The 4 Women Who Inspired Disney’s Ariel Design

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Source: screenrant.com/disney-ariel-4-women-design/

The 4 Women Who Inspired Disney’s Ariel Design
BY
MANEESHA JASWAL
PUBLISHED 21 HOURS AGO
There's no question that The Little Mermaid's Ariel is one of Disney's most recognizable princesses; her famous design came from four special women.


Alyssa Milano, Christie Brinkley and Ariel in The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable Disney Princesses, largely due to the combined attributes of the four women who inspired Ariel’s design. Since Disney debuted Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, the franchise has continued to bring princesses to life through its animated films. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s book by the same title, 1989’s The Little Mermaid is among Disney’s most popular films. And all it's success has now earned it a live-action adaptation, set to release in 2023.

The Little Mermaid is about 16-year-old Ariel, the seventh daughter of King Triton and Queen Athena, rulers of the underwater kingdom Atlantica. Along with her fishy friends Flounder and Sebastian, Ariel adventures onto land to find true love, even trading her voice for the legs she requires to do so. Her story of bravery, sacrifice, and seeking the “kiss of true love” remains one of Disney’s best princess fairytales, though it may be Ariel’s unique design that’s more memorable than anything.

Needing to accurately convey Ariel’s expressions and movements both on land and under the sea, the film’s animation team referenced live-action footage. Careful consideration was also put into Ariel’s physical appearance, including her expressive blue eyes and iconic long, red hair that always seems perfectly styled despite being wet. Emily Zemler’s new book Disney Princess: Beyond The Tiara explains that “nimator and Disney Legend Glen Keane, who was largely responsible for Ariel’s look” primarily drew inspiration for these and other elements of Ariel’s design from four women: his wife Linda, model Christie Brinkley, actress Alyssa Milano, and comedian Sherri Stoner.

Why Each Woman Who Inspired Disney's Ariel Was Important


The Little Mermaid

Brinkley and Milano largely contributed to Ariel’s unique princess design. A ‘70s and ‘80s style icon, Brinkley was known for her voluminous, “swooping bangs [that] can clearly be seen on Ariel.” Though unconfirmed, it’s also possible her blue eyes factored into Ariel’s own eye color. Milano, who was a popular teen starlet at the time of the film’s early stages, likely inspired Ariel’s youthful and feminine facial features. Like Brinkley, Milano also donned the same type of big 80s hair reflected in Ariel’s stylization. Personality-wise, Ariel is portrayed as a spirited, kind and curious girl. While it’s hard to know for sure how exactly Keane’s wife Linda inspired Ariel, it’s likely his love and fondness for her translated into this enchanting characterization.

Regarding Ariel’s physicality, Stoner was enlisted to “help guide the characters’ movement… perform[ing] Ariel’s scenes in a studio on camera.” Disney’s 2D movie animators painstakingly “printed every sixth frame of film to study as she mimed to a pre-recorded soundtrack on a bare stage,” and in large tanks of water (via Cartoon Research). “Sherri’s face is very cartoony. Her eyes – she has very big eyes – are more than just eyes. Her expressive hands and fingers… are even more emotional than her eyes,” Keane further explained Stoner’s contributions. Stoner added “I provide little quirks and idiosyncrasies, personality traits that will add to the character… I can definitely see myself behind the character and friends say they can readily spot my smile and hand gestures.” Given Ariel’s features and movements in the movie, it’s clear how these four women, Keane and Disney’s talented staff, all contributed to Ariel’s iconic design from Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

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The book The Little Mermaid The Full Film Script mention Sherri Stoner, Sally Ride and Christie Brinkley.

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Source: www.looper.com/1313270/four-real-life-women-inspired-ariel-design-the-little-mermaid/

The 4 Real Life Women Who Inspired Ariel's Design In 1989's The Little Mermaid


Walt Disney Pictures/YouTube

BY JULIA SELINGER/JUNE 18, 2023 5:30 AM EST
Since "The Little Mermaid" was released in 1989, Ariel — with her billowing red hair and affection for ordinary tchotchkes — has become an icon in her own right. Developing Ariel and her various aquatic friends and foes, however, required dipping into a deep well of influences. There is, first and foremost, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, which originated the Mephistophelian barter between Ariel and the Sea Witch. Other, more modern inspirations emerged as well. The Sea Witch — reimagined as a cephalopodic villain named Ursula — was inspired by the bawdy, brazen drag queen Divine.

