Toon Talk: Little Mermaid DVD - Oct 3, 2006

Toon Talk: Little Mermaid DVD
Page 3 of 5


(c) Disney

The Top Ten Things We Learn From This Commentary:
  1. In the opening sequence, the “above water�? scenes have an overcast, foggy look to them as opposed to the bright and colorful undersea world, a subtle nod to The Wizard of Oz’s famous black-and-white to color transition.
  2. Sebastian’s fanfare was performed by Menken himself … on kazoo.
  3. The shark who attacks Ariel and Flounder is named Glut; that sequence was Menken’s very first film score work.
  4. The Little Mermaid was the last film to use animation cels and Xerography.
  5. Can you believe it? Due to some restless young preview screening audience members, “Part of Your World�? was almost cut from the film.
  6. The sailors dancing the jig were caricatures of various film staff members.
  7. Grimsby was voiced by Ben Wright, who also voiced Roger in 101 Dalmatians and Rama in The Jungle Book.
  8. In France, Louis the French chef was re-dubbed as an Italian.
  9. The water reeds seen at the top of the “Kiss the Girl�? number were reused animation from the classic Silly Symphony The Old Mill.
  10. The image of Ariel sitting on the rock looking at Eric at the end of the film was an homage to the real “Little Mermaid�? statue honoring Hans Christian Andersen in Copenhagen, Denmark.
    11.

Disc Two starts off with the excellent 45-minute feature Treasures Untold: The Making of ‘The Little Mermaid’, but before we get to that, we have some Easter Egg hunting to do first. From the menu for Treasures Untold, you can find three hidden features:

  1. From “Act I�?, click left on your remote to highlight a hidden “fork�?. Press enter to see Musker and Clements’ caricatures of each other.
  2. From “Act IV�?, click right on your remote to highlight a hidden “pipe�?. Press enter to see live action reference footage of squids and model Sherri Stoner used by the animators of Ursula and Ariel, respectively.
  3. From “Act V�?, click right on your remote to highlight a hidden “anchor�?. Press enter to see the secret mermaid “handshake�?.
    4.

Treasures Untold is a highly entertaining and informative look at the making of the film itself, but it’s biggest strength is it’s candor; it doesn’t shy away from some of the bleaker aspects of that transitional time period during the Studio’s history. This is also where you will get a big surprise, for in addition to the usual talking heads (Roy E. Disney, Leonard Maltin, Glen Keane and Andreas Deja), there’s Jeffrey Katzenberg himself, in what appears to be new interview footage … I guess this is what happens when the big “E�? is out of the building. Also interviewed are voice actors Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Pat Carroll (Ursula), and such non-Disney filmmakers as Frank Oz (who directed the movie version of Ashman and Menken’s hit stage musical Little Shop of Horrors), Nora Ephron (screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally… and Sleepless in Seattle) and Ashman’s fellow Baltimore alum John Waters (who comments on how fabulously absurd it was that a Disney character - Ursula - was based in part on his frequent leading 'lady', the cross-dressing cult superstar Divine).