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The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC OFFERING SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Review: Disney's 28th animated feature brims with the richness of imagination and the magic of an outstanding musical score. This Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, though not quite true to the original, is uniquely retold through enchanting Disney animation. At a time when animation was dying a slow death, a beautiful mermaid with a soulful voice made her appearance on the silver screen and won the heart of millions.

Sixteen-year old Ariel dreams of life on the land, although her father, the sea-king Triton does not approve of the human race, branding them as 'savage harpooning fish-eaters'. However as fate would have it, Ariel catches her first glimpse of the very handsome prince Eric and falls devotedly in love with him after saving his life during a raging sea storm. Her obsessive yet true love compels her to sell her voice to the sea-witch Ursula for three days as a human, within which Eric has to kiss her lips in 'the kiss of true love'.

The animation is rich in color and texture. Incomplete cels are hardly noticeable. The backgrounds are lush and vivid and the character sketching blends a traditional style with modern details. Ariel is still the prettiest Disney heroine; her facial expressions beautifully conveying her emotions. She is Glenn Keane's best creation till date. Eric is the bland Disney hunk; his drop-dead gorgeous looks and serious expressions sobered by boyish grins easily make him the most favorite Disney heartthrob (thanks to Mark Henn). Andreas Deja, well known for villains like Scar (from The Lion King) and Jafar (from Aladdin), was the supervising animator for Triton and Duncan Marjoribanks does an excellent job of portraying the character of Sebastian.

The music, which was one of the last collaborative efforts of Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, is profoundly magnificent. The Oscar-winning score is rich in musical and orchestral beauty, 'The Jig' and 'The Storm' being the most memorable sequences. Menken's enchanting and emotional score provides a new dimension to the movie. It has a certain magic to it that I find absent in his later scores (like Aladdin and more recently, Hercules). The songs, which vary from the haunting 'Part Of Your World' to the Caribbean styled 'Kiss The Girl', are wonderfully composed. 'Under The Sea' is an excellent number which won the Oscar as the best song of 1989.

The voice talent is very praiseworthy and unlike later animation movies, it does not include a host of celebrities. Jodi Benson simply stands out as Ariel and her vocal performances will move you. Pat Carroll shows her talent as the villainous Ursula. Christopher Daniel Barnes' deep yet boyish voice suits Prince Eric perfect. Kenneth Mars and Jason Marin will be well loved in their roles as King Triton and Flounder. The best role in the movie is that of Samuel E. Wright, who renders an outstanding performance as the voice of Sebastian.

All in all, a true classic that offers something for the entire family. Filled with crisp fun and entertainment, the movie highlights the value and meaning of true love and sacrifice, conveying its emotional meaning in a marvelous way. It truly touches your heart, the sad parts making you cry and the comical parts making you laugh.

The DVD however does not do justice to this masterpiece. The non-anamorphic transfer is grainy and non-satisfactory. The colors look bright (specially the red), but the dark sequences of the film suffer from pixelisation and non-restoration. The audio (Dolby Digital 5.1) is good, though I feel that the DD mix does not properly highlight the score or make adequate use of the rear sound. Furthermore, there is no special feature whatsoever on the Disc. I strongly criticize Disney for presenting such a spectacular movie in such an artless manner. This movie holds a very special place in my heart and I am eagerly waiting for the October 2008 platinum re-release of the DVD, which, I hope like the recent two-Disc Disney releases, will provide the quality I yearn for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Disney movies
Review: I was 10 when this movie first came out. I loved it then and my daughter loves it now. I had to buy it used because we didnt have enough foresight to buy it when it came out on dvd-we didnt have a player then. My daugter watches it every day!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great movie for kids though it can scare very little ones.
Review: When reviewing a kids movie I ask myself did I like it enough to watch again. The answer is yes. Did the kids watch it repeatedly. Yes. But of the five, the youngest (6 yrs old) just watched for the first time this year.

It is a nice sweet movie except that the Bad Squid is a little to mean and scared my girls when they were real little.

