A selfish prince is cursed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he learns to fall in love with a beautiful young woman he keeps prisoner.
When Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq, and from her Fairy Godmother.
After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies.
When a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella de Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
In Disney's beguiling animated romp, rebellious 16-year-old mermaid Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human prince. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers, the king must make the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter.Written by
Jwelch5742
This film was the most effects-animation-heavy Disney animated feature since Fantasia (1940). Even with much of the rain effects being lifted from Pinocchio (1940), the two-minute storm sequence alone still took 10 special effects animators over a year to finish. Effects animation supervisor Mark Dindal estimated that over a million bubbles were drawn for this film, in addition to the use of other processes such as airbrushing, back lighting, superimposition, and some flat-shaded computer animation. See more »
Goofs
The trident keeps on disappearing and reappearing in Ursula's hands without any time for her to pick it up whenever it is knocked out of her hands. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Prince Eric:
Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face. Aaah, the perfect day to be at sea!
Grimsby:
[leaning over rail]
Oh, yes urp delightful.
See more »
Alternate Versions
In the 2013 Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD/Blu-ray 3D/Digital HD release, The original 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo was replaced by the 2011 Disney logo. See more »
The mermaid herself is charming. She is animated with real passion - and voiced with real passion too, by Jodi Benson, who provides a powerful argument that whoever provides the speaking voice should also provide the singing voice. She is an innocent heroine but by no means a colourless one. That the prince should fall in love with her, on just seeing her and hearing her voice, is entirely credible.
The same could not be said for Andersen's original mermaid, who is a very cold fish indeed, solely concerned with grabbing immortality, considering the prince as no more than a handy means to it. It's this (and the high value placed on Christianity at the expense of decency) that makes Andersen's ending so insufferable. Obviously, another ending had to be found; and while it must be said that the big ending Musker and Clements came up with is a weak one, it must also be said that it's an improvement.
Musker and Clements still have a problem with their finales (witness `Aladdin' and `Hercules'), but they have countervailing strengths, and those strengths are most apparent here. The songs are all exceptionally staged (the well-known `Under the Sea' actually being the least effective), the comedy is sharp and well-timed, and - more obviously here than anywhere else - they really believe in what they're doing. They give credit to Howard Ashman for this and they could be right; whatever the reason, an air of innocence and sincerity pervades `The Little Mermaid' which makes it - and her - utterly irresistible.
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The mermaid herself is charming. She is animated with real passion - and voiced with real passion too, by Jodi Benson, who provides a powerful argument that whoever provides the speaking voice should also provide the singing voice. She is an innocent heroine but by no means a colourless one. That the prince should fall in love with her, on just seeing her and hearing her voice, is entirely credible.
The same could not be said for Andersen's original mermaid, who is a very cold fish indeed, solely concerned with grabbing immortality, considering the prince as no more than a handy means to it. It's this (and the high value placed on Christianity at the expense of decency) that makes Andersen's ending so insufferable. Obviously, another ending had to be found; and while it must be said that the big ending Musker and Clements came up with is a weak one, it must also be said that it's an improvement.
Musker and Clements still have a problem with their finales (witness `Aladdin' and `Hercules'), but they have countervailing strengths, and those strengths are most apparent here. The songs are all exceptionally staged (the well-known `Under the Sea' actually being the least effective), the comedy is sharp and well-timed, and - more obviously here than anywhere else - they really believe in what they're doing. They give credit to Howard Ashman for this and they could be right; whatever the reason, an air of innocence and sincerity pervades `The Little Mermaid' which makes it - and her - utterly irresistible.