The Making of The Little Mermaid (1989)

This is the first of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid was the jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film and this documentary demonstrates how much the filmmakers revered those earlier films from Walt's time. As we all know, they succeeded.

A Highlight of this documentary include the only interviews with Howard Ashman who died before Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin were released. He was regarded as the instrumental figure in rebooting Disney animated features. He understood the past and was able to build the future on it. Many of the filmmakers who worked with him were still utilizing lessons he'd taught them on story, character, and music well into the 2000's. He only cared about story and character, he wasn't for this wokeness. In recent years, there's been a push by the woke to make Ursula a drag queen in reimaginings and performances of the music because one of Ashman's inspirations for the character was a drag queen known as Divine. However, this was NOT the only inspiration for the character and when the animators were going too far with the Divine influence, it as Howard who told them to pull it back. Howard Ashman didn't just write the songs and work on the stories and characters for The Little Mermaid. He was one of the film's producers and that made a huge difference in what came later in the late 90's and early 2000's. His influence was pivotal in restoring Walt Disney animated features to the artform they became known for again.

In this documentary, you also get to see many of the actors and artists who worked on this special film. It's interesting to see these people at the beginning of their journey, not realizing just how much Walt Disney history legacy was before them that they'd all play a role in rebuilding. Alyssa Milano is the host as she was one of the models for the design of Ariel but not the only one.

Original air date November 11, 1989

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.