Little
Mermaid Trivia,
Goofs and other movie facts
- This was the last Disney animated feature to use
hand-painted cels and analog camera and film work. 1,000 different
colors were used on 1,100 backgrounds. Over one million drawings were
done in total.
- Disney artists had considered an animated film of
"The Little Mermaid" in the late 1930s, and illustrator Kay Nielsen
prepared a number of striking story sketches in pastels and
watercolors. For this film, the artists received inspiration from the
Nielsen story sketches that were brought out of the Archives for them
to study, and they gave Kay Nielsen a "visual development" credit on
the film.
- Sherri Stoner was the live-action model for Ariel.
- Another first for recent years: Live actors and
actresses were filmed for reference material for the animators. Sherri
Stoner acted out Ariel's key scenes. Not all of Disney's animators
approved the use of live-action reference; Glen Keane said in an
interview with the Orange County Register that one artist quit the
project rather than work with live-action reference.
- This film was the most effects-animation heavy Disney
animated feature since Fantasia. The two minute storm sequence alone
took 10 special effects animators over a year to finish.
- The directors insisted that every one of the millions
of bubbles should be hand-drawn, not Xeroxed. The sheer manpower for
such an effort required Disney to farm out most of the bubble-drawing
to Pacific Rim Productions, a China-based firm with production
facilities in Beijing.
- The student uprising in Beijing, China, threatened to
delay production. Roughly one-third of the finished cel artwork used by
the Chinese artists as underlays for drawing the bubbles, were in a
vault only a few blocks away from the demonstration at Tienamin Square
and the violence that followed.
- Ariel's liplines were created with hand-inking.
- The last shot of the film where Ariel and Eric sail
away into the sunset, is the first time the CAPS system is used on a
Disney animated film. The CAPS system did away with hand inking the
cells and let the filmmakers scan images into a computer and later
place over a scanned -in painted background. Before this, both painted
cell and background had to be shot simultaneously.
- An attempt to use Disney's famed multi-plane camera
for the first time in years for quality "depth" shots failed because
the machine, always a monster to use because of its sheer size, is in
dilapidated condition. The multi-plane shots were farmed out to another
studio.
- Some versions of the videotape had the likeness of a
portion of...um, male anatomy on the cover. It's the highest tower in
the middle of the castle
in the background.
- Ariel's treasure cave includes the painting
"Magdalene With the Smoking Flame" by 17th-century artist Georges de La
Tour.
- In the opening scene when King Triton arrives at the
arena, you can briefly see Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck in the
crowd of sea-people as mermen when he passes over them.
- This movie marks Disney's comeback from a 10-year
financial slump catalyzed by the failure of The Black Hole.
- The story "The Little Sea-Maid", by Hans Christian
Andersen was slated by Walt Disney to be a "Silly Symphonies" short.
However, another Andersen classic, Ugly Duckling replaced it.
- The character of Ursula was based on Divine.
- When Ursula first shows Ariel the contract, it
quickly scrolls through the body of the text. This is the actual text
shown on the scroll: "I hereby grant unto Ursula, the witch of the
sea... , one voice, in exchange for byon once high, Dinu*gihn thon Mueo
serr on Puur-qurr I rehd moisn petn r m uenre urpti m srerp monk guaki
,Ch rich noy ri imm ro mund for all eternity. signed," All other
instances clearly say: "I hereby grand unto Ursula, the witch of the
sea... , one voice, for all eternity. signed,"
- There was a widespread rumor in the early- to
mid-'90s that the priest in the wedding scene has "less than pure"
thoughts. He
doesn't - in fact the shot is of the priest's knee moving underneath
his tunic - but this didn't deter enraged moralists from strenuous
protest (even to the extent of filing at least one lawsuit against
Disney) and there are claims that the "offending" shot has been removed
from newer releases of the film.
- Sebastian the Crab's full name is Horatio Thelonius
Ignatius Crustatious Sebastian.
-
When Ben Wright got the part of Grimsby, Prince
Eric's butler, the current Disney folks had no idea that he had been
the voice of Roger in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He had to tell
them.
