Diving into the 30th Anniversary Edition of “The Little Mermaid” at Walt Disney Animation Studios

Diving into the 30th Anniversary Edition of “The Little Mermaid”

By Melanie Gable

I was invited as media to visit Walt Disney Animation Studios to learn more about the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of “The Little Mermaid.” All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 30 years since Ariel first swam into theaters, but the fandom for Disney’s lovable mermaid princess has continued grow as each new generation experiences the magic of “The Little Mermaid.” This month the classic film will be joining the Walt Disney Signature Collection with both digital (available Feb. 12) and Blu-ray (Feb. 26) editions packed with all-new bonus features.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Little Mermaid” and take a look back at the film’s legacy, Walt Disney Animation Studios hosted a media event featuring Director Ron Clements, Animation Supervisor Mark Henn, and The Little Mermaid herself, Jodi Benson! Erin invited me to cover the event for her, and I jumped at the chance to learn more about one of my favorite movies from the talented people who brought it to life.

We first met with Co-head of Animation Kira Lehtomaki, who gave us background on the revitalizing impact that “The Little Mermaid” had on the studio. “At the time that ‘The Little Mermaid’ was being made, we weren’t sure if the animation studio was going to close or not,” said Lehtomaki. “It wasn’t quite at the pinnacle of what animation had been, and it wasn’t until The Little Mermaid came along that she really revitalized the studio and launched a whole new renaissance for Disney animation.”

Hans Christian Andersen’s fish-out-of-water story had been on the studio’s list of potential fairy tale adaptations since the 1930s, but it wasn’t until 1989 that Disney was finally able to bring “The Little Mermaid” to theaters. The studio had been in a creative and box office slump, at least compared to its early films, but “The Little Mermaid” was a hit with critics and audiences alike, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, and winning Oscars for both Best Original Song (“Under the Sea”) and Best Original Score.

Ariel inspired legions of kids to long for mermaid tails and scarlet hair, and I was one of them. (I pity my poor mom, who had to endure me begging her to dye my hair red like The Little Mermaid on a nearly-daily basis after we saw the movie. Sorry, Mom!) The film also sparked the ambitions of a new generation of artists, many of whom dreamed of becoming Disney animators. “I knew at a very early age that I wanted to be part of this world,” confessed the charming Lehtomaki, who wanted to be a Disney “drawer” starting at age five, and even shared one of her childhood drawings of Ariel.

Lehtomaki led the team that brought all of the Disney princesses together, and designed their iconic loungewear, in “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and she is particularly drawn to Ariel. “One of the reasons why I deeply connect to Ariel is because she’s a collector. She has ‘gadgets and gizmos a plenty,’ and I, too, am a collector. I’m kind of known around here as the resident Disney hoarder,” she joked. Lehtomaki used her personal collection of Disney princess figurines to remember the placement of each princess when she was animating their scene with Vanellope in “Ralph Breaks the Internet.”

She also formed a friendship with Ariel herself, actress Jodi Benson, who voiced the headstrong mermaid in the original film and subsequent Disney projects, including “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Lehtomaki gushed about Benson, saying, “Jodi was so valuable in the information she gave us, but the other part was we got to watch her in the recording studio, and if you watch her you will see she IS Ariel. She embodies her.” Benson was kind enough to talk with us over video web chat about what “The Little Mermaid” has meant to her over the years and her memorable experiences during production.

When Benson was asked if she anticipated that the movie would become a phenomenon back when she started recording the role, she responded, “I had absolutely no clue whatsoever, which I think is the reason why it makes this movie and this project so incredibly special and unique and a once-in-a-lifetime.” Back in the late 80s, a Broadway performer like Benson wouldn’t have considered The Little Mermaid a plum role. “This was not a great job, back then, because that’s what you did when your career was tanking,” Benson divulged with a laugh. After recording wrapped for Ariel, she assumed she would go back to Broadway, never to revisit the character, but the popularity of the film ensured she would always be associated with the fiery mermaid princess she brought to life. “I had no idea that my relationship with the Disney family would change the course of my life forever, and my family’s,” she said. “I think that’s why it makes it so special because there were no expectations, no format. It was all just incredible, wonderful surprises at every turn.”

Benson has many fond memories of working on “The Little Mermaid,” especially her collaboration with the film’s lyricist, Howard Ashman, who passed away in 1991. “Whenever I was in the studio with Howard, and of course singing ‘Part of Your World,’ is very precious to me. It still is to this day. Every time I sing that song, I have a gift. I get to go back in time and I get to relive those moments in the studio,” said Benson wistfully. She clearly misses Ashman greatly, who became like family to her during production and in the following years.

Director Ron Clements, Composer Alan Menken, and Animation Supervisors Glen Keane and Mark Henn were also great collaborators in bringing Ariel to life. “I’ve always felt enmeshed with the character and that’s because of Glen, and because of Mark, because they connected the two of us together and we weren’t like separate entities, so to speak. And Glen said it so beautifully to me and I always remember that…that Ariel was on the page, Ariel was a concept, Ariel was a drawing, until you, Jodi, gave her a voice. Then when the two connected, Ariel was born.”

