_1
20 facts you might not know about 'The Little Mermaid'
Posted 15 hours ago | By Chris Morgan
There are many canonical Disney animated films, but among those offerings, one stands out: The Little Mermaid. You may not be aware of the key role that it played in the studio’s history, but this story of a young mermaid girl who wants to walk on land and be part of our world made a massive impact. That, and more, will be discussed in these 20 facts about The Little Mermaid. Enjoy them, whether or not you are under the sea.
It’s based on a classic fairytale
Hans Christian Andersen probably didn’t figure that he would have such a lasting cultural impact. However, his fairytales have inspired many a movie. Perhaps his most successful story was The Little Mermaid. There’s even a statue dedicated to his 1837 story in Copenhagen, Denmark, the city Andersen lived in when the story was published.
Andersen’s story is much darker
Andersen gave us a mermaid who wanted to walk on land as well as a sea witch, but do you remember the part of The Little Mermaid where it feels like she is walking on knives with every step she takes? Or when she is offered the chance to kill the prince she loves to return to land? Or when she dies and turns into sea foam? No? That’s because none of that stuff from the original story made the Disney movie, for obvious reasons.
It could have been a very early Disney movie
Walt Disney wanted to make a Little Mermaid film, which means when the idea first came to fruition, he was still alive. In fact, Disney had plans for an anthology movie based on Andersen fairytales after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which came out in 1937. That never came to fruition, though.
The pitch was initially nixed
Ron Clements, who had co-directed The Great Mouse Detective with John Musker for Disney, had stumbled upon The Little Mermaid in 1985 and started to think about adapting it. As recalled in a 2016 interview with Yahoo, Clements and Musker took the idea to Disney production head honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg at an all-hands-on-deck pitch meeting. Katzenberg passed, because at the time, there were plans for a sequel to Splash. Then, the next day, he had a change of heart and greenlit Clements’ idea.
A delay helped change the movie
The Little Mermaid was set aside at Disney for a bit so the studio could focus on two other films: Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Oliver & Company. Songwriter Howard Ashman, best known at the time for “Little Shop of Horrors,” was asked to contribute a song for the latter. This led to Ashman joining the production of The Little Mermaid in 1987, which helped turn the movie into a musical. Ashman got composer Alan Menken on board, who had worked with him on “Little Shop of Horrors” as well.
Ashman changed one character, which changed everything
Originally, there was a minor crab character in the Disney movie. We speak, of course, of Clarence, the British butler crab. Ashman suggested they turn Clarence into Sebastian, and to make him Jamaican. This also helped push the direction of the music in the film as well.
Ursula had a few inspirations
Ashman had an inspiration for the villainous Ursula, and that was Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty. This was probably more about her vibe and personality. Ultimately, though, the biggest inspiration for the sea witch was Divine, the drag queen character made famous in the works of John Waters.
It took a few tries to land on Ursula’s voice
Disney wanted Bea Arthur to voice Ursula, but she turned them down. After this, they were able to cast Elaine Stritch in the role. Stritch and Ashman didn’t get along, however, so she was booted from the role. At this point, Pat Carroll signed on to play Ursula, and she managed to stick in the role.
Some notable names auditioned
The Little Mermaid predates Robin Williams in Aladdin, which changed the way voiceover roles were cast forever. You didn’t have to be famous to have a voice in a Disney movie, though some future stars did audition for this film. Jim Carrey tried out to play Prince Eric, a role that went to Christopher Daniel Barnes. Bill Maher and Michael Richards both auditioned for Scuttle, a part played by veteran comedian Buddy Hackett.
The character of Ariel had a few reference points
Animator Glen Keane was one of the lead artists put in charge of the character of Ariel. He has said, such as in a 2018 interview with Brit + Co, that Ariel looks exactly like his wife, but with fins. Meanwhile, the personality of the teenage mermaid was based on Alyssa Milano on Who’s the Boss?, and her hair’s motion underwater was based on Sally Ride’s hair in space.
Ariel and her sisters are a colorful bunch
Ariel is the first Disney princess with biological siblings, and she has plenty of them. In fact, the sisters have tails that cover all seven traditional colors of the rainbow. Ariel, of course, is repping green on that front.
It was a last for Disney
The Little Mermaid was the end of an era. This was the last feature film produced by Disney that was animated in the traditional method of hand-painting cels. Digital animation came into play starting with Disney’s next movie, The Rescuers Down Under.
There was original more Ursula backstory
An alternate version of Ursula’s big song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” would have let us in a little more on the story of the sea witch. This scene went into why Ursula had been banned from the kingdom by Triton. Ultimately, it was one of a few things cut from the final film, leaving Ursula’s character arc a bit of a mystery.
One of the classic songs was almost cut
“Part of Your World” was nearly nixed from The Little Mermaid. A test screening for some rowdy kids got Katzenberg worried that the song wasn’t working. However, as relayed by voice actress Jodi Benson to Polygon in 2019, the directors and songwriters, fought for it. Another test screening went well enough for the song to be kept, much to the relief of future moviegoers.
