Thoughts on The Little Mermaid

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Fifteen years ago this summer, most of my classmates and I went camping. It was a tradition at our school, a trip for the incoming juniors, led by the anatomy teacher. He was our answer to Jack Nicholson, but that's beside the point. Every night, a lot of us would end up singing by the fire, mostly not giving a damn how we sounded. 

Well, one night, somebody suggested "Part of Your World." The mood changed immediately. You haven't lived until you've heard a tribe of teenagers (including me) doing our best to imitate Jodi Benson's vocals.

"And ready to know what the people know/ask them my questions and get some answers!

What's a fire and why does it, what's the word, burn?/

When's it my turn?/Wouldn't I love?/Love to explore that shore up above?

Out of the sea/wish I could be/part of that world"

There's got to be more than a great song for a great movie, of course. My latest viewing of The Little Mermaid helped me realize something important. Previously, I'd think along the lines of, "Oh, Jodi really made the movie," or "Wow, it would be nothing without the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman songs," or even, "This is so, so beautiful. Why don't I ever praise Ron Clements and John Musker's writing-direction enough?" I know now that the movie doesn't have an MVP, it has a team of them.

I'd be surprised if anyone reading this didn't know the story, but ...

Ariel (voice of Benson) is a teenage princess who longs to experience life above the sea. She falls for and saves the life of human Prince Eric (voice of Christopher Daniel Barnes). Heartbroken by the violent, treasure-destroying reaction of her father, King Triton (voice of Kenneth Mars), Ariel is vulnerable to a scheme from the evil Ursula (voice of Pat Carroll). 

"Now, here's the deal. I will make you a potion that turns you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now, listen, this is important. Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get deal ol' princey to fall in love with you. That is, he's got to kiss you. Not just any kiss. The kiss of true love. If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human, permanently, but if he doesn't, you turn back into a mermaid. And you belong to me."

I've always kind of taken The Little Mermaid for granted. I was a toddler when it was released, so I didn't have the kind of "and I saw it at the movies!" memories I do with Aladdin and The Lion King. I also liked the songs in Beauty and the Beast better when I was a boy. Speaking of that, I was pretty unfair when I initially declared Cogsworth a better character than Sebastian (voice of Samuel E. Wright). Not only does Cogsworth get two songs, his acceptance of and ultimate joy for Ariel's happiness is practically as important as Triton's. The king, by the way, is another character seriously devalued by my memories.

"Well, it's like I always say, Your Majesty. Children got to be free to lead their own lives."

"You always say that? ... Then I guess there's just one problem left."

"And what's that, Your Majesty?"

"How much I'm going to miss her."

During my review of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, I mentioned how movies always seemed so much longer when I was a kid. That thought came up again while watching The Little Mermaid. It's not even 90 minutes long, but the pacing is pretty strong. There's a showstopper or pivotal moment just about every 15 minutes

The Little Mermaid is a full-course feast of a film. It's visually stunning, has a solid emotional core and your choice of sweet or sour comic relief. I'm talking, of course, about Scuttle the seagull (voice of Buddy Hackett) and everybody's favorite drag queen, Ursula (voice of Pat Carroll).

"So much for true love."

Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $84.4 million on a $40 million budget, this opened at No. 3, never won a weekend and still came it at No. 13 for 1989.

-- Critic's Corner, the film: Janet Maslin and Roger Ebert dubbed it an instant classic. Her: "Glorious ... the best animated Disney film in at least 30 years." Him: Here at last, once again, is the kind of liberating, original joyful Disney animation that we all remember." Hal Hinson, however, found it "only passable. Even at its highest points, it cannot claim a place next to even the least of the great Disney classics." Amid all the looking back, David Denby's review had some foreshadowing: "An animated feature needs to create a whole new world, and this one certainly does that."

-- Critic's Corner, Ariel: "(She's) even capable of wit, which is more than could ever be said of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella," Maslin wrote. Ebert liked that Ariel was not at all passive. "Because she's smart and thinks for herself, we have sympathy for her scheming. Hinson: "(She) doesn't have much personality." Benson's voice, he wrote, was lovely but also slightly generic. Variety's review praised Benson's singing and called "Part of Your World" as "piercingly beautiful" as the music in Les Miserables. Well, I guess one could sing it in a medley with "On My Own."

-- If "Part of Your World" pairs with "Somewhere That's Green" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" sorta aligns with "Feed Me (Git It)," then I guess the counterpart to "Dentist!" is "Les Poissons."

-- Awards Watch: "Under the Sea" won not only an Oscar, but a Golden Globe and a Grammy. Menken's score was also a triple nominee, but ended up losing the Grammy to James Horner's score for Glory. "Kiss the Girl" scored Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, too. And the film itself was a Golden Globe nominee in the Best Musical or Comedy category, losing to Driving Miss Daisy.

-- Different Times: I forgot "Under the Sea" plays again in its entirety under the end credits. The powers that be must have really loved Wright's performance, considering they could have used a more Billboard-appealing version sung by Billy Ocean or Bobby McFerrin. I'm not saying either man was approached, but I could see it happening in light of the multiple pop singers involved with Oliver and Company. I'm also surprised we didn't get a Debbie Gibson version of "Part of Your World."

-- How the hell did Flounder (whom I'm just now mentioning, sorry Jason Marin) get that statue of Eric to Ariel's grotto? Does he have ant-like strength?

-- "Life's full of tough choices ... innit?"

-- Next: Back to the Future Part II. On deck: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.