Opinion | Alex Tolkin: Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' 30 years ago changed animation, musicals and princesses. - NBCNewsTHINK
rendition of a theatrical villain-cum-aggressive salesperson was immediately acclaimed as one of Disney’s greatest villains. Jafar from “Aladdin” and Scar from “The Lion King” are just two of her protegees.
These forceful screen personas were also for the first time given music that enabled them to fully realize their characters and narrative potential. The most critical moments of plot and character development in “The Little Mermaid” are told in song, in contrast to earlier Disney songs such as “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” from Cinderella that were meant to be bright and entertaining in isolation.
Both producer and songwriter Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken had backgrounds in musical theater and applied the conventions of the stage to animation. The classic song “Part of Your World” is an archetypal example of a Broadway “I Want” song, where the protagonist sings about their desires and motivations, and is rendered by Ariel complete with a stage-like spotlight on her.
This innovation at first faced resistance, too. When an unfinished version of the film was screened for a test audience of children, the kids seemed bored during the song and
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