The movie landed at the box office
Katzenberg may have greenlit The Little Mermaid, but he was a skeptic at first. He was worried that it was a “girls film” and predicted it would make less money than Oliver & Company. Then, he saw the film start to come together and came to believe in it. The film made $84.4 million domestically in 1989, making more money in its initial run than any prior animated movie. By the way, that was 64 percent more than Oliver & Company made.
It won two Oscars
The Little Mermaid picked up three Oscar nominations, making it the first Disney movie to get nominated since The Rescuers in 1977. It won two awards — one for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song — which went to Menken and Ashman for “Under the Sea.” By the way, nobody was disappointed they didn’t win for the third nomination. That was for Best Original Song for “Kiss the Girl.” Ashman and Menken beat themselves.
There are some (silly) controversies related to the movie
People have a weird preoccupation with the idea that “adult” things have been slipped into Disney movies. Of course, by doing two seconds of research, you find out most of them are dubious — if not provably wrong. (Not all of them, but that’s a story for another day.)
In The Little Mermaid, a rumor surfaced that the priest performing the wedding is showing some, shall we say, excitement in his pants, but it’s actually just his knee. Some also noted that a part of the castle on the VHS cover for the movie was rather phallic, which then spiraled into urban legends of aggrieved graphic designers putting on past Disney. There is zero evidence of that, though they did change the look to the cover for the movies second VHS release.
The movie is credited with revitalizing Disney animation
In truth, Disney was not having much success with animated movies after the 1950s. They started focusing more on live-action films and animation fell by the wayside. The Little Mermaid was the first commercially and critically animated hit for the studio since The Rescuers in 1977. It also helped revitalize the Disney musical, which had fallen by the wayside as well.
There are two sequels
The Little Mermaid, like most Disney movies of the era, got a couple of direct-to-video sequels. These two were quite delayed, though. Return to the Sea came out in 2000, and focuses on Ariel’s daughter, Melody. In 2008, we got a prequel called Ariel’s Beginning. There was also, briefly, a cartoon on CBS in 1992.
Yes, it’s getting a live-action remake
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but Disney is remaking The Little Mermaid as a live-action film. Halle Bailey is playing Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy was cast to bring Ursula to life. We’re also getting Daveed Diggs voicing Sebastian, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Awkwafina as Scuttle. The film is scheduled to be released in May of 2023.
20 facts you might not know about 'The Little Mermaid'
Posted 15 hours ago | By Chris Morgan
There are many canonical Disney animated films, but among those offerings, one stands out: The Little Mermaid. You may not be aware of the key role that it played in the studio’s history, but this story of a young mermaid girl who wants to walk on land and be part of our world made a massive impact. That, and more, will be discussed in these 20 facts about The Little Mermaid. Enjoy them, whether or not you are under the sea.
It’s based on a classic fairytale
Hans Christian Andersen probably didn’t figure that he would have such a lasting cultural impact. However, his fairytales have inspired many a movie. Perhaps his most successful story was The Little Mermaid. There’s even a statue dedicated to his 1837 story in Copenhagen, Denmark, the city Andersen lived in when the story was published.
Andersen’s story is much darker
Andersen gave us a mermaid who wanted to walk on land as well as a sea witch, but do you remember the part of The Little Mermaid where it feels like she is walking on knives with every step she takes? Or when she is offered the chance to kill the prince she loves to return to land? Or when she dies and turns into sea foam? No? That’s because none of that stuff from the original story made the Disney movie, for obvious reasons.
It could have been a very early Disney movie
Walt Disney wanted to make a Little Mermaid film, which means when the idea first came to fruition, he was still alive. In fact, Disney had plans for an anthology movie based on Andersen fairytales after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which came out in 1937. That never came to fruition, though.
The pitch was initially nixed
Ron Clements, who had co-directed The Great Mouse Detective with John Musker for Disney, had stumbled upon The Little Mermaid in 1985 and started to think about adapting it. As recalled in a 2016 interview with Yahoo, Clements and Musker took the idea to Disney production head honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg at an all-hands-on-deck pitch meeting. Katzenberg passed, because at the time, there were plans for a sequel to Splash. Then, the next day, he had a change of heart and greenlit Clements’ idea.
A delay helped change the movie
The Little Mermaid was set aside at Disney for a bit so the studio could focus on two other films: Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Oliver & Company. Songwriter Howard Ashman, best known at the time for “Little Shop of Horrors,” was asked to contribute a song for the latter. This led to Ashman joining the production of The Little Mermaid in 1987, which helped turn the movie into a musical. Ashman got composer Alan Menken on board, who had worked with him on “Little Shop of Horrors” as well.
Ashman changed one character, which changed everything
Originally, there was a minor crab character in the Disney movie. We speak, of course, of Clarence, the British butler crab. Ashman suggested they turn Clarence into Sebastian, and to make him Jamaican. This also helped push the direction of the music in the film as well.