After working as an animator on projects like "The Fox and the Hound" and "Oliver & Company," Glen Keane joined "The Little Mermaid" as the supervising animator for Ariel. Keane drew inspiration from the anime stylings of Hayao Miyazaki, using his work as a basis for Ariel's pointed features and expressive eyes. When it came time to find a real-life reference, Keane looked to his own family. "I used my wife Linda as the inspiration for 'The Little Mermaid,'" Keane told Brit + Co. "[Screenwriters and directors Ron Clements and John Musker] asked, 'Can you draw a pretty girl?' 'I've been drawing my wife for 10 years, so I think I can.'"

Aside from Keane's wife, several '80s celebrities served as references for the underwater princess as well.


Ariel was modeled after Alyssa Milano


ABC/YouTube/Walt Disney Pictures/YouTube

As described in Emily Zemler's book "Disney Princess: Beyond The Tiara," the "Little Mermaid" animators assembled a vision board full of celebrities to help bring Ariel to life. One visual influence for the teen princess was Alyssa Milano, who at the time was starring in "Who's The Boss?" Milano didn't know she was the unofficial model for Ariel until about a year later when Disney reached out to ask if she would host the Disney Channel special "The Making of the Little Mermaid." "It's really a story about a teenage girl becoming an adult, and the struggle with her father in letting that happen," Keane said in the featurette. As a teenager who was growing up onscreen at the time, Milano was an apt influence.

 "I didn't know that when it was going on, but they asked me to host the making of 'The Little Mermaid,'" Milano said in an appearance on "The Wendy Williams Show" in 2013. "And it came out there that the drawing and likeness of 'The Little Mermaid' was based on pictures of me from when I was younger, which is so cool."

Christie Brinkley inspired Ariel's voluminous hair


Tom Wargacki/Getty Images

Ariel's billowing hair was practically a character unto itself, and for her distinct bangs, the animators found inspiration in supermodel Christie Brinkley. Like Milano, Brinkley was similarly chuffed to learn she played a small part in the character's development. "Both my girls could see a little bit of themselves in Ariel," Brinkley posted on her Instagram. "So this morning when a friend sent me this article about me being part of the inspiration for Ariel, we all got a big kick out of it, even if it was a tiny part, because we all saw a bit of ourselves in Ariel."

Animator Philo Barnhart also cited Christina Applegate, then the star of "Married...with Children," as another actor on the mood board. To capture Ariel's hair swirling underwater, Keane and his team studied footage of astronaut Sally Ride in space. The red hair, however, was the animators' idea. "They initially wanted a blonde, but the rest of us said, 'No, let's do a redhead, we've never had a redhead star before," Barnhart recalled to The Nostalgia Critic. "Plus, it was going to look great with the underwater colors."

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Comedian Sherri Stoner provided Ariel's mannerisms and tics


Entertainment Tonight/YouTube

For all of the teen icons and supermodels who helped bring Ariel to life, perhaps no one is more responsible than Sherri Stoner, a member of the Groundlings improv troupe who served as the live-action reference on "The Little Mermaid." A few days a month for two and a half years, Stoner would drive to a site near Disney's animation lot, don a leotard, and perform the entire film with the help of rudimentary props and puppets.

"I literally acted out every single scene in that movie, so I know every movement that Ariel makes in the film," Stoner told Entertainment Tonight. The animators looked on to get a sense of the character's potential bodily movements. When Stoner would insert little mannerisms like touching her hair or biting her lip, she said, "They would just light up as if that was the most incredible thing."

In "Disney Princess: Beyond the Tiara," Stoner added, "I know, for instance, me blowing my hair out of my face because my bangs were just too long was something they used. It was a thing that just came out of the moment and being frustrated that my hair wouldn't stay out of my face." Thanks to Stoner, Ariel has a liveliness and clumsiness that isn't as evident in the more composed Disney princesses that came before her.

For Keane and his team, they wouldn't have had it any other way. ”Sherri was the most like the way we wanted Ariel to be," he told the Chicago Tribune at the time of the film's release. "Rather than this real sophisticated grace, there was more of a youthful energy."