Original hand painted production animation cels of Ariel, Ursula, and Ursula's reflection all set on a lithographic background from "The Little Mermaid," 1989, Walt Disney Studios; Disney seal lower right; Size - Ariel, Ursula, and Ursula's Reflection: 6 x 9 1/4", Image 8 1/4 x 12"; Unframed.
"The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself." - Ursula The Sea Witch
"The
Little Mermaid," is an American animated musical fantasy film and the
28th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced
by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures to
theaters on November 17, 1989. The film was based on the Danish fairy
tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, which tells the story
of a beautiful mermaid princess who dreams of becoming human. The film
was written, directed, and produced by Ron Clements and John Musker;
with music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The voice cast includes:
Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright,
Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Buddy Hackett, and René Auberjonois.
Original production animation cels of Ariel, Ursula, and Ursula's Reflection without the background.
There
was more money and resources dedicated by the Walt Disney Studios to
"The Little Mermaid" than any other Disney animated film in decades.
Aside from its main animation facility in Glendale, California; Disney
opened a satellite feature animation facility in Lake Buena Vista,
Florida that was within the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney
World. Their first projects were to produce an entire Roger Rabbit
cartoon short, "Roller Coaster Rabbit," and to contribute ink and paint
support to "The Little Mermaid." Another first for Disney films of
recent years, was the filming of live actors and actresses for motion
reference material for the animators. Broadway actress Jodi Benson (who
was predominantly a stage actress when she was cast) was chosen to play
Ariel, and Sherri Lynn Stoner, a former member of Los Angeles'
Groundlings improvisation comedy group, acted out Ariel's key scenes.
Close up of The Walt Disney Company seal.
The Little Mermaid's supervising animators included Glen Keane and Mark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian, Andreas Deja on King Triton, and Ruben Aquino on Ursula. Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large powerful figures, such as the bear in "The Fox and the Hound," 1981 and Professor Ratigan in "The Great Mouse Detective," 1986. Keane however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. He jokingly stated that his wife looks exactly like Ariel "without the fins." The character's body type and personality were based upon that of Alyssa Milano, who was starring on TV's "Who's the Boss?". The effect of Ariel's hair underwater was based on footage of Sally Ride when she was in space; and scenes of Sherri Lynn Stoner in a swimming pool were used in animating Ariel's swimming. A challenge in animating Ariel were the colors required to show her in various changing environments, both under the sea and on land. By the end of the film, the animators required a total of 32-color models; not including costume changes. The sea-green color of her fin was a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab, and the color was named "Ariel" after the character.
Close up of The Walt Disney Company seal.
The Little Mermaid's supervising animators included Glen Keane and Mark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian, Andreas Deja on King Triton, and Ruben Aquino on Ursula. Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large powerful figures, such as the bear in "The Fox and the Hound," 1981 and Professor Ratigan in "The Great Mouse Detective," 1986. Keane however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. He jokingly stated that his wife looks exactly like Ariel "without the fins." The character's body type and personality were based upon that of Alyssa Milano, who was starring on TV's "Who's the Boss?". The effect of Ariel's hair underwater was based on footage of Sally Ride when she was in space; and scenes of Sherri Lynn Stoner in a swimming pool were used in animating Ariel's swimming. A challenge in animating Ariel were the colors required to show her in various changing environments, both under the sea and on land. By the end of the film, the animators required a total of 32-color models; not including costume changes. The sea-green color of her fin was a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab, and the color was named "Ariel" after the character.
"The
Little Mermaid," 1989 was the final Disney film using hand painted
animation cels. Disney Studios, specifically Ron Clements and John
Musker, adapted the Hans Christian Anderson story to give the villain a
much bigger role. The first choice to voice the character was Beatrice
Arthur who turned down the part. It was eventually accepted by veteran
stage actress Elaine Stritch; however she clashed with the music
stylist. The voice was finally given to Pat Caroll who described the
role as, "part Shakespearean actress, with all the flair, flamboyance
and theatricality, and part used-car salesman with a touch of con
artist." Although I would have loved to have heard Arthur and Stritch
sing "Pour Unfortunate Souls," Ursula is the absolute embodiment of
Caroll and I think she was the best choice!
The
animation of the character was initially offered to Glen Keane, however
after hearing Jodi Benson sing "Part of Your World" he wanted to
animate Ariel instead and so Ursula ended up going to Disney animator,
Ruben Aquino. Aquino credits Ursula as his favorite character in which
he has ever worked and said, "When animating Ursula, I was inspired
mainly by the voice and by the story sketches, but of course, I also
worked very closely with the directors (John Musker and Ron Clements) to
realize their vision. Given a great voice, the scenes almost animate
themselves, and that definitely was the case with Pat Carroll's amazing
vocal performance. I also did a lot of research on octopus locomotion to
make sure Ursula's movements were convincing."
This
is an outstanding three cel setup of Ariel, Ursula, and Ursula's Reflection that occurs when Ursula, looking in her mirror at Ariel's reflection, says one of her most famous lines "The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself." This and two more lines of dialogue occur just prior to Ursula's performance of the song "Poor Unfortunate Souls," one of the true
highlights of the entire film! The complete dialogue for this scene is below:
Ursula: "The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."
Ariel: "Can you do that?"
Ursula: "My dear sweet child. That's what I do, it's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to."
Ursula: "The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."
Ariel: "Can you do that?"
Ursula: "My dear sweet child. That's what I do, it's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to."
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