- Ariel's sisters names are Aquatta, Andrina, Arista,
Adella, Alana and Attina.
- In Greek mythology, the God of the Sea is Poseidon.
Triton, however, is one of his sons.
- The last Disney film using the xerography process,
invented by Ub Iwerks, which had been used since One Hundred and One
Dalmatians.
- This was the first Disney film to receive an Academy
Award since Bedknobs and Broomsticks, though other films had been
nominated.
- Notice how Scuttle looks exactly like the Albatross
in "The Rescuers"?
- The name of the human woman that Ursula transforms
herself into is Vanessa.
- A few of the backgrounds used during the "Kiss the
Girl" scene are
taken from The Rescuers.
- There are several shots of Ariel, forlornly sitting
on a rock, in a pose reminiscent of the "Little Mermaid" statue that
sits in Copenhagen
harbor.
Goofs
- Just before Grim uncovers Eric's statue, the shirt of
a sailor behind him changes color.
- While in the castle of Prince Eric, Ariel lies down
on a bed for the first time. Cut to Sebastian talking. Cut back to
Ariel asleep on top of the covers. Next, Sebastian jumps on the bed,
and Ariel is shown asleep under the covers.
- Before jumping off the dock to swim to the boat,
Ariel is barefoot. When she gets to the boat and climbs onto the deck
she is wearing shoes.
- After Sebastian discovers Ariel's treasure cove and
gets tangled up in her assorted findings, he gets a thimble stuck on
his feet. The thimble subsequently disappears and reappears between
shots.
- When Ursula is on the boat right before her wedding
to Eric she steps on the makeup table while she talks to herself in the
mirror. In doing so she cracks a round crystal ball with her foot. But
in the previous scene there was no such ball on the table.
- When King Triton discovers Ariel's treasure cove, he
destroys the statue of Eric. While it is breaking apart, a close up of
the face shows cracks crawling across the entire face. However, later,
when Flotsam and Jetsam are in the cove, they flick the face - now
completely intact - to Ariel.
- After Ariel and flounder escape from the shark, Ariel
has a bag over her shoulder but when Ursula is watching from her cave
the bag is gone.
- When Sebastian is trying to escape from Louie the
chef, he runs under a shelf of glassware, pots, and bowls. When we see
Louie running towards the shelf, he is holding a butcher knife in his
right hand. Then when we his reflection in one of the bowls in front of
him, the butcher knife is reflected in the wrong hand (his left hand).
- When Ariel saved Eric and was singing in front of
him, Eric starts to wake up and then the dog barks, and Ariel looks
quickly at the left and goes away. But the dog comes from the right.
- Just before Grim uncovers Eric's statue, one of the
sailors behind of him has a striped shirt, but when Grim walks by him,
it flashes to solid blue.
- When Ariel is singing "Part of Your World", she is
laying on the sand and when she gets up her hair parts on the right
side of her head. Then all of a sudden it is parted on the left side.
- At the end of the movie a rainbow is shown with the
correct colors but with their order inverted.
- The trim on Ariel's wedding dress goes from green to
pink, then back to green and stays that color for the rest of the
scene.
- When Ariel first enters her grotto she closes the
door behind her, but when she swims out the door is already open.
- When Ariel is eating with Grim and Eric, her fork
changes back and forth from three prongs to four prongs.
- When Ariel is spying on Eric for the first time, at
the unveiling of his birthday statue, his dog Max comes up and licks
Ariel on the right side of her face. Moments later she wipes the
slobber off the left side of her face.
- When Sebastian looks through a pair of glasses, his
right claw disappears for an instant.
- When Ursula is talking to Ariel for the first time,
she sits down at her mirror to apply some makeup - when she looks at
Ariel, she has on lipstick, but in the next shot, she has none and is
applying it from a clam.
- When Ariel's voice is freed from the conch shell and
floats over to her, she is barefoot. In the next full shot of her, she
is wearing shoes.