Ursula had a few inspirations
Ashman had an inspiration for the villainous Ursula, and that was Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty. This was probably more about her vibe and personality. Ultimately, though, the biggest inspiration for the sea witch was Divine, the drag queen character made famous in the works of John Waters.
It took a few tries to land on Ursula’s voice
Disney wanted Bea Arthur to voice Ursula, but she turned them down. After this, they were able to cast Elaine Stritch in the role. Stritch and Ashman didn’t get along, however, so she was booted from the role. At this point, Pat Carroll signed on to play Ursula, and she managed to stick in the role.
Some notable names auditioned
The Little Mermaid predates Robin Williams in Aladdin, which changed the way voiceover roles were cast forever. You didn’t have to be famous to have a voice in a Disney movie, though some future stars did audition for this film. Jim Carrey tried out to play Prince Eric, a role that went to Christopher Daniel Barnes. Bill Maher and Michael Richards both auditioned for Scuttle, a part played by veteran comedian Buddy Hackett.
The character of Ariel had a few reference points
Animator Glen Keane was one of the lead artists put in charge of the character of Ariel. He has said, such as in a 2018 interview with Brit + Co, that Ariel looks exactly like his wife, but with fins. Meanwhile, the personality of the teenage mermaid was based on Alyssa Milano on Who’s the Boss?, and her hair’s motion underwater was based on Sally Ride’s hair in space.
Ariel and her sisters are a colorful bunch
Ariel is the first Disney princess with biological siblings, and she has plenty of them. In fact, the sisters have tails that cover all seven traditional colors of the rainbow. Ariel, of course, is repping green on that front.
It was a last for Disney
The Little Mermaid was the end of an era. This was the last feature film produced by Disney that was animated in the traditional method of hand-painting cels. Digital animation came into play starting with Disney’s next movie, The Rescuers Down Under.
There was original more Ursula backstory
An alternate version of Ursula’s big song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” would have let us in a little more on the story of the sea witch. This scene went into why Ursula had been banned from the kingdom by Triton. Ultimately, it was one of a few things cut from the final film, leaving Ursula’s character arc a bit of a mystery.
One of the classic songs was almost cut
“Part of Your World” was nearly nixed from The Little Mermaid. A test screening for some rowdy kids got Katzenberg worried that the song wasn’t working. However, as relayed by voice actress Jodi Benson to Polygon in 2019, the directors and songwriters, fought for it. Another test screening went well enough for the song to be kept, much to the relief of future moviegoers.
The movie landed at the box office
Katzenberg may have greenlit The Little Mermaid, but he was a skeptic at first. He was worried that it was a “girls film” and predicted it would make less money than Oliver & Company. Then, he saw the film start to come together and came to believe in it. The film made $84.4 million domestically in 1989, making more money in its initial run than any prior animated movie. By the way, that was 64 percent more than Oliver & Company made.
It won two Oscars
The Little Mermaid picked up three Oscar nominations, making it the first Disney movie to get nominated since The Rescuers in 1977. It won two awards — one for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song — which went to Menken and Ashman for “Under the Sea.” By the way, nobody was disappointed they didn’t win for the third nomination. That was for Best Original Song for “Kiss the Girl.” Ashman and Menken beat themselves.
There are some (silly) controversies related to the movie
People have a weird preoccupation with the idea that “adult” things have been slipped into Disney movies. Of course, by doing two seconds of research, you find out most of them are dubious — if not provably wrong. (Not all of them, but that’s a story for another day.)
In The Little Mermaid, a rumor surfaced that the priest performing the wedding is showing some, shall we say, excitement in his pants, but it’s actually just his knee. Some also noted that a part of the castle on the VHS cover for the movie was rather phallic, which then spiraled into urban legends of aggrieved graphic designers putting on past Disney. There is zero evidence of that, though they did change the look to the cover for the movies second VHS release.
The movie is credited with revitalizing Disney animation
In truth, Disney was not having much success with animated movies after the 1950s. They started focusing more on live-action films and animation fell by the wayside. The Little Mermaid was the first commercially and critically animated hit for the studio since The Rescuers in 1977. It also helped revitalize the Disney musical, which had fallen by the wayside as well.
There are two sequels
The Little Mermaid, like most Disney movies of the era, got a couple of direct-to-video sequels. These two were quite delayed, though. Return to the Sea came out in 2000, and focuses on Ariel’s daughter, Melody. In 2008, we got a prequel called Ariel’s Beginning. There was also, briefly, a cartoon on CBS in 1992.
Yes, it’s getting a live-action remake
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but Disney is remaking The Little Mermaid as a live-action film. Halle Bailey is playing Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy was cast to bring Ursula to life. We’re also getting Daveed Diggs voicing Sebastian, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Awkwafina as Scuttle. The film is scheduled to be released in May of 2023.