"The Little Mermaid" is Still Moving Along Swimmingly After 30 Years

Scene from The Little Mermaid (1989

It's hard to imagine a time when Disney wasn't seen as the biggest studio on the planet. In an age where their streaming service gained 10 million subscribers in a day and Frozen II looks to dominate the Fall box office, it's almost laughable to think of anything beating it. However, the 1980s were a rough period for Disney with a string of animated movies that failed to capture the magic of their first 30 years, going into darker territory with The Black Cauldron and The Fox and the Hound. However, by the back half of the decade, things were turning around and they were planning to revive a long-dead market that would work out big for them. With the help of The Great Mouse Detective's co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements and Off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors duo Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, The Little Mermaid was marked as a turning point for the studio. In 1989, a mermaid who dreamed of being "Part Of Your World" became an Oscar-winning phenomenon and set the stage for Disney's comeback, creating the template for every contemporary hit in the process. 30 years later, it's still a masterpiece and high point in a catalog full of them.

There is an immediate vitality that can be seen in The Little Mermaid's opening scene. From the radiant animation to the use of score, it was the resurgence of something that hadn't been seen since The Jungle Book almost 30 years prior. It was "Disney magic," a formula of music and fantasy that would capture every viewer no matter their age. The breathtaking animation of mermaids swimming alongside fish, the familiar chords of "Part of Your World" playing for the first time as a motif, it was all majestic and would only continue as Disney unveiled a story both like and unlike anything they had done before. It was the return of the Disney Princess: the first since Sleeping Beauty in the '50s. It was the return of the fantasy musical, which many believed to be out of style. In a way, it was unexpected because of how long it had been, but also because of the world, it created that every Disney film after would borrow some inspiration from.

Ariel (Jodie Benson) was the main character, presenting a new perspective on a young woman wanting to be curious and explore the world. She didn't wish to be trapped with her six other sisters, performing for their father King Triton (Kenneth Mars) and performing the duties of a good daughter. She collected things that were thrown in the ocean and marveled at sailors dancing aboard ships. She dreamed of a world beyond her own, and in the process found that it came at a price. The film's villain Ursula (Pat Carroll) was appealing not because she was the sassy cartoon version of drag queen Divine, but because she had the magic to make Ariel human, to explore the world beyond her own. In a dastardly choice, that came with taking away her voice (and thus leading to a great comical second half of trying to communicate through body language). Suddenly the catchiest form of propaganda in "Under the Sea" sounded somewhat more pleasing. Who wouldn't want to live in a world populated with colorful fish singing? It was far more pleasing than the film's subtext that humans were cannibalistic to sea creatures (see a later song where crab Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright) is chased by a chef).

In the second half as Ariel becomes a literal fish out of the water, she discovers the differences between land and sea, such as a dinner scene where she brushes her hair with a fork. It's a great comedy and works to the film's advantage that the animation allows for the expressive face of Ariel to take in every new experience with a sense of childlike wonder. For the first time, she is free from her repressed state and can be happy. The catch is that she must kiss him before the end of a time frame, which isn't unlike other plot lines for Disney movies (see also: Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin). There's pressure on the film to achieve its goal, and it makes the search for love with Prince Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) all the more important). Still, Ariel floundering around in a stagecoach is fun as she tries to find more excuses to not talk.

It's a story that not only worked on a narrative level but whose animation elevated the story to some of Disney's finest moments. "Under the Sea" is a dazzling number full of quick cuts of fish rocking out to the melody, sending Ariel up into a boogie as Sebastian recalls the joys of sea life. Audiences can't help but give in to the pure joy of its moment. Even then, the film has some of the darkest moments, often involving Ursula, whose laughing demeanor becomes intimidating as she tries to sabotage Ariel's quest. The third act itself is a harrowing quest to murder her as the skies grow dark and King Triton is deemed powerless. The film wasn't afraid to be dark and trust that the audience would still love this story full of catchy music that started a decades-long partnership with Menken (Ashman would work with the studio until his death a few years later). Even then, who could deny the power of Ursula's expositional "Poor Unfortunate Souls"? These were moments that simply existed to forever jolt emotion from the viewer.

While later interpretations of the Disney Renaissance that this film sparked would be more critical of how women were portrayed, it was the start to an enviable period for the studio. Ariel became an icon, launching a TV series and sequels focusing on her daughter. The music became some of the Disney canon's finest moments, establishing partnerships that would last up through the past few years. Still, the definition of a Disney Princess was officially etched in stone, leading to the creation of a dozen more in her wake. Even then, The Little Mermaid was an exception in that it came first, creating one of their most critically acclaimed movies still. It created archetypes in how songs were used within the films, as well as for deciding to embrace a more comedic and lighthearted tone. It worked for the most part as the average Disney Princess has likely made the studio billions each. 

Still, there's no denying that it wouldn't have been possible without The Little Mermaid proving to the studio what audiences wanted to see updated stories of characters similar to those that their parents adored. It almost seems silly to think that they ever moved away from it, but then again it only makes their recent run all the more impressive. At the heart of these films are stand-ins for little girls who dream of romantic tales and adventure. Each generation has become more socially aware of how to portray these, but even Ariel is a compelling protagonist because of how is excited by new ideas, of wanting to see a world beyond her own. She taught a generation that it was alright to explore. That's a lesson that Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Rapunzel (Tangled), Moana (Moana), and even Anna (Frozen) learned. Why not enjoy life with adventure and song? 

It's crazy to think that there have been 30 years between The Little Mermaid and today, where Disney Princesses are on the verge of getting their own movie (they all shared a cameo in Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet). It's also weird given how little of pop culture resonates and stays near the top of people's consciousnesses these days to know that a silly movie about a mermaid still can appeal to audiences of all ages. It helps that the film was allowed to be fun, but also explore the darker side of the sea and bring to life some of the finest animations in the studio's history. The ocean has never looked so majestic and inviting, full of rich undersea castles and sunken ships for people to explore. It was a world that opened up a new perspective to audiences in 1989, and it's only gotten far more exciting since.