Interview with Writer and Director of The Little Mermaid #LittleMermaidEvent

I was invited as media to LA to attend a press event for The Little Mermaid. Accommodations were provided for the event. No additional compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

One of the most amazing parts of my LA trip last month was the sit down interview with Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel) plus writer & director John Musker and Ron Clements. It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was so honored to be among such amazing talent, and have them take time out of their day to speak with us bloggers.

With excitement surrounding the release of The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition on Blu-ray, we were able to get some behind the scenes information straight from the sources to share with our readers. So what can you expect from the diamond edition? A little piece of history that has never been seen before. The writers/directors dig deep into the vaults to find something amazing to share with the audience that has never been released.

An interesting tidbit I learned during the Q&A with John and Ron is that The Little Mermaid was actually created in the 1930’s, however it never took flight. It was tabled and reconsidered for many years before making its 1989 debut. Ron talked about the original story having a very sad ending where the mermaid dies actually. He really thought there was something with the story though and decided to write-up a two page treatment to give it sort of a happy ending. He then pitched it to Michael Eisner who again shot it down, only to come back two weeks later and give this animated film a real chance.

The Little Mermaid was and still is my favorite Disney animated film. It paved the way for animated movies and I just couldn’t see my younger years without this film. It’s hard to imagine, really.

The music really helps make the film what it is, thanks to a genius named Howard Ashman. The men shared with us that, “Mer­maid was really a turn­ing point for the stu­dio. It was a musi­cal.  It was a fairy tale that we reclaimed after 30 years. And from a tech­ni­cal point of view, too, it was the last film that we did on cells.”

I can’t wait to share more about our interview with Jodi Benson coming up later this month, including our own personal serenade! I mean, what a moment!

You can pre-order The Little Mermaid Diamond Edition on amazon.com now, or pick it up in stores nationwide on October 1st.

What Disney animated movie is your favorite, and why?