Minor spoilers below. (Honestly, if you’ve not seen The Little Mermaid, get on that!)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Family
The story of a female teenage mermaid princess, pride of Triton who named Ariel. She dreams of life on the surface world. Something that her father forbids (because making something forbidden always takes away the allure). She also happens to be fond of a young prince named Eric. Ariel decides to make a deal with a voodoo octopus woman named Ursula who has her own dastardly plans.
There was classic Disney that I’d say ran from the late 1930’s to the late 1960’s before twenty years of average movies. The Little Mermaid marks a Renaissance in Disney animation. The golden age.
This is a beautiful movie. The animation is sharp and the music beautiful. The characters like Sebastian the crab and Flounder the fish are cute and add comic relief. As I feel that a good animated movie has a life lesson, this movie has several. (For example, you know that evil-looking merwoman with the evil-looking eels? You may not want to make a deal with that.)
This movie gets so many things right. Yes, there is this whole creepy element of a teenage girl falling for an older man who happens to be a prince. Ariel is kind of naive, but that is also one of her saving graces I think. She hasn’t been corrupted by the world and so much of it she is experiencing for the first time. The character grows because of her experiences with Eric. She learns, she matures.
I want to go on, but for the few who haven’t seen it I will stop.
Again, the music is good, the characters likable, and they grow from start to finish, the animation is top notch. Some life lessons are learned. It’s just a really good animated film, one of the best Disney ever created. Oh, and that ending. Let’s just say that it scared me half to death the first time I saw it as a wee child. Because sometimes a good animated movie may leave you needing some counseling.
The Movie Guy and Friends 