LITTLE MERMAID RE-RELEASE

SYNOPSIS:
Disney's The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animated feature factory. The title character is a precocious teenager named Ariel, the daughter of Triton, King of the Sea. Against her dad's wishes, Ariel journeys beyond her own world to the surface, where she falls in love with Prince Eric, a handsome human. Foolishly, the little mermaid enters into an agreement with evil sea witch Ursula in order to become human herself. The wistfully melancholy ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is ditched in favour of a joyously happy ending - but not before a spectacular climactic confrontation between Ursula and Triton.

"When The Little Mermaid first emerged close to a decade ago, movie animation had been dead in the water, but this sparkling, irrepressible charmer changed the perception that animation was just a kids' thing. Technically, up to that point, this film was superior to anything that had come previously, with far more depth than one would expect from the genre. It used music as an extension of character and mood, and the toe-tapping songs are more akin to a Broadway musical than a feature length cartoon. Beautifully voiced by a talented team of actors, Mermaid is a sweet, sassy bundle of entertainment that hasn't lost its charm. Though the Disney light has, regrettably, begun to flicker, this was the beginning of a new age of cinema animation, a precursor to such greats as Beauty and the Beast and Lion King. Mermaid was far more simplistic than its successors, but it still remains a zesty, visually fluid piece of entertainment, with Ursula held up as a great cartoon villain. If you missed it in 1989, don't miss it now, it's a gem."
Paul Fischer