Ultimately the music is only OK and my children now sledom watch it, they have moved on and prefer to watch other films instead. This is a good kids movie and I recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the best disney movies I've seen
Review: This movie is excellent all the way around. The animation is breathtaking, the music is wonderful and the story line is great. Ariel, the little mermaid, disobeying her father, King Triton's, orders to stay away from the surface, rescues Prince Eric from drowning and falls in love with him. Ursela,the sea witch, uses this to her advantage to gain control of the sea. Overall, this movie shows that love conquers all. A great movie for all ages.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Get Work Done
Review: This movie is all around a wonderful movie. The songs, the animation all of it is great. It is truly a classic that people of all ages will enjoy. All I have to do is put this in the DVD player and both of my children are quiet from beginning to end, they are 3 and 1 we know how hard it is to keep the attention of children this age. I will admit, I personally enjoy is as well. No doubt, this is a must have for any DVD collection, especially if you have small children.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enchanting Tale of Forbidden Romance
Review: This was an excellent movie. Not only for kids but for adults as well. Ariel captures your heart in this film. From romance forbidden by her father to breathtaking thrills, this movie is for the young and the young at heart. A mermaid princess called Ariel falls in love with a human when she saves him from a sinking ship but is forbidden to see him. As a result of not obeying her father, she gets trapped in the tricky deal of the sea witch. She will turn Ariel into a human for 3 days but she has to get the prince to kiss her. If not, she will become the property of the sea witch herself! There's another catch, she will do it without her voice. When she agrees and is human, she finds the prince and is invited to his castle. She stays there and is this close from kissing him but the sea witch intrudes and it doesn't happen. Although the sea witch has put off the kissing, she is worried he'll still kiss her by the sunset of the third day so she disguises herself as the Prince's rescuer that he's been looking for. He falls into a trance of the sea witch and is planning to marry her on a boat cruise. But Ariel's animal friends come to the rescue and stall the wedding. Mean while Ariel is swimming her hardest to get to the wedding in time. She gets their and gets back her voice. The Prince then comes out of his trance and kisses Ariel. But it was too late. It was sunset. So the sea witch takes her back to the sea. But the prince is not giving up that easily. He fights the sea witch and finally stabs her with his boat. But there's one problem. Ariel is still a mermaid. So her father finally realizes that she is in love and turns her into a human. They have a beautiful wedding and live happily ever after. It's a wonderful film and I recommend it to everyone, young and old.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Still Holds Up Well
Review: When I was a kid, I was absoloutely enchanted by this great Disney feature, although strangely I never got around to owning it until a few weeks ago( I rented it out on video beforehand). After all these years , 'The Little Mermaid' is still the only animated feature which I can still watch and not remind myself, 'Remember, you loved it when you were little'. Other classics such as 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' are tediously boring and patronising, but only 'The Little Mermaid' still has me giggling (Scuttle and Sebastion) and sitting still in awe (Ursula). Strangely however, these days my personal preference lies with the malevolent seawitch Ursula than with Ariel and her pals, whom I find less interesting than when I was a youngster. I don't know why, maybe I'm a masochist? Well, I do still get a tinge of satisfaction as Ursula is destroyed and true love finally does conquer all. One character that has always had me enraptured has been Vanessa (Ursula's human guise, using Ariel's hostage voice). It is still somewhat strange and unsettling to find the vulgarly garish and obese, purple-skinned seawitch transformed into a perfectly formed, beautiful young lady (even more so than Ariel, I think). However, as we find out, outer beauty is nothing' if the soul can't match and 'Vanessa' seems even more dangerous in human form than in her habitual one as her Disney-style grace convicingly shadows her evil intentions. Look and you'll find an important incindent occurs in the movie in the ship scene when the fury embroiled inside her makes her actually PHYSICALLY ugly after her wedding has been disrupted and her evil plans seem thwarted at last. This is actually (I think) a subliminal message which says that most Disney villians are no worse looking than the hero or heroine of a particular fable, rather their hate and jealousy mutate them that way .Of course, I'm rambling on about nonsense so I'll make it short, BUY THIS MOVIE!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Uner the Sea is the place to be!
Review: Ariel,the youngest daughter sf King Triton,ruler of the sea,is fascinated by humans.Soon she falls in love with a prince.She sell her voice to a sea witch named Ursaula for a potion that will make her human for 3 days.In that time,Prince Eric must kiss her.Will she be human forever as she dreams?I love this movie because it has a good plot,GREAT music and lots of fun!If you like Disney,Romance or suspense,wrap your tentacles around a copy today!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best Disney movie ever
Review: The Little Mermaid was the first movie I ever saw in theathers (i was two.) And it was extremely enchanting, still. I love this movie: the music, story, and characters.
Ariel is not your normal mermaid princess, she longs for a life above the water. Her father openly disapproves her dream, but Ariel still fights for it. ANoneyand even accomplishes it when she sees Eric, the handsome land prince. She falls madly in love and turns to the evil sea witch for help. Ariel has only 3 days to make Eric fall for her. Easy, right? Wrong, in exchange for legs, ariel must give up her voice.
the movie is delightful for all ages. Girls will love the romance and Ariel. Boys will love the action. And parents/adults will love the good, clean, wholesome fun their childen are watching.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Movie For All Ages
Review: This movie is the bomb. This movie is about Ariel a 16 year old mermaid who falls in love with a Prince named Eric. She goes to an evil sea witch and asks her to turn her into a human.The rest you'll just have to find out yourself


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