60 Fun Facts About The Little Mermaid

In The Little Mermaid, who is Ariel's best friend, a nervous yellow-and-blue fish?

Flounder, Ariel's timid best friend, was voiced by Jason Marin in the 1989 film; despite the name he is drawn as a yellow-and-blue tropical fish, not a flatfish.

What are the names of Ursula's two green moray eel henchmen?

Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's moray eel henchmen, were both voiced by Paddi Edwards, whose whispering delivery gave them their eerie unison.

What breed of dog is Max, Prince Eric's loyal pet in the animated film?

Max is an Old English Sheepdog; his barks and whimpers were provided, uncredited, by animal-voice specialist Frank Welker, the voice of Scooby-Doo's Fred Jones.

Who plays Ariel in Disney's 2023 live-action remake?

Halle Bailey plays Ariel in the 2023 remake; she rose to fame as one half of the R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle before landing the role.

Which comedy star plays the sea witch Ursula in the 2023 live-action remake?

Melissa McCarthy plays Ursula in the 2023 remake, a role voiced in animation by Pat Carroll from the 1989 film until her death in 2022.

How old is Ariel in Disney's animated film, as she famously reminds her father?

Ariel is Sixteen: she tells King Triton 'Daddy, I'm sixteen years old. I'm not a child anymore!', the line that sets up her rebellion.

Hans Christian Andersen, author of the original fairy tale, was from which country?

Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, in 1805 and wrote the tale in Danish as 'Den lille havfrue', sometimes rendered in English as 'The Little Sea Maid'.

In the direct-to-video sequel Return to the Sea, what is the name of Ariel and Eric's child?

Ariel and Eric's daughter is Melody, the heroine of The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), a girl raised behind a sea wall who longs for the ocean.

The famous bronze Little Mermaid statue sits on the Langelinie promenade in which city?

The statue sits on the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen; at just 1.25 metres tall it is often called one of the world's most underwhelming landmarks.

What name does Ursula use when she disguises herself as a human to seduce Prince Eric?

As Vanessa, a dark-haired human, Ursula bewitches Eric with Ariel's stolen singing voice, kept in the nautilus shell around her neck.

What is the title of Ursula's big villain song in the animated film?

'Poor Unfortunate Souls' is Ursula's showstopper, performed by Pat Carroll as the sea witch talks Ariel into trading her voice for a pair of legs.

Which duo wrote and directed Disney's animated The Little Mermaid?

Ron Clements and John Musker wrote and directed the 1989 film, then went on to direct Aladdin, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog and Moana together.

Who wrote the lyrics to the animated film's songs, working with composer Alan Menken?

Howard Ashman wrote the lyrics with composer Alan Menken, co-produced the film, and pushed for the songs to drive the story as they would in a Broadway show.

Before the film's lyricist reworked him, Sebastian was originally conceived as what kind of character?

An English butler crab named Clarence was the original Sebastian; the film's lyricist made him Jamaican instead, which pushed the score toward calypso and reggae.

Ursula's look was famously modelled on which real-life figure?

Drag queen Divine, John Waters' muse from films like Pink Flamingos, was the model for Ursula's look; Divine died in 1988, a year before the film was released.

Animators studied footage of which person to work out how Ariel's hair should move underwater?

The team studied Astronaut Sally Ride in space, since weightless hair in orbit closely matched hair drifting in water; they also filmed a live-action model in a pool.

Who originated the role of Ariel in the Broadway stage adaptation?

Sierra Boggess originated Ariel on Broadway in 2008 and went on to play Christine in the West End premiere of Love Never Dies and the 25th-anniversary Phantom of the Opera concert.

In the sequel Return to the Sea, how is the villain Morgana related to Ursula?

She is her younger sister: Morgana grew up in Ursula's shadow, and Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula, returned to voice Morgana in the 2000 sequel.

Who voiced the villain Marina Del Rey in the prequel Ariel's Beginning?

Sally Field voiced Marina Del Rey, the scheming governess who wants Sebastian's job as King Triton's right hand, in the 2008 prequel.

In the prequel Ariel's Beginning, what did a grieving King Triton ban from Atlantica after Athena's death?

Singing and playing songs were banned by Triton after Queen Athena was killed; Ariel breaks the ban when a new fish friend leads her to the secret Catfish Club where Sebastian performs.

The 1992-94 animated TV series based on the film aired Saturday mornings on which US network?

The series ran on CBS from 1992 to 1994 as a prequel set before the film, bringing back Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Kenneth Mars and Pat Carroll.

Which sculptor created the bronze Little Mermaid statue unveiled in 1913?

Edvard Eriksen sculpted the statue; when ballerina Ellen Price declined to pose nude, he used his own wife Eline as the body model instead.

The man who commissioned the Little Mermaid statue was the son of which company's founder?

Carl Jacobsen's father J. C. Jacobsen founded the Carlsberg brewery in 1847; Carl himself founded the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum from his sculpture collection.

In Andersen's original tale, at what age is a mermaid first allowed to swim up and see the world above?

At Fifteen a mermaid may rise to the surface; as the youngest sister, the little mermaid waits years hearing her older sisters' reports of ships and cities.

