35 years ago, Disney invested more in films and series than animation productions, which required investment without offering the same return. For this reason, the department that had once been the company’s main department was practically being sidelined. The Rescuers, from 1977, promised to regain prestige but failed. Twelve years later, giving up on animation seemed the most obvious alternative, making a ‘last’ attempt by unpacking one of the stories that Walt Disney himself dreamed of adapting after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the story The Little Mermaid. To do this, they brought lyricist Howard Ashman from Broadway, who changed everything. The rest is history, as we know.

Although in 2023, The Little Mermaid‘s transition from animation to live-action was surrounded by controversy, the original film also hit the screen with its share of curiosities. If you want to know all the details, the entire production process is recounted in the spectacular documentary Howard, about screenwriter and lyricist Howard Ashman, available on Disney Plus. It’s a cinematic masterclass and it’s full of interesting revelations.

The Little Mermaid hit theaters in November 1989, won two Oscars (one of them for Best Song with Under the Sea), and is still one of the public’s favorites today. Here, are 10 interesting facts about the classic of classics.

1- The success of Splash helped

In 1985, the romantic comedy Splash, starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, revived Hans Christian Andersen‘s children’s story in the general imagination. Therefore, when director Ron Clements found a draft for The Little Mermaid, Disney’s then-head of production, Jeffrey Katzenberg, approved the idea, even though he hesitated because he preferred to make the film’s sequel rather than the animation. So thank you, Tom Hanks!

2- Ursula: an iconic villain that two actresses refused to dub

The antagonist, the octopus Ursula, is essential to the success of The Little Mermaid, with her sexual innuendo and mischievousness, it was a unique role for actress Pat Carroll whose striking voice is incomparable. And she wasn’t even the first option! Only when Bea Arthur and later Elaine Stritch turned down the opportunity did Pat step in. The look was a mix of Joan Collins and her character from Dynasty and the drag queen Divine. Neither Queen Latifah nor Melissa MacCarthy came close to Pat’s rendition, though. Perfection saved for eternity.

3- Jim Carrey auditioned to voice Eric

Comedian Jim Carrey, who had not yet exploded, was one of those who recorded a test to voice Prince Eric, but the chosen one was Christopher Daniel Barnes. Wouldn’t Carrey have inserted shards and changed the hero’s personality? We will never know.

4- Auntie Ursula?

In Poor Unfortunate Souls, the sea witch tells Ariel a distorted version of her origin. Ursula claims that she was misunderstood and therefore banished by Triton. What she didn’t say, nor was it in the 1989 version, is that she is the sister of the King of the Sea, that is, Ariel’s aunt! But that version was deleted. Some thought that Ursula’s origin was mysterious, but I disagree. The original final version is sufficient and perfect.

5- When Howard Ashman threatened to drop everything

Today it’s impossible to think of Ariel without her signature song, Part of Your World, but if she had followed Katzenberg’s wishes, she would have been cut from the film. The executive thought she broke the rhythm. For Howard Ashman, it was the main song of the entire film, the one in which the heroine reveals her dream and we understand the reason for the whole story. He stamped his foot, threatened to drop everything, and made threats. Katzenberg gave in and today it is one of Disney’s anthems. I guess we should thank them for the beef?

6- Consecration at the Oscars

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs won a special Oscar, but Walt Disney always dreamed of the Academy’s full recognition of his work. He would later come with nominations for Beauty and the Beast, but with The Little Mermaid, he opened a long history of Best Songs wins for the studio. On the whole, the movie received three Oscar nominations and won two, Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Under the Sea. The third nomination they missed? Best original song for Kiss the Girl, in other words, they won anyway

7- It’s not an urban legend: a former employee inserted a penis in the VHS cover

Today they say it’s a lie and there’s no evidence, but it’s true because I had the original VHS tape and it YES had the image of not just one penis, but TWO, in the castle at the bottom of the cover. They said at the time that it was a mistake, also there were rumors that the perpetrator was a fired employee who took revenge because he knew (and was right) that it would take time to identify the slip. In any case, the unsold tapes were collected and the poster changed. Another behind-the-scenes mess that generated unforgettable stories.

8- A “girls movie” breaking paradigms

When The Little Mermaid hit theaters, just the first weekend in the United States, it raised more than 6 million dollars, but, throughout the month, it raised another 84.4 million (in the USA only).

Despite having enjoyed the success of the work, Jeffrey Katzenberg was hesitant about the project for a long time because The Little Mermaid was a “film for girls”. Wrong. In its debut, it did not gross 100 million dollars, which would place it in the box office of blockbusters, but it became the highest-grossing animated film since its initial screening. Between the two re-releases (The Little Mermaid returned to theaters in 1997), it grossed a total international box office of US$235 million, and is still one of Disney’s most loved films by all audiences.

9- The Little Mermaid proved that animated films make money

After Sleeping Beauty, in 1959, Disney waited no less than 30 years to try its hand at another fairy tale, investing more in other original and children’s stories. The fear that traditional children’s stories wouldn’t pay off (were they “girls’ movies”?) prevented investment, but The Little Mermaid changed everything. Its success was instrumental in reestablishing feature animation as a profitable venture for the company, and Walt Disney Feature Animation was expanded as a result. As of 2022, the film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

10- Ariel paved the way for Beauty and the Beast and the “Broadway formula”

With the great success of The Little Mermaid, Disney invested in Howard Ashman‘s proposal to adapt the story of Beauty and the Beast as a follow-up project, achieving even greater success and getting the first Oscar nomination for Best Film, in 1991. Unfortunately , Ashman passed away before the party, as a result of HIV. He and the Little Mermaid are credited with using the ‘Broadway formula’ in the animations, which, broadly speaking, includes the hero’s ‘motivational song’, in which at the end of the 1st act he explains what he is looking for (in the case of Ariel , wanting to be human, as explained in Part of Your World) and a great song to stay in the public’s memory at the beginning of the 3rd act, in the case, Kiss the Girl. The structure became used for all animations, with great success, including the production of musicals on Broadway stages, with Beauty and the Beast and Lion King becoming classic and award-winning musicals. Without Ariel, this would never have happened…

Are we ready to watch The Little Mermaid (yet) again?

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