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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
250 .......................... 287
__________________________
October 14th
—— 1989 ——
THE LITTLE
MERMAID
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.28
REWATCH
The mermaiden voyage of the Disney Renaissance movement is put into motion
with the magical motion picture adaption of The Little Mermaid!
Based upon the fantastic fairy tale of the same name, written by Hans Christian Andersen, 'The Little Mermaid' is a beautiful and beloved story, which has inspired many minds ever since it transpired straight through the surface as a true breakthrough in animation entertainment. As mentioned earlier, this is the first entry in the Disney Renaissance, which is a period of films based primarily on past iconic works. The source material may be iconic, but that won't create the success of the movie entirely on its own. Therefore, the question is, whether this saltwater adventure will succeed with a peppery comeback to all the haters out there or will this underwater princess drown as a modern shipwreck of the studio?
If you, by any chance, seriously expected me to dislike this film then I hate to burst your bubble, but this is definitely a great film and an even greater excuse for watery wordplay (I’m sorry). Honestly, I didn't have to spend too much time under the sea to clearly see and discover the drastic though delicate changes in both bigger and smaller details of the animation. The reason why the animation is just as refreshing as a splash of water to the face, is partly due to the decade-long break between human-based animation. In fact, we need to travel all the way back to the middle age, with 1963s 'The Sword in the Stone, which makes it clear to see that Disney has a whole new concept of creating characters by now. The design seems more fluent and the facial expressions seem more smooth and elegant. Viewing everything from way under water is even more wonderful together with cutting edge fluid motion and techniques that stand the test of time terrifically – all the way from the natural panning to the pitch perfect use of lighting and shading.
As previously pointed out, the story is based on great material, but that doesn't automatically sail this feature straight into a wave of success. Thankfully though, Disney seem to understand the basics and basically build their own world around it, which fortunately follows the stream of past successes without falling over their own drawing board. It is not exactly new but it is “out there” and within their comfort zone at the same time, which is something I really like. ‘The Little Mermaid’ may seem like just another fish in the ocean, but I can assure you that it was the exact opposite around release. When watching the classics in chronological order, it became quite clear to me, that ‘The Little Mermaid’ was a whole other ocean for all the new fishes to come. The Disney Renaissance defined the studio and this film laid out the fundament for what was to come. Of course this movie may feel very familiar and filled with countless of clichés and copy-pasting, but I can actually tell you that this is not entirely correct. Obviously there are references to older films, like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for example, but a lot of the familiarity with ‘The Little Mermaid’ comes from the legacy it eventually came to create.
But enough with what came before and what was created after, let us talk about the characters of the film. As they say, a film is only as good as its villain and the huge and horrifying ominous octopus, called Ursula, with a heart of ink-dark dimensions, is pretty damn disturbing to me. Complete with an elegantly egocentric and overly obsessed character personality and complimented with pitch-perfect voice work by Pat Carroll, Ursula may not be the heart of the sea, but she is evidently the eight-arm-strong suspension of success, which continues to carry this film way above sea level. Well of course, the central story says a lot on its own, with a sturdy coming of age core, combined with an affective love story and some complicated father-daughter relations, this movie not only draws a visually impressive image, it also draws you straight into a relatable and heartbreaking story. Disney definitely ups the humor as usual, but never to a level that outweighs the heart of it.
King Triton is perfectly realized as the strong and super-serious sea king, with a soft heart of gold, which further matches his mighty magical fork. Sebastian is a soft shell crab to say the least, who always worries about others, as well as his own place as the right hand claw of Triton. He works really well as this "unintentionally" funny character, who aren't forced into being a silly sidekick, like many Disney characters before him. Scuttle is probably that character, but thankfully he is not a dominate annoyance, who is plucking me the wrong way. Ariel is perfectly likable and her innocent and imaginative personality is easily relatable and affective; especially when she loses her voice and eventually loses even more. Obviously she gains all of it back again, it is Disney after all, but I admittedly felt some emotion and excitement when everything seemed to be lost for her. This part is also one of the most amazing accomplishments within this film; the amount of emotion that Disney is able to pull from such a simple story. The fact that they remove the voice of the main character, leaving the animators to rely almost entirely on facial expressions alone – and still pulling it off wonderfully – is truly a great achievement.
'The Little Mermaid' is a beautiful pearl of a movie inside a sturdy shell, spotting some surfaced cracks that show slight imperfection and a little fragileness – a perfect fit for Disney, since they often follow their formulas too perfectly or operate a bit off course. Here they seem to have found a true treasure, keeping a new and tighter formula, which depends on strong but simple stories, well-rounded characters, wonderfully clean visuals and beautifully catchy songs. The latter is more modern and pop-influenced than with their earliest works, but the spirit of traditional musical melodies is thankfully still there. The humor sometimes feels a little bit side-tracked next to the dramatic core and there is also a few scenes and set-pieces that feels like filling or just don't fit completely. The action-packed climax feels a little rushed and out of context, but despite not working directly as a proper extension of an otherwise beautiful build-up, it is still a fun time to be had. This is a solid beginning of an era, which seemed to show an open sea of possibilities at the time it was made. ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a voice of a generation and definitely Disney’s very own Atlantis; no matter what future movies might tell you…
-
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
250 .......................... 287
__________________________
October 14th
—— 1989 ——
THE LITTLE
MERMAID
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.28
REWATCH
The mermaiden voyage of the Disney Renaissance movement is put into motion
with the magical motion picture adaption of The Little Mermaid!