- As Ariel and Eric swim toward each other right before
the enormous Ursula rises above the sea they exchange dialogue: "Eric,
you've got to get away from here," "No, I won't leave you," but their
lips never move.
- When Ariel escapes through the porthole she does not
have a bag on her shoulder. In the next shot she does.
- When Ariel drops the bag to save Flounder from the
shark, we do not see the bag until she picks it up off the floor.
- When Arial sees a fork in a sunken ship for the first
time, the fork has four tines. When Arial takes it, it has only three.
- During the song "Under the sea" a flower in Arial's
hair disappears (after the yellow fish whirl around her) and reappears
later.
- When Arial sits down at the table and takes a fork,
her nails are covered with pink varnish. Later no varnish is seen.
- In the very beginning when king Triton comes to the
hall for the celebration the chandelier is already lit but he lights it
again.
- When the crown falls off Trion's head it has eight
prongs instead of usual five.
- When Prince Eric and Max the dog are first seen, the
ship's balustrade that Max's paws are resting on is clearly visible
through his aws.
- When Grimsby is talking to Eric at the dining table
about taking Ariel out for a day on the town, there are plates in front
of all of them. But when Carlotta brings the food they have no plates
in front of them.
Movie
Connections
- Followed by:
The Little Mermaid | The Little Mermaid
II: Return to the Sea
- Spin off:
Little Mermaid Animated Storybook
- References:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Roman
Holiday | The Sword in the Stone | The Rescuers
- Referenced
in: Knick Knack | Roller Coaster Rabbit |
Alice | Oscar's Greatest Moments | Aladdin | Addams Family Values |
Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Circle of Life | A Goofy Movie | Welcome to
the Dollhouse | Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Friend Like Me | The Line
King: The Al Hirschfeld Story | Plump Fiction | Hercules | The Real
Blonde | Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits | American Pie
| The Princess & the Barrio Boy | Donnie Darko | Corky Romano |
Kingdom Hearts | Mickey's House of Villains | American Splendor |
Finding Nemo | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl |
Mickey's PhilharMagic | Shrek 2 | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories |
Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical | Dream on Silly Dreamer | Brice de
Nice | Monster-in-Law | Kingdom Hearts II
- Featured in:
The Making of 'The Little Mermaid' | The
Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic | The Making of 'Aladdin': A Whole
New World | ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration | Broadway: The American
Musical | The 100 Greatest Cartoons | I Love the 80's 3-D
- Spoofed
in: Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My
Vacation | South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut |
Quotes
- Scuttle:
I haven't seen this in
years, this is wonderful.
Ariel: What is it?
Scuttle: A banded, bulbous snarfblatt.
Ariel & Flounder: Ooooooh.
Scuttle: Now the snarfblatt dates back to
prehysterical times when humans used to sit around and stare at each
other all day. Got very boring. So they invented this snarfblatt to
make fine music.
- Ursula:
Yeeeeeees, hurry home,
princess. We wouldn't want to miss old Daddy's celebration, now, would
we? Huh! Celebration indeed. Bah! In *my* day, we had fantastical
feasts when I lived in the palace. And now, look at me - wasted away to
practically nothing - banished and exiled and practically starving,
while he and his flimsy fish-folk celebrate. Well, I'll give 'em
something to celebrate soon enough. Flotsam! Jetsam! I want you to keep
an extra close watch on this pretty little daughter of his. She may be
the key to Triton's undoing. . . .
- Triton:
And *you* are just the
crab to do it.
- [Ariel's
turned herself into a human]
Sebastian: Just look at her! On legs! On
human legs!
[shudders]
Sebastian: My nerves are shot. This is a
catastrophe! What would her father say? I'll tell you what her father'd
say. He'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab, that's what her father'd
say! I'm gonna march meself home and tell him right this minute
[Ariel scoops him up and starts shaking her head
frantically]
Sebastian: and *don't* you shake your head
at me, young lady! Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch
to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish
and just be...
[Ariel's face falls]
Sebastian: just be... just be miserable
for the rest of your life.
[sighs, defeated]
Sebastian: Alright, alright, I'll try to
help you find that prince.
