Hello again and welcome to Tuesday Movie Review! This is the blog where I review Disney movies and talk about different aspects of the movie itself from storyline to music, casting to park presence! Continuing on our correlation with The Mouse Knows Best Podcast, this week we're going to be talking about The Little Mermaid! Now, our very own Justin talked about The Little Mermaid, along with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on our all guys show last week, and you all should really give that a listen as we had such a good time talking about princess movies! Over here on the TMR, I always have the blessing (or burden!) of having to pick one film to talk about, and while Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a good one, I decided I would go with The Little Mermaid. So, let's take a dive into the ocean and become part of her world as we talk about The Little Mermaid!
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| imdb.com |
The Little Mermaid is Disney's 28th animated film and tells the story of a mermaid who longs to be part of the human world, ends up becoming part of that world, and realizes she can't leave her world in the seas behind and must return to save the sea. Released on November 17th, 1989, The Little Mermaid is often regarded as one of the best Disney movies of all time. However, the movie opened to a smaller box office than other Disney movies, totaling just $211 million during it's theatrical run. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (the same gentlemen who directed Princess and The Frog), The Little Mermaid marks the start of the Disney Renaissance and is often credited for reviving Walt Disney Studios after the film company put out multiple box office flops in the 70's and early 80's. The film is so beloved that in May 2016, Disney announced they would be doing a live action version of The Little Mermaid!
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| rottentomatoes.com |
The music of The Little Mermaid can be described as iconic, moving, emotional, but I'll describe it as fantastic. With hits like "Under The Sea", "Poor Unfortunate Souls", "Kiss The Girl" and "Part of Your World" it's no wonder the soundtrack for the movie is considered one of the best soundtracks of all time. Composer Alan Menken did all of the music for the film that is considered to bring Broadway into the cartoons. The soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Music Original Song ("Under the Sea") and Best Music Original Score at the 1990 Academy Awards, "Kiss the Girl" was also nominated for Best Music Original Song. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score Motion Picture and Best Original Song Motion Picture ("Under the Sea"), "Kiss the Girl" was also nominated for Best Original Song Motion Picture, and the film itself was nominated for Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical. "Under the Sea" would also win the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically For Motion Picture or Television beating out "Kiss the Girl". I personally love "Under the Sea" the most because of it's upbeat and happy feel.
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| entertainmentweekly.com |
The cast of The Little Mermaid is highlighted by Disney Legend, Jodi Benson. Benson's best work is often said to be playing Ariel in the film as she does such a great job not only acting, but singing as well. Her role in the film earned the coveted title of Disney Legend in 2011 in the Voice category. Joining Benson on the film was Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, who may not talk that much, but is very pivotal to the movie. Playing the role of the villain, Ursula, would be Pat Caroll, who did a phenomenal job as a very underrated villain. I mean, who's gonna go one on one with a sea monster? Playing her minions, Flotsam and Jetsam would be Patti Edwards. The lovable Flounder was played by James Marin. King Triton was voiced by Kenneth Mars who provided that over protective father voice to perfection! Scuttle the comedic relief providing bird was played by Buddy Hackett, and his dinglehopper was present and accounted for! Finally, playing my favorite character of the film, Sebastian, was Samuel E Wright.
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| cinesnob.net |
The Little Mermaid has a huge presence in the parks, and deservedly so. As a matter of fact, she's one of the only characters to be featured in three of the four parks at Walt Disney World! She also is one of the only characters to have two attractions based on her movie! You can find the first attraction at Magic Kingdom, Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid is a dark ride located in Fantasyland that takes you under the sea and retells the story of The Little Mermaid. Right outside the attraction is the line to meet Ariel herself! You can also occasionally find Ariel at Cinderella's Royal Table for the character meals there. She also has her very own float in the Festival of Fantasy Parade, and it's one of my favorite floats there! Over at Epcot, you can find her at the Akershus restaurant doing the royal princess dining character meals. And finally, at Hollywood Studios, you can find Voyage of the Little Mermaid, a 17 minute show at Animation Courtyard featuring songs from the film and a retelling of the film.
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| disneyworld.disney.go |
Overall, I really like The Little Mermaid. I think it's a great film that tells a great story and teaches everyone that even if you make mistakes, you can still redeem yourself by being persistent and doing the right thing! Jodi Benson as Ariel is phenomenal and I love Samuel E Wright as Sebastian. One of my favorite things about Sebastian is how protective he is of Ariel and how he's always trying to do the right thing for King Triton, even if it puts him in danger. The Little Mermaid is, in my opinion, one of the top 10 Disney movies ever made. It has all of the things you want in a good movie: music, characters, and a decent storyline. I love The Little Mermaid, and it makes the decision to give it 4 stars very easy.
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Kevin Scott is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. He is self proclaimed Disney addict and oftentimes annoys his family with how much he talks Disney. He enjoys walking around all Disney Parks and taking as many pictures as he can in one day. When he isn't at Walt Disney World, he is working to get back or re-watching Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movie. His spirit animal is a mix between Simba and Kylo Ren with a dash of Tony Stark. You can find him on Twitter @doubleoh_kevin and on Instagram @waltdisneyduo.
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