Since "Hamilton" is now on Disney+ and I'm in a musical mood, I guess it's time to look back on one of Disney's most beloved hits and the film that practically saved the company. It helps that this is one of the only 4K Blu-Rays I have in my collection. I think everyone knows the story by now. A young mermaid princess who dreams of exploring the human world falls in love with a human prince, to which her father forbids her from encountering. She makes a deal with the villainous Ursula by granting her legs while trading the ability to speak in the process, giving her a small window of time for her to get a kiss from the prince before she returns to the sea. It's a love story that works fair enough, but has one huge issue regarding the romance in question, which will be discussed later as I cover the characters. Even though I don't like one of the characters as you will find out, I do think that the romantic scenes in the film work as Ariel is both experiencing the surface world with joy while trying to win the heart of her crush without uttering a single world. The pacing is very good with no filler at all, and the film allows to have a bit of comedy and stakes. However, it must be clarified that the movie is mostly about Ariel and her desires to learn and love, which might not make it the most riveting story out there.
Ariel is regarded as one of the more divisive princess characters. Some claim that she's too whiny, stupid and just desires to fall in love with some handsome guy, which makes her character seemingly weak. However, given her age and circumstance, I think she's one of the most likeable, mainly due to her bubbly personality and sense of wonder. And while she does make some questionable choices, it's in her nature to rebel against her demanding father as well as taking the opportunity to explore the surface world. She's not the best princess or female lead Disney has created, but she's in the upper tier for sure. I also give credit for the fact that despite being voiceless for a part of the film, the personality really shines through without one piece of dialogue. Ursula is like a more comedic take on Maleficent as it's this evil witch who shuns the kingdom, but thinks highly of herself and has fun with her deviousness. She's not the deepest villain with understandable motives, but she's an enjoyable villain in her own right. The side characters are all fantastic in their own right and all have likeable personalities. From the caring, musical-loving Sebastian, the very protective and arrogant King Triton, the loyal childish Flounder, the goofy, dim-witted Scuttle, the crazy Chief Louis, and even the rational Grimsby are all enjoyable in their own right. Despite all of the enjoyable characters, it's time to acknowledge the weakest aspect of the film, Prince Eric. I hate this character for plenty of reasons. First, he has no defining personality other than that he loves beautiful girls. I know that's a trait in every dude, but he has no character aside from this. Even when they try giving him some type of character such as him rejecting the statue of himself being too valiant, he would ironically act like this when defeating Ursula. This follows into the second issue, which is the fact that he shouldn't be a prince. Not only is his attire not at all royal, aside from the wedding outfit, but we barely learn anything about his kingdom. We don't even see his parents, but we're supposed to believe he's a prince of some sort of nation? And the last reason why I hate the character is that the romance surrounding him is so contrived and laughable. Like, Ariel only falls in love with him not because he's the first human she lays eyes on, but because he's handsome and was playing with his dog. That's it. I know you can attribute this problem to Ariel, but I still blame the character as it would be so easy for the writers to give some kind of trait that Ariel latches on to that's attractive. Maybe she sees that he cares about animals or the environment or a really nice guy from his interactions from the crew, just something that gives this guy an ounce of depth. The only way I personally watch the romantic scenes with the two is for me imagining that Eric is just an animated Bruce Campbell by looks alone. Point is, Prince Eric is the worst love interest in Disney animation and is the stain in what should be a perfect film. In fact, if they just tweaked this guy to have a personality, the film would be an instant masterpiece.
The animation is great to say the least. This film was one of the first in a while that had the company put a lot of money and effort in order to pull off the effects and scale of the story, which hadn't been done for nearly 30 years up to that point. Not only is the character animation fantastic with unique designs and movement that matches their personality, but it's the environments and special effects that really shine throughout the animation. Considering that a good portion of the film is set underwater or around the ocean, the animators did a fantastic job in creating realistic movements of Ariel's hair, bubbles, waves, dynamic lighting and the ocean itself. The storm sequence is perhaps the best demonstration the film has to offer for the animation with the dramatic effects used perfectly. There's even small uses of CGI in the film that blend well with the hand-drawn aesthetic. While the animation holds up extremely well as time goes on, it shouldn't be forgotten how impressive it was during the time of its release. However, it is the songs that are perhaps remembered the most from the film as Alan Menkin's first collaboration with Disney made him a main-stay in the company. Although the soundtrack isn't near my favourites of his work, that doesn't discredit how catchy and memorable the songs are. While "Under The Sea", "Les Poissons", and "Kiss The Girl" are decent songs although they don't serve much meaning as a whole, it's "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Part Of Your World" that are the highlights, with the latter being one of the best princess songs from the company. While Menkin's work will improve with each film, his first outing is honestly a pretty good start.
"The Little Mermaid" kicked off the Disney Renaissance with a bang and remains one of the period's best films. From the cute love story, lighthearted tone with its share of stakes, Ariel being a loveable protagonist, Ursula being a fun villain, the side characters being enjoyable for their personalities, wonderful animation that holds up extremely well, and a solid soundtrack with a couple of fantastic songs. The only problem with the film though is the character of Prince Eric being very bland, unrealistic, and overall not a good match with Ariel as he's just a dude who loves pretty girls. It really holds the movie back from being a masterpiece, but other than that, this is still a great watch and my second favourite Disney Princess film, aside from "Princess and the Frog"
Verdict: 8/10. Outside of a terrible love interest that derails aspects of the love story, the film is still a classic in its own right. I'm looking forward for the remake, mainly because of my hopes of Eric being an actual character for once.
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