Deviation Actions
Description
Episode: N/A
Year: 1989
Writer(s): John Musker, Ron Clemens, Howard Ashman, Gerrit Graham, San Graham, Chris Hubbell, Hans Christian Anderson (original author)
Why the hell do people hate this movie so much? I seriously don't get why there are people who legitimately call this the worst Disney movie. You seriously think it's worse than Chicken Little or Home on the Range? Worse than the Disney cheapquels? WORSE THAN MARS NEEDS MOM!? You know what I think? I think a majority of complaints about this movie are common misconceptions that these people would’ve understand a bit more if they were to... oh, I don't know, PAY ATTENTION to the film?! To learn more, read 
's journal The Little Mermaid: Common Misconceptions where he debunks the common misconceptions regarding this film.
Look, we're all entitled to our opinions, and I get that not everyone likes Disney; heck, some people like Disney, but not for their movies. I personally don't like Cinderella because I found her bland and boring as tar with her wicked stepfamily getting away with making her life hell (something the DTV film Cinderella III: A Twist in Time actually fixed), but the criticisms this movie gets are just strange to me. I get not liking it, but calling it the worst of the Disney canon?
With that said, there's one thing most of us can agree on: the songs are fucking awesome! Four of them are among my favorites from Disney entirely: "Under the Sea", "Part of Your World", "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and even "Les Poissons" are all great! Gripe all you want about Ariel and her poor decisions and judgment, bitch about her shallow priorities, but you CANNOT say The Little Mermaid doesn't have damn fine songs! Alan Menken is a fucking champ! There's a reason he did the music for some of the best titles of the renaissance era for Disney and, hell, even did the music for Sausage Party years later! Pair the guy with the late Howard Ashman, and you've got a musical dream team!
I will admit compared to her predecessors, Ariel isn't the strongest Disney princess compared to Belle, Jasmine or even Tiana, but you cannot deny her as the very first Disney princess to save the life of her prince. And in many respects, the alterations to the story from the original book kind of make it better and in some cases more epic! The original "The Little Mermaid" tale was grim as all hell! You had Ursula actually CUT OUT Ariel's tongue for her legs in the story, and there she wasn't even evil! The process by which the legs grew makes me cringe just thinking about it, and need I bring up the ending where Ariel dies and turns to sea foam without a soul? Yeah, later editions rectify it with her actually earning a soul and getting into heaven, but the original still stands out in my mind! It'd be like if Pinocchio ended with the little wooden bastard puppet strung up by a noose and dead!
This was also the movie that put Disney back on the map in terms of stellar animation that hadn't been seen since the golden age at least! For a film that's been in the works since 1939, I have to say they pulled it off stunningly! By the by, Ursula is one of my favorite Disney villains for her perfect mix of weird and diabolical, courtesy of Pat Carroll and being modeled after legendary drag queen Divine! Do I even have to bring up the climax where Ursula legitimately gets IMPALED!? I swear it's like taking on an Old One from the works of H.P. Lovecraft! Ariel more than proved her worth to Eric here and earned her voice and legs from all the hell she went through; she even proved to Triton that her sheltered complacency, while with good intentions, wouldn't have allowed her to grow as a person!
So listen, I don't care if you hate this movie or not. But you cannot ignore that it had a big impact on the animation world as a whole. Beyond its beauty, the messages and the characters, THIS is what kick-started the animation renaissance of the 1990’s! It put Disney BACK ON TOP after they sunk so low during the dark ages in the 60’s and 70’s! It is one of the greatest success histories known the world over, and it helped put animation back into a light not seen since the golden age! If you don't like it, at least acknowledge what it did outside of the product itself. You don't have to accept it, but at least allow The Little Mermaid to become part of your world!!
The Little Mermaid is owned by Disney.
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