[Ariel, overjoyed, kisses him]
Sebastian: Boy. What a softshell I'm
turning out to be.
- Sebastian:
Will you get your head
out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs.
- Ariel:
You're not getting cold
fins now, are you?
- Ariel:
I've never seen a human
this close before. Oh - he's very handsome, isn't he?
[Looking at Max, Eric's dog] Scuttle:
I dunno, he looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me.
- Ariel:
Is he - dead?
[Opens Eric's eyelid] Scuttle:
It's hard to say.
[Puts his ear against Eric's foot]
Scuttle: Oh, I - I can't make out a
heartbeat.
- [singing]
Sebastian:
The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake.
- Sebastian:
Somebody's got to nail
that girl's fins to the floor.
- [Adoring
a statue of Eric]
Ariel: It looks just like him. It even has
his eyes. "Why, Eric, run away with you? This is all so - so
*sudden*..."
- Ariel:
If I become human, I'll
never be with my father or sisters again.
Ursula: That's *right*. But - you'll have
your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit?
- Sebastian:
Jeez, man, I'm
surrounded by amateurs. You want something done, you've got to do it
yourself.
- Sebastian:
Are you sure about
this?
Scuttle: Have I ever been wrong? I mean
when it's important.
- Sebastian:
Hm. Teenagers. They
think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over
you.
- [Ariel
wants to know how she'll talk once
she's given Ursula her voice]
Ursula: You've got your looks... your
pretty face... and don't underestimate the importance of "bo-dy
lan-guage."
- Sebastian:
Like I always say, Your
Majesty, "children have got to be free to lead their own lives."
Triton: *You* always say that, Sebastian?
[nervous] Sebastian:
Tee-hee.
Triton: Well... I guess there's one
problem left.
Sebastian: And what's that, Your Majesty?
Triton: How much I'm going to miss her.
- Scuttle:
It's a dinglehopper.
Humans use these little babies... to straighten their hair out. See?
Just a little twirl here and a yank there and voila. You've got an
aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over.
- Ariel:
Flounder, don't be such a
guppy.
- [breathlessly]
Scuttle:
I was flyin' - of course I was flyin' - and I saw the... the watch -
the witch, was watchin' a mirror and she was singin' with a stolen set
of pipes. Do you hear what I'm tellin' you?
[picks up Sebastian and slams him down on every word]
Scuttle: The prince... is marryin'... the
sea witch... in disguise.
- Scuttle:
We're out to discover.
- [singing]
Ariel:
Up where they walk/up where they run/up where they stay all day in the
sun/Wanderin' free/wish I could be/Part of that world...
- Sebastian:
This has got to be,
without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life!
[Ariel pats him on the head]
Sebastian: I hope that you appreciate what
I go through for you, young lady! Now, we got to make a plan to get
that boy to kiss you. Tomorrow, when he takes you for that ride, you
gotta look your best! You gotta bat your eyes like this
[does so]
Sebastian: , you gotta pucker up your lips
like this...
[does so, notices that Ariel has fallen asleep. He
sighs, and blows out the candle]
Sebastian: You are hopeless, child. You
know that. Completely hopeless.
- Ariel:
There he is! Isn't he
handsome?
[Scuttle looks at the dog and scratches his neck]
Scuttle: I don't know, he looks kind of
hairy and slobbery.
Ariel: No, not that one. The one playing
the snarfblatt.
- [first
lines]
Prince Eric: Isn't this great? The salty
sea air, the wind blowing in your face... aaah, the perfect day to be
at sea!
[leaning over rail] Grimsby:
Oh, yes... urp... delightful.
- [last
lines]
Ariel: I love you, Daddy.
- Ursula: Now, here's the deal. I
will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days.
Got that? Three days. Now listen, this is important. Before the sun
sets on the third day, you've got to get dear ol' princey to fall in
love with you. That is, he's got to kiss you. Not just any kiss - the
kiss of true love. If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third
day, you'll remain human, permanently, but - if he doesn't, you turn
back into a mermaid, and - you belong to me.
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