Even if you saw The Little Mermaid cartoon as a child and have watched it many times since then, some facts about it may not be known to you!
1. In the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, based on which The Little Mermaid was created, the sea witch is a completely invisible character, she doesn’t even have a name!

2. Before creating the episode of the shipwreck and the emergence of Ursula from the depths of the sea, the artists carefully studied the scenes of the scene from the cartoon "Pinocchio" with the participation of Monstro.

3. For the blue-green fin of the Little Mermaid, a new shade was specially created in Disney labs, named "Ariel" in her honor.

4. In the scene with the appearance of King Triton in the crowd, you can see Kermit, Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck.

6. Ariel's hair color was also a subject of controversy for the art team. Red was chosen in part because red and green go well together, and also because the hit movie Splash was released, starring Daryl Hannah as a blonde mermaid.

7. On the first sketches, the witch Ursula was depicted as a scorpion fish, with a lot of thorns and spines.

8. In the process of creating the cartoon, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to cut the song "Part of Your World" from it, now he is very embarrassed by this.

9. Patrolman from New Jersey, touched by the tears of the Little Mermaid, called his daughter, with whom he had previously lost relations. He wrote about it later to director Ron Clements.

10. At the beginning of the cartoon, the colors are deliberately muted and the sky is overcast, the directors wanted to leave bright colors for the image of the underwater world.

11. Now about the names of Ariel's sisters: Atina - from Alan Menken's musical "Athina: The Evil Queen of the Galaxy", Alana - a nod from Howard Ashman to Alan Menken, Andrina - that was the name of one of the director's aerobics trainers.

12. Alan Menken had never written for a Disney studio before and considered working on The Little Mermaid to be just a pen test. He thought that the first pancake would come out lumpy and he would be fired.

13. The name of the shark in the cartoon is Glat, but it is not mentioned anywhere. The shark was originally supposed to reappear in order to be defeated by Flounder, but this scene was eventually cut.

14. When Flounder talks about the Scuttle seagull, he turns into a seagull for a few moments.

15. The sailors dancing on the deck of Prince Eric's ship are friendly caricatures of people from the cartoon's team of creators. So, the one dancing on the dais is Razoul Azadani, who worked with Ron Clements and John Musker on several projects (for example, he was a layout designer in Paper Novel).

The little mermaid Ariel lives between the sea and the land, these two elements are equally dear to her - in one she was born and raised, in the other she found female happiness. The funny and resourceful crab Sebastian and the goldfish Flounder help the young mermaid in dangerous adventures. The project of the studio "" will soon turn 30 years old, but it never ceases to delight the children.

History of creation

The main prototype of the Disney little mermaid was, of course, the inhabitant of the seas from the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. But the Danish writer's story is too dark to be loved by today's kids. Screenwriter Ron Clements decided to fill the fairy tale with colors, cheerfulness and new details, and at the same time updated the plot.

But all this happened much later than the day the cartoon was conceived. The idea to make a colorful animated film arose in the 30s of the last century. Then the representatives of Disney were not going to change the tragic ending of Andersen, and they wanted to stretch the plot into several mini-stories about the little mermaid. However, the project had to be suspended, and it was remembered only after half a century.

In the image of a charming little mermaid, the features and characteristics of several people are mixed. The princess of the underwater kingdom borrowed the appearance and facial expressions from the young actress, who shone in the television series Charmed. The girl at the time of the character's creation was 16 years old, and Ariel's age in the first cartoon was the same. Disney chief animator Glen Keane has said that some of the features are based on his wife Linda.

Alyssa Milano and The Little Mermaid by Disney Studios

Model Sherry Stoner contributed to the creation of the image - the little mermaid owes her graceful movements to the worker of the catwalks. Stoner had to play the role of Ariel in front of the animators, and they, in turn, tried to convey the manners of the model on the sketches. Astronaut Sally Ride is considered the most amazing prototype: the fiery hair of the little mermaid under water repeated the movements of the hair of the conqueror of the universe when she was in space.

