The Little Mermaid

When people today think of the Little Mermaid their first thought is probably the ground-breaking (or should that be sea-breaking?) 1989 Disney movie. The story is actually 150 years older than that - the original story on which the film was (very loosely) based was written by Hans Christian Anderson in 1836. Anderson's fairy tale was also the inspiration for the famous little mermaid statue familiar to tourists visiting the city of Copenhagen.

Ariel

The animated Disney movie follows the fortunes of a young mermaid by the name of Ariel (in Anderson's original story she is unnamed). As is common with such movies it also features a number of talking creatures such as Sebastian the crab and Ariel's fishy friend Flounder.

Against the warnings of her father King Triton, Ariel decides to investigate the human world. However the evil squid-witch Ursula is watching her and plans to use her as a tool for her revenge on Triton. The story proper begins when Ariel sees the human Prince Eric at his birthday celebrations and falls in love.

So we have a mermaid princess, an evil witch and a handsome young prince - all the ingredients for a classic Disney movie. Which is what it turned out to be - the film grossed over $200,000,000 worldwide and was also acclaimed for its technical qualities. It was Disney's first use of the Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) however most of the work was still caried out by human animators - it's been estimated that over a million bubbles were drawn! The soundtrack won an Oscar and the album was a best seller.

A sequel - The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - was released on video in 2000 and a third movie is expected to be released on DVD in 2007.

The Little Mermaid remains popular almost twenty years on. As well as the DVD of the original movie (plus films 2 and eventually 3) you can buy a variety of posters, figures and other stuff ranging from cakes and costumes to bedding and wallpaper.

A stage production of The Little Mermaid is due to open on Broadway in 2007.

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