Customer Reviews

The Little Mermaid (A Walt Disney Classic) [VHS]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While "Beauty and the Beast" may have nominated for BEST Picture, "The Lion King" may have captured the world's attention, and "Aladdin" may have soared with a Robin Williams-voiced genie, "The Little Mermaid" still stands as the landmark film that brought Disney animation to the forefront.

The first of the studio's modern-day musicals, "The Little Mermaid" has it all: a feisty heroine, a faithful mentor/protector, a slightly off-center sidekick, a hunky leading man, a Godlike father, and a villain at the peak of wickedness.

The vocal performances by Jodi Benson ("Ariel"), Kenneth Mars ("King Triton"), Samuel E. Wright ("Sebastian"), Buddy Hackett ("Scuttle") and Pat Carroll ("Ursula") are, without a doubt, the best ever heard in a Disney film. Able-bodied vocal support is given by the always-dependable Rene Auberjoinois as a set-upon French chef.

The songs ("Under the Sea", "Part of Your World", "Poor Unfortunate Soul", "Kiss the Girl") are Broadway-worthy.

It's a shame that the film is not in circulation at the moment. It is truly one in need of remastering and "special edition" status with extras.

Disney's 1989 animated film THE LITTLE MERMAID is a very formidable movie, surpassing the combined visual and musical artistic talents of all concerned. Character development is one of the strong points of THE LITTLE MERMAID achieved through concise dialogue, music and simplistic yet effective images. However, most effective to the success of this film are the songs that advance the story line and define the characters. That was the brilliance of lyricist Howard Ashman's contribution to THE LITTLE MERMAID. He and composer Alan Menken developed songs that in several minutes clearly define Ariel's reckless but innocent curiosity about the humans above and her yearning to discover that world. Every song in THE LITTLE MERMAID bolsters the depth of the characters, advances the plot or enhances the significance of a scene in addition to being very melodic and well written. So in THE LITTLE MERMAID we are given a substantial amount of information and entertainment in a minimum amount of time. There is not a single frame of wasted footage in this film. The combined effort is one of a splendid and effortless looking perfect creation of a classical animated Disney tale. I love this original edition on VHS.

Ever since I was little I loved The Little Mermaid. The movie is about a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince after she rescues him from drowing. She decides that she wants to be a human. Since the mermaid thinks her father won't turn her into a human she visits the evil sea witch Ursula and decides to turn her into a human. But there are a few catches. The first catch is the mermaid has to kiss the prince in three days. If she doesn't she will belong to Ursula. The last catch is the mermaid has to give her voice to the sea witch. Ursula has crafty plans to try to keep the mermaid from kissing the prince, including disguising herself as the beautiful Vanessa and using the mermaid's voice into tricking the prince that she's the one who rescued him.At the end of the movie the prince kills Ursula, the memaid's father turns the mermaid into a human, and the mermaid and the prince get married. I recommend that people who love Disney movies should go rent this movie.

I'm a 22 year old male, I hadn't watched this movie since I was a kid but I watched it the other night and it brought back so many good memories, I remembered how great Disney movies were back then. This was the perfect story with the perfect characters, one of the best films.

For a lot of us this movie along with numerous others from Disney are real special to us. If you haven't seen this (I doubt many haven't) then you need to.

I saw this movie in the theater when I was really young clear back in 1989. It was only the second time I had been to the movies. I thought it was so good that I got it on VHS the following year.

It's a tale that's great for young and old alike. It's also a movie that everyone has seen, at least in my circle of friends. The soundtrack is good, the animation is wonderfully done, and even a guy in the 18-21 range (myself included) can get a good laugh or two out of it.

This is a film the current generation of teens will wind up passing on to their children ten years from now. Destined to go down next to Snow White and Bambi as a Disney masterpiece, Little Mermaid comes highly recommended for anyone with young children (or anyone who is either young at heart or has a sudden feeling of nostalgia).

Needless to say, this is the best disney movie ever made. Ursula is one of the nost nastiest villians ever! She is cool...

As a child, this movie was the most psycho thing I had ever seen. Triton and Ursula were maniacs! The part where he trashes the grotto has got to be the most compellingly frightening moment in my cinematic life - and you're talking to the person who sat down and 'gorged' the slaughter scenes in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Kill Bill Volume 1". Triton is really scary. I used to have nightmares about him. After the grotto-trashing, we encounter another psycho. Ursula's song is, once again, the most compellingly frightening moment in my cinematic life. As a kid, watching this film for the first time, I was entirely overwhelmed. But, for a very long time, it was hard to find - and the rental copy I'd constantly hire had crumbled into pieces. I eventually found the original VHS at a flea-market, and it's meant to be worth (because one of my older friends ran a video shop) over $400 in Australian currency. After seeing Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King and Pocahontas (some other amazing experiences) I count this as my all-time favourite Disney movie and the most scariest and overwhelming and frightening of them all. 10/10.

You know I couldn't write reviews of almost every other film I have seen, and leave this one out! I remember the day I saw this film for the first time, when I was about seven years old. It was one of those films you never forget. I had the great fortune to see "The Little Mermaid" in the theatre (which is how it SHOULD be seen). Not only is the animation spectacular and absolutely stunning (this was before the introduction to computer animation, that is so widely used today), but the actors providing the voices for the characters are wonderful.

Ariel (voice of Jodi Benson) is a beautiful, headstrong 16 year old mermaid who wants nothing more but to live with the land dwellers and be a "Part of their world" (to paraphrase on of the most well known songs from the film). Her father, King Triton (Kenneth Mars), knows all too well the stark reality of the fish eating, two legged creatures and doesn't want his daughter to experience the pain of being an outsider, nor does he want her to put herself in harm's way. Nothing will stop Ariel when she experiences love at first sight, after rescuing a very handsome young prince from near-fatal drowning.

I won't get long winded on you, as far as plot details are concerned. All I am going to say is this......this is a MUST SEE. "The Little Mermaid" can be enjoyed by people of all generations, and will leave you with memorable tunes, a song in your heart and a smile on your lips. *two BIG thumbs up*

Under the sea is the best place to be. Somewhere under the sea, and beyond your imagination, lies an adventure of fantasy...Mermaids are supposed to stay under the sea, but there was never a mermaid quite like Ariel!! The headstrong teenager (She's 16, by the way)longs to be part of the magical world on land. much to the dismay of her father, King Triton. When she falls in love with a human prince by the name of Eric, Ariel looks to Ursula, a divinely and diabolical sea witxh, who makes Ariel a human in exchange for her golden voice!! With the help of her friends, Shy and Lovable Flounder and Sebastian, a reggae-singing crab, Ariel must win her princes love in a thrilling race against time!!!!

This movie is a CLASSIC and a must have in your Disney collection. If you dont have it, YOU'RE A POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL.

When I was young I used to watch this movie after school every other day. Needless to say, it was my favorite, and I used to collect merchandise from this movie.
Now, thirteen years later, I watched it again. It still is the most charming video I have ever owned. I never thought I'd say this again, but it's my most favorite movie ever!