Sherry Stoner, Sally Ride, Jodi Benson - prototypes of the little mermaid

When creating the daughter of the sea lord, disputes broke out over the colors in the guise of the heroine. The authors for a long time could not come to a unanimous decision on what the hair would be like. Part of the animators and management of the studio voted for the blonde. But the opponents who insisted on the idea of ​​a contrasting tail and hair won. So Ariel got a red mop of hair. For the tail, they created a special shade of emerald color, which was called “Ariel”.

The appearance was supposed to convey the eccentric and masterful nature of the character. Therefore, the little mermaid "walks" with eternally disheveled hair and a bra that does not harmonize with the color of the tail, while her sisters always have perfectly styled hairstyles, and the shades of their bodices blend perfectly with the colors of the lower parts of the body.

Children received four cartoons about the adventures of Ariel:

• "The Little Mermaid" (1989)
• "The Little Mermaid" (animated series in three seasons - 1992, 1993, 1994)
• The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000)
• "The Little Mermaid: The Beginning of Ariel's Story" (2008)

The chronology of the character's life in cartoons is broken. The first in the story is the last film adaptation, then comes the second film, a description of further events is in the first cartoon.

Mermaid Ariel lit up in a couple of tapes. In the cartoon "House of Mouse" (2001-2003), the girl is visiting. In 2011, the television series Once Upon a Time was released, where the role of Ariel is played by actress Joanna Garcia.

Biography and plot

Ariel was born the last daughter in the family of the sea king Triton and Queen Athena. The girl played pranks from childhood, allowed herself not to obey her father, leaving far from home. And the little mermaid loved to sing. One day my mother died at the hands of pirates. The father, stricken with grief, became gloomy and cold, and later imposed a ban on music in the subject state. Ariel did not want to put up with this situation, but fate threw a lucky chance - the girl stumbled upon an underground music club run by her friend and the right hand of the sea lord, the crab Sebastian.

Even more interesting adventures awaited the little mermaid in the future. In the animated series, Ariel captures a whirlwind of events - the girl manages to anger the sorcerer fish with laughter, adopts a killer whale cub, makes friends with the mermaid Gabriella, who is deaf and mute from birth. There was also a place for dangerous adventures. Among them - the battle with the army of the evil lobster, the war with the witch of the ocean expanses Ursula and the Evil Skat. The audience also gets acquainted with the future husband of the heroine, Prince Eric, but the couple is not yet aware of the existence of each other.

Curious Ariel dreamed of exploring the mysterious worlds beyond the ocean, but her father strictly forbade her to swim further into the blue distance than necessary. The naughty daughter nevertheless went on an "expedition" to the sunken ship, where unknown treasures were found in the form of a fork, which the mermaid takes for a comb, a smoking pipe and other amazing little things. A little later, she discovered a sailing ship. So the biography of the little mermaid in the original cartoon was enriched with a love line.

A handsome prince was sailing on the ship, who fell in love with a mermaid, but on the same day he almost died during a storm. Ariel saved Eric by dragging him ashore and singing a beautiful song. At home, the wrath of her father fell upon the little mermaid, but the girl's heart remained on the shore. In desperation, she rushed with a request for help to the old witch Ursula, and she offered to exchange a wonderful voice for human legs. The deal had one more nuance - if in three days the little mermaid fails to make the prince fall in love with herself and receive a kiss from him, then the soul will become the property of the witch.

Agreeing with the conditions, Ariel put on a dress and went to the shore, where Prince Eric finally strengthened his tender feelings for the girl. The insidious Ursula did not want to miss the chance to take possession of a young soul, so in the guise of a young and beautiful Vanessa, she tried to charm the prince with angelic singing. Vaguely remembering his savior and the wonderful song after the storm, the young man was going to marry the deceiver.

But Ariel has great friends! Fish Flounder in company with crab Sebastian upset the wedding, took away the voice, and the little mermaid was finally able to tell the truth to her lover. However, the three-day period has expired, and now the girl is at the mercy of the evil witch. A war broke out between Triton and Ursula, in which the king decided to sacrifice himself for his daughter. The sorceress was delighted, because in her dreams she saw herself on the sea throne. The celebration did not last long, as a result, Prince Eric defeated the evil old woman. And Triton, seeing his daughter's longing for the earth, gave her legs instead of a tail. The story ended with the wedding of the lovers.

