Original production animation drawing of Ariel & Ursula's Hands in graphite pencil from "The Little Mermaid," 1989, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Ariel & Ursula's Hands: 7 1/2 x 7 1/4", Sheet 12 1/2 x 17"; Unframed.
"Now, here's the deal." - Ursula
"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.
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.
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.
This drawing is from the scene in Ursula's lair during the "Poor, Unfortunate Souls" sequence when the Sea Witch tempts Ariel with an offer to make her human. Pulling a frightened Ariel closer, Ursula says "Now, here's the deal." The Sea Witch was animated on a separate level, yet her hands and the kelp frond she wears as a scarf while singing, which she then wraps around Ariel; is lightly drawn to ensure accurate registration when the corresponding cels are shot under camera. This
is an absolutely beautiful drawing of Ariel from one of the greatest scenes in the film. A wonderful piece of animation art from
the last Walt Disney feature that utilized hand painted cels. A great
addition to any animation art collection!
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