The Little Mermaid, a 1989 movie, has recently celebrated its 35th anniversary. The movie was released on November 17th, 1989, and with a budget of 40 million, it had such good reviews that more films followed after it. One of the things the staff did to commemorate the Little Mermaid’s anniversary was releasing footage of when the movie was first being worked on. The fans were gifted with behind-the-scenes footage of when the Little Mermaid was first in its development stage.
The Little Mermaid
This movie from the late 80s is one of the many famous movies that Disney was made popular for and is one of the classics that are still loved today. The plot revolves around a tale of a bubbly and curious mermaid who wishes to go up and explore the hand. She wants to see what’s above the water and meet all the humans she’s so curious about. Her family, of course, is unsupportive of this, especially her father. One stormy night, she rescues a human man from a shipwreck, which becomes the final reason and motivation for her to take her wishes into her own hands.
This little mermaid, Ariel, fully motivated by a new and bigger reason to finally see the human world, secretly visits a sea Witch. The sea Witch manipulates her into a contract, a pair of legs in exchange for the voice she used to sing beautifully with. Dead set on her decision, yet naive as she was, considering her age, Ariel signs the contract and travels to the beach. She is found by the same man she rescued, who, unfortunately, does not recognize her. Since Ariel is no longer a little mermaid but rather technically now a person with legs, the prince does not recognize her as the same girl who rescued him.
This ensues an adventure with Ariel finally exploring the human world. Ariel’s lack of ability to speak is rarely a hindrance compared to the fulfillment of her curiosity and spending time with the creatures whom she thought to be so wonderful. Her lack of voice only becomes a problem when the same Witch she signed a contract with arrives on the same beach as her. The Witch is disguised as a different woman but with the same voice as Ariel and manipulates the prince with it.
35th Anniversary Celebration
Upon the arrival of the anniversary date, Disney and many other companies and influencers did something special to celebrate. The Disney store created new Little Mermaid merchandise, including jigsaw puzzles, backpack designs, light-up ornaments, and a customary 35th-anniversary toy mug. Amazon Music began selling limited edition vinyl records of the movie’s original soundtrack. The Mattel company even created a new doll design of Ariel to commemorate the anniversary.
Many YouTubers created doll unboxing videos of the new doll design, with some even creating their own inspired designs. Outside of the doll collectors, other influencers, companies, and platforms took part in celebrating the 35th anniversary of The Little Mermaid. Some did it mostly for business reasons, but others did it because it was an opportunity to remember and enjoy a timely classic film.
The Test Footage
The most interesting and surprising gift the fans could have received for the anniversary celebration, out of all the new merchandise and events, is the test footage. On November 17th this year, the anniversary of the Little Mermaid film’s release date, one of Disney’s YouTube channels posted pencil-animated footage. It was Walt Disney Animation Studios, and the video is titled “The Little Mermaid [Part of Your World] 35th Anniversary“. The video is three minutes long and contains the original test footage of animated pencil drawings from the movie’s development stage.
It has the full soundtrack and song that Ariel sings about the wonders of joining the humans above the water. The visuals mix between scenes of the movie, fading into snippets of the test drawings of Ariel singing, all pencil lines and sketches, and ones with scribbles by the animators. There is also a photo included in the video of one of the drafts created for Ariel’s design, fully colored with her red hair. It gradually fades between the finished film scenes, rough drafts, and pencil sketches. Sometimes, the pencil sketches will move in fewer frames and other times, they still have no frames, only pictures.
Final Thoughts
It is a huge honor and exciting moment for those who appreciate learning about and seeing the development stages of masterpieces such as The Little Mermaid. The posted video of the pencil sketches and designs and comparisons of those sketches to the final product helps many to see its greatness. It teaches fans and shows them mere glimpses of how this classic was first made, reminding us of how far it has come in terms of fame and animation. Both a sequel and live-action remake were created, and as great and loved as each of them is, they can’t be compared to the original, animated movie with such high-quality animation from the 80s.