A year after the marriage, the young couple had a daughter, who was named Melody. Motherhood turned Ariel into a serious and reasonable woman, although there was still an adventurous fuse. The heiress is all in her mother - the same obstinate, wayward and curious. Melody has an enemy in the person of the sister of the witch Ursula - Morgana, who made diabolical plans for the girl. To protect the child, the parents decided not to tell the baby about mermaid roots, and also erected a high wall around the castle, just to protect their daughter from the sea.

But the genes have taken their toll: Melody dreams of turning into a mermaid and swimming through the amazing depths of the sea. The insidious and power-hungry Morgana fulfilled the desire of the girl, harboring the hope that she would steal Triton's trident for her. Ariel became a mermaid again to find her missing young daughter.

• The cartoon became the winner of a whole scattering of prizes and awards. In 1990, The Little Mermaid won two Oscars - for Best Song and Best Music. The musical arrangement of the picture was presented by the composer Alan Menken. The film also has a Grammy Award and several Golden Globes.
• The writers planned to make the villain of the underwater world Ursula the sister of King Triton and even created several plots that talk about this fact. However, at the council they suddenly decided that relatives in the fairy-tale world should not be so cruel and vicious - this is a bad example for the younger generation.

• The song "Part of Your World" was recorded in unusual conditions: in order to imagine being underwater, Jodi Benson asked to turn off the lights in the studio.
• The names of the sisters of the main cartoon mermaid begin with the letter "A". The sea king had seven daughters: Aquata, Alana, Arista, Attina, Adela, Andrina and Ariel.

Ariel is voiced by actress Jodi Benson.

Ariel is the fourth official Disney princess, and the third oldest of them (along with Aurora and Jasmine) - she is 16 years old.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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Subtitles

Character Creation

Design

The character Ariel was based on the little mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, but co-director and writer Ron Clements felt the story was too tragic and rewrote it.

Ariel's original design was done by animator Glen Keene, who stated that her appearance was based on his wife's. Other prototypes for the character's appearance were actress Alyssa Milano, who was 16 at the time, and model Sherri Stoner, who acted as Ariel in front of the animators so they could base sketches on her animation movements. Ariel's underwater hair movements were based on footage of the first astronaut Sally Ride in space. Sherry Stoner also contributed to the animation of Ariel's hair: the actress swam in a special tank at Walt Disney Imageniring, and the animators tried to draw the movements of her hair in the water.

Voice acting

Theatrical actress Jodi Benson was chosen for the role of Ariel because the director felt it was important that the same person voiced the heroine in both regular scenes and during musical numbers. Clements stated that there is a "sweetness and youthfulness" to Benson's voice. When recording the song "Part of Your World", Benson asked that the lights be turned off in the studio to feel like she was deep underwater.

Jodie herself says that the little mermaid Ariel is her favorite Disney cartoon character.

Appearances

Mermaid

File:Arielthemermaidscreencap.jpg

Ariel in the first cartoon

In the first feature-length cartoon, the adorable Ariel takes a persistent interest in finding out what's going on outside the underwater world.

At the beginning of the cartoon, Ariel is exploring a sunken ship with her friend Flounder. There, they discover a bent fork and a smoking pipe, after which a shark tries to attack them. Ariel and Flounder escape from her. Then, having floated to the surface of the ocean, they ask their friend - a seagull Scuttle- about what the objects they found are. By chance, Scuttle lets Ariel know that she is currently supposed to sing in the choir, in honor of her father Triton, and that even if she swims back, she will not have time.

Frightened, the princess returns home to calm her father. She takes the things found on the ship to an underwater grotto full of things from the world of people, where the court crab Sebastian sent by King Triton goes. He does this so he can keep an eye on Ariel. Soon she notices a large ship on the surface, which was Prince Eric, with whom she immediately falls in love. When the ship is wrecked during a storm, the little mermaid rescues the drowning Eric and brings him to shore.

