It’s been
a while since I did an old-school Disney review, and since the new versions of Aladdin and The Lion King both came out this summer, it seems as good a time as
any to look back on a classic. I was two when The Little Mermaid first came out, so I never had quite the same
personal connection to it growing up as the ones that I saw in theaters when I
was little, but that in no way diminishes the fact that it’s considered the
start of the Disney Renaissance for very good reason.
Ariel,
the youngest daughter of King Triton, is our titular little mermaid. Despite
all that life “under the sea” offers, Ariel is enchanted by the thought of the
world above the ocean and the human beings who inhabit it. When she saves the
human Prince Eric from a shipwreck, she falls so instantly in love with him
that she turns to desperate measures: making a deal with the nefarious
sea-witch Ursula in the hopes of using magic to be with him.
Some of
the older princesses get a bad rap, Ariel probably more so than most of the
‘90s princesses who came after her. “The one who gives up her voice for the
sake of a man” is, to be sure, a hell of a problematic label, and Ariel is
definitely shortsighted and naïve in agreeing to such a thing. But as I’ve
rewatched these movies, I usually find the princesses in question to be at
least a little less problematic than they’re often remembered as. I mean, no,
Ariel is never gonna be Moana or Mulan, but that doesn’t mean she needs to be
written off.
Ariel’s
gaga-ness over Eric needs to be kept in the context of her fascination with
human debris and her discontentment with where she is. Ariel wants more than
the life she’s been living, and as much as she just likes Eric for being handsome
and lively and a total dog person (honestly, that’d be enough for plenty of
people,) he also represents the freedom of Ariel making her own choices to
explore this other world she so desperately wants to be a part of. So even
though Ariel is very focused on Eric specifically, it’s about more than just
him. And as for the whole “giving up her voice” thing, while signing that
contract is very obviously Bad Idea Jeans, it’s important to note what Ariel doesn’t give up, which is her
personality. Voiceless, she’s still exuberant and forthright, drinking in
everything that the human world has to offer. She won’t win a Most Feminist
Cartoon Princess contest anytime soon, but it is more complicated than the one-liners usually given about her.
But
enough of all that! Back to the movie. The songs, of course, are fantastic.
This film was the start of the Alan Menken/Disney relationship, back when
Howard Ashman was still writing his lyrics, and everything is wonderful. “Part
of Your World” is one of the most classic “I want” songs around, Sebastian’s
calypso-flavored numbers are addictively catchy, and “Poor Unfortunate Souls”
is just a flat-out terrific villain song (that will live forever in lip-synced
renditions from vampy drag queens.) Jodi Benson has such a pure, lovely voice
as Ariel, and I also have to give props to Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian and
Pat Carroll as Ursula.
The
animation is delightful. I love the images of Ariel’s secret grotto of human
“treasures,” the assorted sea creatures are colorfully brought to life, and I
appreciate the attention to detail. The movie has a strong animal-sidekick
game, with Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle bringing it with different
contributions to the plot. There’s also Eric’s dog Max, plus we get a couple
villainous sidekicks with Flotsam and Jetsam. All kinds of entertaining, and
still fun to watch years later.
Warnings
Scary
moments for kids and a few scenes of light violence.
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