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Released in 1989, The Little Mermaid marked a triumphant return to musical storytelling for Disney animation and became the 28th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and animated by Walt Disney Feature Animation, the film premiered in theaters on November 17, 1989. Inspired by the classic Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the story follows Ariel, a spirited young mermaid princess who dreams of leaving the sea behind to become human.
The film was written, directed, and produced by Ron Clements and John Musker, with a celebrated musical score by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. Its talented voice cast included Jodi Benson as Ariel, Christopher Daniel Barnesas Prince Eric, Pat Carroll as Ursula, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, alongside Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Buddy Hackett, and René Auberjonois.
Disney devoted more money and resources to The Little Mermaid than it had to any animated feature in decades. In addition to its primary animation studio in Glendale, California, Disney opened a new satellite animation facility at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Florida studio’s earliest work included producing the Roger Rabbit short Roller Coaster Rabbit and providing ink-and-paint support for The Little Mermaid. Another innovative step for Disney animation at the time was the use of live-action performers as motion-reference models for animators. Although primarily known as a Broadway performer, Jodi Benson was selected to voice Ariel, while actress and comedian Sherri Stoner performed many of Ariel’s scenes in live-action reference sessions to guide the animators.
The film also holds an important place in animation history as the last Disney feature to use traditional hand-painted animation cels. This painstaking process gave the film its rich, luminous visual style and marked the end of an era before Disney’s transition into digital ink-and-paint technology in the early 1990s.
Among the film’s most beloved characters is Sebastian, the red Jamaican crab who serves as King Triton’s court composer and reluctant guardian to Ariel. Voiced with warmth and comic brilliance by Samuel E. Wright, Sebastian became one of Disney’s most memorable side characters. Wright improvised the famous line, “Teenagers, they think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over you!” Animators Duncan Marjoribanks, Tom Sito, and Will Finndeveloped Sebastian’s expressive personality, drawing inspiration from legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr..
Sebastian’s signature song, Under the Sea, became one of Disney’s defining musical numbers. Composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman, the song was partly inspired by “The Beautiful Briny” from the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Its lively Caribbean calypso sound reflected musical traditions originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Performed by Samuel E. Wright, “Under the Sea” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989 and later received the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 1991.
Within the story, the song serves as Sebastian’s heartfelt attempt to persuade Ariel to remain under the sea and abandon her longing to become human and live with Prince Eric. Sebastian enthusiastically praises the carefree wonders of ocean life while humorously describing the hardships of the human world. Yet despite his efforts, Ariel remains consumed by her dreams of life on land, swimming away before the song even concludes.
The animation cel shown here comes from a memorable scene in which Ariel brushes her hair with a “dinglehopper” — a fork she believes to be a human grooming tool — while Sebastian anxiously sits nearby on a table. Frustrated and exhausted after trying to help Ariel succeed in the human world, Sebastian laments:
“This has got to be, without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life.”
After Ariel drifts off to sleep, Sebastian tenderly attempts to coach her on how to win Prince Eric’s affection, demonstrating how to bat her eyes and pucker her lips. Realizing she has fallen asleep during his instructions, he softens, blows out the candle beside her bed, curls up near her pillow, and quietly remarks:
“You are hopeless, child. You know dat? Completely hopeless...”
The scene perfectly captures the affectionate bond between Ariel and Sebastian — a relationship filled with humor, frustration, loyalty, and genuine love — and remains one of the film’s most charming and emotionally resonant moments. A wonderful addition to any animation art collection!
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