Benson was thrilled with her most recent opportunity to play Ariel on the big screen in “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and praised the filmmakers for the concept of bringing all of the princesses together in one room. “When my agent called, I was like, ‘Are you kidding? Oh my gosh, this is brilliant. I have got to meet the people that put this idea together,’” Benson raved. “To still hold true to their characters and their individual personalities and respect who they are as princesses, taking them out of their element and mixing them up all together? Genius.” The Disney princesses convened in real life as well for the 2017 D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, including Benson, who hadn’t yet had the opportunity to meet many of the actresses behind the characters. “I was so excited. I had so much fun in that room just to meet people and just say, ‘This is really a special club to get to be part of.’”

And what about the fans, like myself, who still love “The Little Mermaid” and adore Benson for voicing one of their favorite characters? Over the past year or two, Benson started meeting with the public at conventions and events for the first time in her career. She said that she had been holding off on participating in meet-and-greets until her kids were older, but now that she and her husband are almost empty nesters, she has taken opportunities to speak with her most ardent supporters. “I wanted to connect with kids and family members and this has been really life-changing for me,” shared Benson. “I can meet anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 people over the weekend. There are unbelievable people, they’ll wait three, four, five hours in a line, so I want to take my time with each one…but what I enjoy the most is I want to hear their stories of the very first time that they saw the film. I find that so touching that they will share a little piece of the inside of their heart of a movie and a character that has touched them in such a unique way, that I think my eyes have been opened this past year more than they have in the last 30 years.” Benson is honored to have such an impact. “I get to be part of their world in something that’s a memory that will last them their lifetime. So, it’s pretty special.”

After saying goodbye to Jodi Benson, Lehtomaki introduced Director Ron Clements and Animation Supervisor Mark Henn. Clements has an illustrious history with Walt Disney Animation, having written and directed “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and more with longtime collaborator John Musker. Henn is a legendary figure at the studio and served as supervising animator for five Disney princesses – Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, and Tiana – as well as animating countless other characters throughout his career.

Clements and Henn have worked together on many Disney films, and Lehtomaki asked them about their collaboration. Clements praised Henn for animating like he was “born to do it.” Both were influenced and mentored by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of the “Nine Old Men” – an important group of animators who created some of Disney’s most well-known cartoons. Clements and Henn were both young men when they worked on “The Little Mermaid,” and many of the animators at the time were under age 35 and worried about unfavorable comparisons to their predecessors. Frank and Ollie, as they were known around the studio, put the filmmakers minds at ease with their praise for early reels from “The Little Mermaid.”

Clements and Henn, like Benson, didn’t anticipate how successfully the film would be received. “We knew the music was really, really good. We knew that from every song, the first time we heard it,” remarked Clements. “But we didn’t really know how it would connect with audiences until our first preview, which was at the AMC in Burbank.” It was May of 1989, and the film wouldn’t hit theaters until November. Preview audiences saw a movie that was still in a rough format, with story sketches standing in for some scenes. Even so, “The Little Mermaid” was the highest rated preview the theater had ever hosted up to that time, including live action movies. “It was a sigh of relief,” said Clements.

“When you’re working on a project like that – I had that experience on several films, ‘Mermaid’ was probably one of the first ones – you just had a sense that there’s something very special about it,” elaborated Henn. “How it translates in terms of box office and audience reactions, of course, you don’t know until it actually happens. But the crew really just had a good feeling about working on it. There was something special about this story, this character – as Ron said, the music was really,really fabulous – so we had very high hopes for it.”

Lehtomaki asked Henn why he thinks Ariel connects with so many people. “People want to know about differences between our leading ladies and our heroines today versus the past, and I always look at Ariel as kind of a demarcation line of that change,” Henn began. “If you look at Snow White and Aurora and Cinderella, particularly, the stories are simpler and they [the heroines] tend to be more reactive. Things happen TO them.” Ariel, on the other hand, was described by Henn as more “proactive,” making decisions and taking actions that propelled the story forward. “The other thing, too, I’ve always felt she was a very real teenager. We’ve all been there. And that, to me, was very believable, very exciting as an animator and a performer.” Added Clements, “That was always the intention when John Musker and I wrote the script. We wanted her to be like a real teenager. She was rebellious, she was flawed, she wasn’t a perfect role model and really wasn’t intended to be, but we wanted her to be believable.”

So, what makes “The Little Mermaid” so timeless? According to Clements, “The heart of any good movie is story and character. You want to believe in the characters, you want to like the characters, you want to get sucked into the story.” Audiences have no trouble diving deep into the tale of “The Little Mermaid,” even 30 years later, and are certain to love the film for years to come.

“The Little Mermaid” is the seventh title to be added to the Walt Disney Signature Collection and will include an abundance of bonus features on both the digital and DVD releases, including a sing-along mode, behind-the scenes footage, fun facts, music videos, a 30-year retrospective (digital exclusive), and more! The movie will be released for the first time digitally in HD, 4K Ultra HD, and Movies Anywhere on Feb. 12, and on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on Feb. 26.