The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with composer Alan Menken. Loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, it was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in association with Silver Screen Partners IV and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film features the voices of René Auberjonois, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Ben Wright, and Samuel E. Wright. The story follows a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel (Benson) who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric (Barnes), which leads her to forge an agreement with the sea witch Ursula (Carroll) to be with him.

Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's stories, but he scrapped the project. In 1985, while working on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Clements and Musker decided to adapt the fairy tale. They proposed it to Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who initially declined because of its similarities to a proposed sequel to the 1984 film Splash, but ultimately approved it. Ashman became involved, and brought in Menken. With supervision from Katzenberg, they made a Broadway-style structure with musical numbers as the staff was working on Oliver & Company (1988). Katzenberg warned that the film would earn less since it appealed to female viewers, but he eventually became convinced that it would be another blockbuster hit for the company.

The Little Mermaid was released in theaters on November 17, 1989, to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and in total lifetime gross worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1989. Along with the major successes of The Great Mouse Detective, the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid is given credit for revitalizing the art of Disney animated feature films after an uneven period. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").

The film's success led to a media franchise. A prequel television series aired on CBS from 1992 to 1994. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 2000, focusing on Ariel's daughter Melody. A prequel followed in 2008. The first film was adapted into a stage musical with a book by Doug Wright and additional songs by Alan Menken and new lyricist Glenn Slater opened in Denver in July 2007 and began performances on Broadway January 10, 2008 starring Sierra Boggess. Other derived works and material inspired by the film, include a 2019 live musical presentation on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney, and a 2023 live-action film adaptation directed by Rob Marshall and starring Halle Bailey. In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Under the Atlantic Ocean, in the kingdom of Atlantica, the young mermaid Ariel is fascinated by the human world and collects human artifacts in her grotto. With her best friend Flounder, they both visit Scuttle, a dimwitted seagull who gives inaccurate information about humans. However, her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, says contact between merpeople and humans is forbidden.

One night, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian, a crab who serves as Triton's adviser and court composer, travel to the surface to watch a birthday celebration for Prince Eric. Ariel falls in love with Eric at first sight. A storm wrecks the ship and knocks Eric overboard. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore. She sings to him, but leaves just as he regains consciousness to avoid getting caught. Discovering a change in Ariel's behavior, Triton questions Sebastian and learns of her love for Eric. Outraged, Triton travels to Ariel's grotto and destroys her collection of artifacts in a misguided attempt to protect her, causing Ariel to break down in tears.

After a remorseful Triton leaves, Ariel is approached by two eels named Flotsam and Jetsam, who take her to Ursula the sea witch. Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel's voice, which Ursula puts in a nautilus shell. If Ariel receives a "true love's kiss" within that time, she will remain a human permanently. Otherwise, she will turn back into a mermaid and become Ursula's property. Unbeknownst to Ariel, the deal is actually part of a scheme for Ursula to use Ariel as leverage to gain control of the sea. After accepting, Ariel is given human legs and taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian.

Eric, who has become fascinated by the woman who saved him, finds Ariel on the beach and takes her to his castle, unaware that she is the one who rescued him earlier due to her inability to speak. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day, they almost kiss but are thwarted by Flotsam and Jetsam. Frustrated by Ariel’s close success, Ursula disguises herself as a young woman named Vanessa and uses Ariel's voice to cast a hypnotic enchantment on Eric that makes him forget about Ariel. The next day, Ariel discovers Eric is to be married to Vanessa, leaving her heartbroken. Then, Scuttle discovers that Vanessa is really Ursula and informs Ariel, who pursues the wedding barge. Sebastian informs Triton, and Scuttle disrupts the wedding with the help of various sea animals. In the chaos, Ursula's shell is destroyed, restoring Ariel's voice and breaking the enchantment over Eric. Realizing that Ariel is the girl who saved his life, Eric rushes to her, but the sun sets before they can kiss and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid.

Turning back into her true form, Ursula claims Ariel. Triton confronts Ursula and demands Ariel's release, but the deal is inviolable. At Ursula's urging, Triton agrees to take Ariel's place as Ursula's prisoner, giving up his trident. Ariel is released as Triton transforms into a polyp and loses his authority over Atlantica. With her true goal complete, Ursula declares herself the Queen of Atlantica, and claims Triton's trident when Eric appears with a harpoon. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes, leading to Ursula accidentally killing Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow in size. Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before a gigantic Ursula separates them. She then gains full control of the ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface. Just as Ariel is about to be killed, Eric commandeers a wrecked ship and impales Ursula with its splintered bowsprit. With Ursula dead, Triton and the other polyps in her garden revert to their original forms.

Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric and the human world, Triton turns her into a human and approves her marriage to Eric. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart, with all of Ariel's friends and family watching them as well.

Voice cast

René Auberjonois as Chef Louis, Eric's eccentric and unhinged chef who attempts to cook Sebastian, but fails. Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, a dashing and dreamy human prince who is saved by Ariel and is determined to find and marry her. Jodi Benson as Ariel, the 16-year-old adventurous and headstrong mermaid princess of Atlantica who is fascinated with the human world and falls in love with Prince Eric. Benson also has an uncredited voice role as Vanessa, Ursula's human alter-ego and disguise she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel. Pat Carroll as Ursula, a manipulative and dastardly sea witch who takes Ariel's voice in exchange for turning her into a human, planning to use Ariel as ransom to get her father's magical trident and take over Atlantica. Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's symbiotic and insidious pet green moray eels. Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, a seagull who shares Ariel's fascination with humans and teaches her about "human stuff". Jason Marin as Flounder, a yellow tropical fish resembling a royal angelfish, who is Ariel's best friend. Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Ariel's strict and overprotective father and the ruler of Atlantica who is prejudiced towards humans. Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Eric's good-hearted and gentle maid. Will Ryan as Harold, a seahorse who serves as Triton's herald. Ben Wright as Grimsby, Eric's no-nonsense and loyal steward. Wright had played characters in previous Disney films like Roger Radcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Rama in The Jungle Book. This was his last role; he died four months before the film's release. Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, a red Jamaican-accented Caribbean crab who serves as King Triton's advisor and court composer.

Frank Welker has an uncredited role as Max, Eric's excitable pet sheepdog who's the first to know that Ariel's the girl who saved his owner's life.

Production

Writing

The Little Mermaid was originally planned as part of one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package film featuring vignettes of Hans Christian Andersen tales. Development started soon after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the late 1930s but was cancelled due to various circumstances.

In 1985, Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) with John Musker. Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore. Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater, Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of The Little Mermaid at Walt Disney Studios to chief Jeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting. Katzenberg passed over the proposal because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedy Splash (1984) and felt The Little Mermaid would be too similar a project. The next day, however, Katzenberg approved of the idea for possible development, along with Oliver & Company. While in production in the 1980s, the staff found by chance original story and visual development work done by Kay Nielsen for Disney's proposed 1930s Andersen feature. Many of the changes made by the staff in the 1930s to Hans Christian Andersen's original story were coincidentally the same as the changes made by Disney writers in the 1980s.