Based upon the fantastic fairy tale of the same name, written by Hans Christian Andersen, 'The Little Mermaid' is a beautiful and beloved story, which has inspired many minds ever since it transpired straight through the surface as a true breakthrough in animation entertainment. As mentioned earlier, this is the first entry in the Disney Renaissance, which is a period of films based primarily on past iconic works. The source material may be iconic, but that won't create the success of the movie entirely on its own. Therefore, the question is, whether this saltwater adventure will succeed with a peppery comeback to all the haters out there or will this underwater princess drown as a modern shipwreck of the studio?
If you, by any chance, seriously expected me to dislike this film then I hate to burst your bubble, but this is definitely a great film and an even greater excuse for watery wordplay (I’m sorry). Honestly, I didn't have to spend too much time under the sea to clearly see and discover the drastic though delicate changes in both bigger and smaller details of the animation. The reason why the animation is just as refreshing as a splash of water to the face, is partly due to the decade-long break between human-based animation. In fact, we need to travel all the way back to the middle age, with 1963s 'The Sword in the Stone, which makes it clear to see that Disney has a whole new concept of creating characters by now. The design seems more fluent and the facial expressions seem more smooth and elegant. Viewing everything from way under water is even more wonderful together with cutting edge fluid motion and techniques that stand the test of time terrifically – all the way from the natural panning to the pitch perfect use of lighting and shading.
As previously pointed out, the story is based on great material, but that doesn't automatically sail this feature straight into a wave of success. Thankfully though, Disney seem to understand the basics and basically build their own world around it, which fortunately follows the stream of past successes without falling over their own drawing board. It is not exactly new but it is “out there” and within their comfort zone at the same time, which is something I really like. ‘The Little Mermaid’ may seem like just another fish in the ocean, but I can assure you that it was the exact opposite around release. When watching the classics in chronological order, it became quite clear to me, that ‘The Little Mermaid’ was a whole other ocean for all the new fishes to come. The Disney Renaissance defined the studio and this film laid out the fundament for what was to come. Of course this movie may feel very familiar and filled with countless of clichés and copy-pasting, but I can actually tell you that this is not entirely correct. Obviously there are references to older films, like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for example, but a lot of the familiarity with ‘The Little Mermaid’ comes from the legacy it eventually came to create.
But enough with what came before and what was created after, let us talk about the characters of the film. As they say, a film is only as good as its villain and the huge and horrifying ominous octopus, called Ursula, with a heart of ink-dark dimensions, is pretty damn disturbing to me. Complete with an elegantly egocentric and overly obsessed character personality and complimented with pitch-perfect voice work by Pat Carroll, Ursula may not be the heart of the sea, but she is evidently the eight-arm-strong suspension of success, which continues to carry this film way above sea level. Well of course, the central story says a lot on its own, with a sturdy coming of age core, combined with an affective love story and some complicated father-daughter relations, this movie not only draws a visually impressive image, it also draws you straight into a relatable and heartbreaking story. Disney definitely ups the humor as usual, but never to a level that outweighs the heart of it.
King Triton is perfectly realized as the strong and super-serious sea king, with a soft heart of gold, which further matches his mighty magical fork. Sebastian is a soft shell crab to say the least, who always worries about others, as well as his own place as the right hand claw of Triton. He works really well as this "unintentionally" funny character, who aren't forced into being a silly sidekick, like many Disney characters before him. Scuttle is probably that character, but thankfully he is not a dominate annoyance, who is plucking me the wrong way. Ariel is perfectly likable and her innocent and imaginative personality is easily relatable and affective; especially when she loses her voice and eventually loses even more. Obviously she gains all of it back again, it is Disney after all, but I admittedly felt some emotion and excitement when everything seemed to be lost for her. This part is also one of the most amazing accomplishments within this film; the amount of emotion that Disney is able to pull from such a simple story. The fact that they remove the voice of the main character, leaving the animators to rely almost entirely on facial expressions alone – and still pulling it off wonderfully – is truly a great achievement.
'The Little Mermaid' is a beautiful pearl of a movie inside a sturdy shell, spotting some surfaced cracks that show slight imperfection and a little fragileness – a perfect fit for Disney, since they often follow their formulas too perfectly or operate a bit off course. Here they seem to have found a true treasure, keeping a new and tighter formula, which depends on strong but simple stories, well-rounded characters, wonderfully clean visuals and beautifully catchy songs. The latter is more modern and pop-influenced than with their earliest works, but the spirit of traditional musical melodies is thankfully still there. The humor sometimes feels a little bit side-tracked next to the dramatic core and there is also a few scenes and set-pieces that feels like filling or just don't fit completely. The action-packed climax feels a little rushed and out of context, but despite not working directly as a proper extension of an otherwise beautiful build-up, it is still a fun time to be had. This is a solid beginning of an era, which seemed to show an open sea of possibilities at the time it was made. ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a voice of a generation and definitely Disney’s very own Atlantis; no matter what future movies might tell you…
-
__________________________