The Film
In between Pac-Man and the big hair of the '80s, Disney fell into a bit of an animated slump. While many people still count The Great Mouse Detective as a Disney favorite, it didn't do the massive box-office haul that the House of Mouse had become accustomed to. Then, as the decade was signing off, The Little Mermaid swam into theaters.
About 24 years and $211 million later, The Little Mermaid has become a bonafide classic. In fact, it's so big that Disney has decided to release the film with a "Diamond Edition" -- and a 3D boost. And why not? It's got gorgeous colors, funny characters, romance and catchy songs; pretty much everything you'd ever want in a Disney film.
It also involves a very spunky main character. Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson) is a 16-year-old mermaid enamored with life above the ocean floor. However, she's still your typical teen, meaning that she's completely obsessed with boys. In fact, she falls in love instantly after seeing Prince Eric (Christopher Daniel Barnes) for all of two seconds. It's understandable. After all. he's got cool hair, a dog, and his own statue.
Of course, once King Triton (Kenneth Mars) finds out about his daughter's adventures, he goes ballistic and destroys all of the human-owned tchotchkes she's harvested from the ocean floor. While still reeling from that traumatic event, the naive Ariel pays a visit to the evil Ursula (Carroll), who offers to turn her into a human in exchange for her voice -- and possibly her soul.
Now, The Little Mermaid isn't perfect. First of all, Ariel isn't exactly a role model for little girls everywhere. She disobeys her father, signs her life away to the sea witch, flaunts her beauty, and gives up her mermaid-ness for some dude she barely knows. That said, this is a Disney movie, so it's brimming with magical qualities and characters. Carroll gives Ursula the necessary oomph to make her one of Disney's best villians and Sebastian the crab (Samuel E. Wright) absolutely deserves his own big-screen feature. The sights and sounds of The Little Mermaid are just wonderful and frankly, it's just a really entertaining film.
The Picture
Back in college, I must have watched The Little Mermaid a million times. However, I don't remember the animation being "classic" Disney. For some reason, I always put this film up on the same pedestal as Disney's more recent efforts. That said, it is 24 years old. Considering the age of the film, this 1.85:1 transfer looks darn good. Sure, it's not as awesome as Tangled or even Lilo & Stitch, but The Little Mermaid is certainly worthy of the "Diamond Edition" tagline. Sure, there are some softer moments, but the restoration does offer a nice boost over previous versions of the film. Like most of Disney's newer releases, The Little Mermaid certainly didn't need a 3D conversion, but going under the sea with animated 3D is always a nice little treat. The Little Mermaid is no different. Aside from the rainstorm, there aren't any pop-outs, but the film has a great depth to it, without ever dimming down the wonderful colors presented here.
The Sound
Disney doesn't just slap a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix on something for nothing. This is the absolute best audio to ever accompany this film. Dialogue is crisp and centered, but there are tons of sounds for those surrounds as well. The aforementioned storm and Ursula's presence offer the biggest oomph in the film, but viewers should be very pleased throughout the entire track.
The Extras
Final Thoughts
After some of its previous 3D conversions underperformed at the box office, Disney cancelled this film's theatrical 3D release. That's probably a good thing. The Little Mermaid is still a beautiful, entertaining film, but the 3D doesn't make it any more magical. However, The Little Mermaid: Diamond Edition is another must-own Disney release. Dive right in and enjoy.
Product Details
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