A mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain with an unscrupulous sea-witch in order to meet a human prince on land.
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
Stars: Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Rene Auberjonois.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097757/
Watched online, good visual, but sound ahead of picture.
13 songs in the Soundtracks; all but 2 Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman, songwriters of Little Shop of Horrors ('86).
I'd certainly heard the Oscar-winning song, but I don't think I've seen/read any version of this Anderson tale. The IMDb trivia says Disney altered the tale for this film.
This earns a big eyeroll from me. I'd hate to have a daughter who's the age for this (4?), and have to try to explain the dubious decision that Ariel made. This is sexist propaganda of the highest order. Did the prince sacrifice anything to choose Ariel? Even though she gets to keep her voice, what else did Ariel give up to chase this supposedly good man? Are mermaids mortal?
The dangers of a catchy tune, a couple of well-drawn pretty faces, and an anti-feminist, perhaps misogynist agenda are well-illustrated here.
For me, this was pretty boring. I didn't absorb all the action because it was too clear where this was going, so I zoned out.
Disney, dir. Clements & Musker; 5
Update 4.Dec2020: Have been watching Disney animation features the last couple of days, and this didn't strike me the same as 2+ yrs ago. I noticed Ariel's consumerism (her fascination with human artifacts, purposes unknown to her). In the battle with Ursula, the Prince did spring to action, but I don't know if Ariel saw that before she fell for his face. The horrid "Under the Sea" song is far too catchy, and Ariel's early songs are very Broadway. But the story was engaging, so I'm elevating this to [7.6 (235,094)]; 6.