Ariel sings a song to him until the young man comes to his senses, after which the little mermaid swims away, but whispers that she will find a way to become part of his world. After a quarrel with her father, who found out about her secret place and destroyed it with the power of his trident, Ariel, in the end, gives the sea witch Ursula her adorable voice in exchange for human legs in order to become a full-fledged person. However, Ursula warns the princess that if Prince Eric does not fall in love with her and kiss her within three days, then Ariel's soul will belong to her (i.e. the witch).

Other appearances

mouse house

In this cartoon, Ariel appears as a guest at the Mickey Mouse House. Her marine friends are also present with her. Here she appears either as a mermaid or as a princess, depending on the situation. These transformations have nothing to do with the full-length cartoon about her and are not explained in any way. Voiced by Jodi Benson.

Once upon a time, in a Fairytail

Ariel also appeared in the third season of the television series Once Upon a Time. The role of the little mermaid was played by actress Joanna Garcia. Here, her appearance is very similar to the classic one, but the story is slightly different.

Ariel in the video game series "Kingdom Hearts"

Ariel in the Kingdom Hearts video game series

• "Chains of Memory"

It takes place in the Atlantic Ocean. Ariel is here to help Sora. The witch Ursula kidnaps Ariel's friend Flounder, then she lures Ariel, asking for the trident of her father, King Triton, in exchange for Flounder. Ariel helps Sora destroy the evil witch.

Ariel in the games of the series "Kingdom Hearts II"

Here Ariel looks almost the same as in the cartoon. Also featured are "Swim This Way", "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", "Ursula's Revenge" and "A New Day is Dawning".
There are, however, some differences from the plot of the cartoon:

• Instead of Ursula's cave, the deal between her and Ariel takes place in the courtyard.
• Sora, Donald and Goofy push Ariel to the surface of the water instead of Sebastian and Flounder.
• After Ariel's transformation into a girl, she immediately becomes clothed, whereas in the cartoon she appears completely naked, except for a shell bikini bra.
• To kill Ursula, Eric throws a trident at her, as was originally intended by the creators of the cartoon.

Amusement parks

Literature

Notes

1. Disney Princess (indefinite) . Retrieved 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012.
2. Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's The Little Mermaid
3. Glen Keane. Interview with Glen Keane. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
4. Ron Clements, John Musker, Alan Menken. The Little Mermaid: Audio Commentary(DVD). Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
5. Shaffer, Joshua C. Discovering the Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide. - AuthorHouse, 2010. - P. 37–40. - ISBN 978-1-4520-6312-6.
6. From the real world to animation(Blu-ray). Mermaid. Platinum Collection: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. (2013).
7. Ariel - Personnages Disney  (French)
8. Charm of the Jungle Book(DVD). The Jungle Book Platinum Collection (Disc 2): Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

The prototype for the obese sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid was Harris Glen Milstead, known under the pseudonym , - the infamous American actor, singer and drag queen freak, who shocked the public, in particular, by unsimulated oral sex with men and eating dog excrement in a trash comedy John Waters « pink flamingos ».

You will say: could not a person with such a reputation seep into a Disney cartoon? He, in fact, did not take part in the creation of the tape (although Devine was eager to voice Ursula himself, a heart attack cut short his life a year before the film was released). But the final image of the witch in the cartoon is beyond doubt: it is one hundred percent Milstead, copied in detail, even a mole near the mouth is present. Given that portraying a woman was his creative credo (Devine's entire filmography consists of female roles), one should not be surprised at the choice of playwright and songwriter Howard Ashman, who was a big fan of Waters' films and insisted on just such a "design" of the character. In addition, he proposed expanding the role of Ursula, in Andersen's original fairy tale, rather insignificant, to a full-fledged villainous party. It seems that no one has lost from this: the witch has become one of the brightest and most memorable villains in the history of the Disney studio.

By the way, the actress Alyssa Milano, with whom the little mermaid Ariel was copied, for a long time was not aware of the last fact - only when she was invited to shoot a documentary about the creation of The Little Mermaid, the girl found out that the animators saw Alyssa, then 16 years old, in one of the early seasons of the series "