Little Mermaid, The (1989)

reviewed by
Jamie Peck


THE LITTLE MERMAID
RATING: ***1/2 (out of ****) 

Disney / 1:23 / 1989 / G Vocal Cast: Jodi Benson; Christopher Daniel Barnes; Pat Carroll; Buddy Hackett; Samuel E. Wright; Jason Marin Directors: Ron Clements; John Musker Screenplay: Ron Clements; John Musker

Disney's 17-day, special engagement re-release of "The Little Mermaid" proves that even their newer animated features can stand the test of time, even if only a scant eight years have passed since its original debut. Has it really been less than a decade? It certainly feels longer, because this 1989 hit made Mickey Mouse a mint and paved the crowd-pleasing way for such gems as "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" -- both of which, by the way, seem quite old themselves.

This loose adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fable finds teenage mermaid Ariel (lovely voice of Jodi Benson) falling head over fins for land-lubber Prince Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes, who has since gone on to play Greg in both of the "Brady Bunch" movies) from afar. Defying her father's wishes and ignoring the warnings of a chatty Jamaican crab named Sebastian (jovial Samuel E. Wright), she strikes up a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula (Pat Carroll) -- her voice for a pair of legs. In makeshift human form, Ariel makes it on land but finds herself without a way to profess her love for Eric.

Although the male lead isn't as interesting a character as the female, "The Little Mermaid" has much strength in telling its simple story with brilliant fanfare. The colors are vibrant, the supporting creatures charming (even if Buddy Hackett takes birdbrain to the max as a dopey seagull), and the songs landmarks on their own. Although I consider the recent "Hercules" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"to be majestic films, I walked out of neither humming like I did with "The Little Mermaid." Sebastian's pro-ocean jamboree "Under the Sea" is a production number yet to be rivaled, and the doo-wop ballad "Kiss the Girl" (connection to the current Morgan Freeman rape thriller is purely coincidental) is another high point.

But why "The Little Mermaid," and why now? Aside from a digital and audio clean-up, nothing has been changed or added -- no bonuses, no alternative ending (remember, Andersen's original was quite a downer), not even a cameo by Jabba the Hutt. The answer: Aside from the fact that it's a wonderful film, it's also the one movie that jumpstarted Disney's animated box office and made the public realize that cartoons aren't only for kids. "The Little Mermaid" deserves this kind of treatment.

Of course, there are those who will say the studio has polished up "Mermaid" for this special holiday engagement because its opening date bests "Anastasia" -- 20th Century Fox's first tread into Disney's animated musical territory -- by a week. But in a year that has also seen the theatrical resurrection of such corny tripe as Dirty Dancing, perhaps the question is less "Why 'The Little Mermaid'?" than "Why not?"

© 1997 Jamie Peck E-mail: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/


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