Disney's
The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored
the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animated-feature
factory. The title character is a precocious teenager named Ariel, the
daughter of Triton, king of the Sea. Against her dad's wishes, Ariel
journeys beyond her own world to the surface, where she falls in love with
Prince Eric, a handsome human. Foolishly, the little mermaid enters into an
agreement with evil sea witch Ursula in order to become human herself. The
wistfully melancholy ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is
dispensed with in favor of a joyously happy ending-but not before a
spectacular climactic confrontation between Ursula and Triton. The
obligatory Disney comic relief is handled by such freshly minted characters
as Sebastian the Crab, who, courtesy of voiceover artist Samuel E. Wright,
sings the film's Oscar-winning "Under the Sea". Other voices are provided by
Broadway star Jodi Benson (as Ariel) and such Hollywood reliables as Buddy
Hackett, Pat Carroll, Kenneth Mars, and Rene Auberjonois. The enormous
box-office take of The Little Mermaid made possible such future Disney
cartoon ventures as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The
Hunchback of Notre Dame. | Jodi Benson | Ariel [Voice] |
| Pat Carroll | Ursula [Voice] |
| Sam Wright | Sebastian [Voice] |
| Kenneth Mars | Triton [Voice] |
| Buddy Hackett | Scuttle [Voice] |
| Jason Marin | Flounder [Voice] |
| Christopher Daniel Barnes | Eric [Voice] |
| René Auberjonois | Louis [Voice] |
| Gene J. Merlino | [Voice] |
| Lewis Morford | [Voice] |
| Kathleen O'Connor | [Voice] |
| Patrick Pinney | [Voice] |
| Lynn Dolin Mann | [Voice] |
| Mickie T. McGowan | [Voice] |
| Arne B. Markussen | [Voice] |
| Edie McClurg | Carlotta [Voice] |
| Guy Maeda | [Voice] |
| Robert Weil | [Voice] |
| Jackie Ward | [Voice] |
| Joe Turano | [Voice] |
| Bobbi White | [Voice] |
| Ben Wright | Grimsby [Voice] |
| Marilyn Powell | [Voice] |
| Michael Redman, Jr. | [Voice] |
| Gloria Grace Prosper | [Voice] |
| Robert Tebow | [Voice] |
| Sally Stevens | [Voice] |
| Will Ryan | Seahorse [Voice] |
| Debbie Shapiro | [Voice] |
| Robert S. Zwirn | [Voice] |
| Jennifer Darling | [Voice] |
| Philip L. Clarke | [Voice] |
| Richard Chamberlain | |
| Allan Davies | [Voice] |
| Paddi Edwards | Flotsam & Jetsam [Voice] |
| Gail Farrell | [Voice] |
| Jack Angel | [Voice] |
| Charles Adler | [Voice] |
| Nancy Cartwright | [Voice] |
| Hamilton Camp | [Voice] |
| Susan Boyd | [Voice] |
| Steve Bulen | [Voice] |
| Melissa MacKay | [Voice] |
| Edie Lehmann | [Voice] |
| William Kanady | [Voice] |
| Luana Jackman | [Voice] |
| Anne Lockhart | [Voice] |
| Sherry Lynn | [Voice] |
| Donny Gerrard | [Voice] |
| Gerritt Graham | Additional Dialogue [Voice] |
| Ed Gilbert | [Voice] |
| Phillip Ingram | [Voice] |
| Walter S. Harrah | [Voice] |
| Willie Greene, Jr. | [Voice] |
| Linda Harmon | [Voice] |
Genre/Type - Children's/Family, Fantasy, Animated Musical, Fairy Tale,
Children's Fantasy
Produced by - Buena Vista / Silver Screen Partners IV / Walt Disney Productions
Release - Nov 15, 1989 (USA)
Released by - Buena Vista
Running time - 85 min.
Mulan (1998, Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft)
The Swan Princess (1994, Richard Rich)
Thumbelina (1994, Don Bluth, Gary L. Goldman)
Beauty and the Beast (1991, Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)
Cinderella (1950, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske)
Janosch: Fables from the Magic Forest (1990)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996, Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise)
Anastasia (1997, Don Bluth, Gary L. Goldman)
is followed by: Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000, Jim Kammerud, Brian Smith)