Classic released from ‘vault’
By Lisa Roney, contributing writer
Posted on October 5, 2006

Disney never ceases to amaze and wonder.  And now that they’ve brought “The Little Mermaid” out of the vault, it’s time to reminisce about one of the great movies that we couldn’t stop watching as kids. And this time around, hours of special features are included to give us insight into a beloved classic.

“Treasures Untold” is the disc’s “making-of” featurette, and is divided into six parts, totaling 45 minutes. High points come in “Act II: A Symphony of Talent,” which showcases composer Alan Menken — who had no experience in film or animation — creating the scoring and the songwriting of the film. 

“Act III: Broadway Comes to Burbank” is a wonderful segment that discusses how the film was treated as a musical, and features interviews with Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel, and Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula. The frightening thing about Carroll is the fact that she didn’t put on an accent to play the role; it’s her real voice. 

“Act IV: Setting Sail” goes in depth about the actual production of the film, and the controversy behind the decision to make Ariel a redhead. Creators decided to base Ursula on Divine, the famous cross dresser. You learn something new every day.

Something I really enjoy about these features is the footage that is included of actors recording songs and scenes. It sets a sense of reality to a film that most of us were too young to acknowledge when “The Little Mermaid” was first released. 

“Act V: A Mermaid Sings” boasts of the acclaim of the film, and it has the right to brag. It became the highest-grossing animated film in history, won two Oscars and re-invented the Disney animation studio.   

“Stormwarning” was a feature that I found extremely boring. For eight minutes, four men sit around a table and discuss the shipwreck scene, and how they got the inspiration for some  effects from older Disney films.

“The Story Behind the Story” discusses Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale. The tale of “the Little Mermaid” was especially important for Andersen, as he installed his own emotional views into the story.

There are a few deleted scenes most worth watching. The alternate version of “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” is interesting in that it includes an extra verse in which Ursula persuades Ariel to accept her offer. It also shows an alternate ending, including a change in how Ursula is killed and Triton’s decision to give his daughter what she wants. The downfall of the deleted scenes is that they were not fully made, so they consist of mostly sketches of the scenes, which can get very irritating to watch.