The Little Mermaid has spent 25 years under the sea.
Yes, The Little Mermaid is twenty-five years old! This is a film that all children born of the late eighties, early nineties know and love, some of us an embarrassing amount. It even surpasses that age group, still being adored by children today, especially after its re-release on remastered Blu-ray. But this film cannot simply just be categorised as a ‘kids film’. Upon its release it won two Oscars, unsurprisingly for Best Music Original Song, 'Under the Sea', and Best Music Original Score.
Ron Clements and John Musker are the geniuses behind the magic, having also directed and written Basil the Great Mouse Detective (1986), Aladdin (1992) and The Princess and the Frog (2009), which, and I’m probably not alone in saying this, are some of the best Disney animations out there.
For those of you who don’t already know the story, Ariel is a mermaid, who is dissatisfied with her life under the sea, even more so after she becomes attracted to a human, Eric.
Against her father’s wishes, she signs her voice away to Ursula, the sea witch, in order to live as a human and pursue Eric. The catch being that Ariel must receive true love’s kiss from Eric by sunset on the third day, or she will belong to Ursula from that day forward.
Sticking within the usual conventions of the Disney movie, we are given the two ‘buddy’ characters, Sebastian the crab and Flounder the fish, who are the real stars of the show. Sebastian, in all his wisdom, tells us all about how “it’s better, down where it’s wetter, under the sea”, in one of the best songs of the film. Flounder offers comic relief when he and Ariel are being chased by sharks, and are being
tormented by Ursula. Scuttle the seagull is another charmingly hilarious character who will not be forgotten after revisiting this classic.
Each song is a stand-alone piece of entertainment; it is practically impossible to go through an individual sitting of the film without singing along. The characters adopt obvious clichés, which is always to be expected from a Disney movie, but this doesn’t distract from the glorious nostalgia that goes along with it.
This glorious animation is an absolute classic enjoyable for everybody, so dig it out from the back of the cupboard and have a sing-a-long!
by Jennifer Lyne
