The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid was one of my favorite movies when I was a young child. It makes me happy to say that it is now one of my six year old daughter's favorite movies as well. I didn't have to buy the Little Mermaid movie, I already had it from childhood. So I passed it on to my daughter. It is obviously in VHS form as the DVD did not come out until more recent years.

Facts:

The Little Mermaid was put out in the year 1989. I was nine years old at that time. The directors are Ron Clements and John Musker, the writers are again Ron Clements and John Musker. The Little Mermaid won 2 Oscars, and also received 6 other nominations. Rene Auberjonois plays the voice of Louis. Christopher Barnes play the voice of Prince Eric. Jodi Benson is the voice of Ariel the Little Mermaid. Pat Caroll as Ursella, Buddie Hacket as Scuttle, Jason Marin as Flounder the fish, Ben Wright as Grimsby, Kenneth Mars as King Triton and Samuel Wright as Sebastian the crab. There are a few more but the names escape my mind at the moment.

About the movie:

Ariel is a young Mermaid who is tired of spending her life in the sea. She loves her family, her many sisters and her father King Triton. However, she feels trapped and wants more. She sees a boat and chooses to watch from a far as she sees prince Eric for the first time celebrating with his friends and his dog. The storm hits hard and the boat is tipped. The self portrait statue that prince Eric was given for his birthday is tossed in to the water, as is he himself. Ariel rescues him and drags him to shore. He awakes only to remember hearing her voice. She goes away quickly. Her father had warned her about humans and also about going to the surface.

Mean while down below again Ariel admires the statue of Eric. She takes it to her treasures corner. This is where she keeps all of the treasure that have dropped down in to the sea from the surface. Scuttle a seagull friend of Ariel's explains what these items are. However, he explains them all wrong. He tells Ariel that her most recent treasure is a Dingle hopper. Apparently this means a fork!

Sebastian the crab went to King Triton and spills the beans about Ariel going to the surface. He is furious and stumbles upon Ariel's treasures when he goes looking for her. Upon arguing with Ariel he destroys all of her treasure using his wand. She runs away. The king feels terrible but stands his ground. He send Sebastian to follow Ariel.

Two evil creatures of Ursula the sea which "really an octopus" have been sent to find Ariel. Ursula knows that this is the way to gain her power and rule over the sea. Ursula promises Ariel that she can turn her in to a human. This will only last for three days. In order to remain a human forever Ariel must get prince Eric to kiss her before the third day is through. She then tells Ariel that there is a price. She must give her voice to her. Ariel agrees and sings. Out flies Ariel voice from her throat in to a locket of Ursula's. Now Ariel is a mute.

Because Ariel is now human Flounder her best friend helps her to the surface. It is there that she runs in to Eric. He is taken by her beauty and thinks she was the one who sang to him. But then thinks otherwise when he realizes that she can't speak at all. Flounder and Sebastian follow Ariel. They try many times to get she and Eric to kiss. They sing romantic songs and it almost works until Ursella steps in to stop it.

Just when the prince is falling for Ariel she wakes up on the third morning to find that Eric has his arms wrapped around a dark haired slender girl. They are to be married. Ariel is distraught. Especially once she realizes that this is Ursula in disguise and she used Ariel's voice to make the prince believe that she was the one who saved him.

Sebastian goes to get the king to help save Ariel who's fate now lies in the hands of her friends. There is an all out war once Ariel exposes Ursula. The king gives Ursula his wand to get his daughter back. But she turns the King in to one of her creatures and attempts to destroy every one. As she does this she is getting larger and larger. Will she win? Or can Ariel and her friends save the day? Will Ariel get her prince? I will let you see that part for yourself.

My thoughts:

This movie is great for the whole family. Even the violence at the end is not really violent. It is rated G so that tells you that it is a great family movie that you can really enjoy. It does have some suspenseful moments. It has some comedy and some drama too. It is all around a good movie with a lot to offer. There are also many songs in this movie. I think each character sings at least once or twice. The songs are good. They are catchy too. Even as an adult I sit there with my daughter to enjoy the movie Little Mermaid. We have the second one on DVD but it is nothing like the first one. This version is the best out there in my opinion.

My daughter loves the Little Mermaid. I would have to say that in the past year or more she has watched it at least once per week, and some times twice in one day. She loves the songs and sings them all the time. Her favorite character besides Ariel is Flounder the fish. I have to admit that chubby fish is adorable. All in all, this was and is a good family movie. I highly recommend it.