In Andersen's tale, what happens to a mermaid when she dies?

She turns into sea foam: in Andersen's tale mermaids live 300 years but have no immortal soul, and that soul is what the heroine truly wants.

Who directed the 2023 live-action remake?

Rob Marshall directed the 2023 remake; he is the musical specialist behind Chicago, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns.

Alan Menken wrote the new songs for the 2023 remake with which lyricist?

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the new lyrics with Alan Menken; their additions included 'Wild Uncharted Waters' for Eric and Scuttle's rap number 'The Scuttlebutt'.

Jodi Benson, the original animated voice of Ariel, has a cameo in the 2023 remake as what?

Benson appears as A market vendor who hands Ariel a fork during the tour of Eric's kingdom, a wink to Scuttle's most famously mislabelled piece of 'human stuff'.

Besides Ariel, Jodi Benson is best known for voicing which character in the Toy Story films?

Jodi Benson voiced Barbie in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3; she was named a Disney Legend in 2011 and voiced Ariel again in Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Which song from the animated film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

'Under the Sea' won Best Original Song at the 1990 ceremony; the film's other Oscar went to Alan Menken for Best Original Score.

Who played Ursula in ABC's 2019 special The Little Mermaid Live!?

Queen Latifah played Ursula in the 2019 special, which mixed live performances with the projected animated film and drew around nine million viewers.

How many tentacles does Ursula have in the finished animated film?

Ursula has Six tentacles in the finished film; she was first drawn with eight, but the extra limbs were judged too difficult and expensive to animate.

After a test screening in which a child spilled his popcorn, Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to cut which song?

'Part of Your World' survived Katzenberg's cut; the songwriters privately nicknamed it 'Somewhere That's Wet', echoing their own 'Somewhere That's Green' from Little Shop of Horrors.

Disney farmed out most of the film's underwater bubble effects to a firm in which country?

Most of the bubbles were drawn by Pacific Rim Productions in China; effects supervisor Mark Dindal estimated more than a million bubbles were needed for the film.

Katzenberg passed on The Little Mermaid in the mid-1980s because Disney was developing a sequel to which film?

Splash, the 1984 Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah hit from Disney's Touchstone label, was getting a sequel, Splash, Too, which ended up as a 1988 TV movie rather than a cinema release.

What is the very long full name of King Triton's crab court composer?

His full name is Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian; voice actor Samuel E. Wright also recorded two in-character reggae albums, including 'Sebastian: Party Gras!'.

Ariel's body type and personality were partly modelled on which then-teenage TV actress?

Alyssa Milano, then a teenager starring in Who's the Boss?, was a partial model for Ariel's look and personality; her later projects included Charmed.

How did the Broadway production make its performers appear to swim across the stage?

The cast glided on Wheeled Heelys sneakers, nicknamed 'merblades'; the production, directed by opera specialist Francesca Zambello, opened on Broadway in January 2008.

In 1964 the statue's head was sawn off and stolen by artists linked to which political art movement?

Situationist artist Jørgen Nash later claimed the 1964 beheading; the statue lost an arm in 1984, was decapitated again in 1998, and was blown off its base in 2003.

The Little Mermaid statue first left home in 2010 for a World Expo in which city?

The statue sat in the Danish Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai from May to October while a video installation by Ai Weiwei took its place on the harbour promenade.

In Andersen's original tale, what does the sea witch take from the mermaid as payment for the potion?

Her tongue is the price: the sea witch simply cuts it out, leaving the mermaid mute for good, with no singing voice kept in a seashell as in the film.

At the end of Andersen's tale, the mermaid refuses to kill the prince and is transformed into what?

She becomes A daughter of the air, an airy spirit who can earn an immortal soul through three hundred years of good deeds, an ending P. L. Travers dismissed as 'blackmail'.

Which reggae star played Sebastian in the 2019 ABC special The Little Mermaid Live!?

Shaggy played Sebastian in the 2019 special, alongside John Stamos as Chef Louis and Moana's Auli'i Cravalho as Ariel.

How does Prince Eric finally destroy the giant-sized Ursula in the animated film's climax?

He impales her with a ship's bowsprit: Eric steers a wrecked ship into the storm and drives its splintered bowsprit through the giant-sized Ursula.

Which Disney film ends with a dedication to the lyricist 'who gave a mermaid her voice' and its hero 'his soul'?

Beauty and the Beast carries that dedication to its lyricist, who died of complications from AIDS in March 1991 at the age of 40, months before the film opened.

The 1980s Little Mermaid crew found story sketches for a shelved 1930s Disney project by which illustrator?

Kay Nielsen drew the mermaid story sketches for Walt Disney's planned Andersen anthology feature, which never got past development after Snow White.

The Little Mermaid was the first Disney animated feature to earn Oscar nominations since which film?

The Rescuers (1977) earned a Best Original Song nomination; no Disney animated feature was nominated again until The Little Mermaid, which took three nominations and won two.

Its underwater scenes needed the most effects animation of any Disney feature since which film?

Fantasia (1940) was the last Disney feature with as much effects animation; computer imagery was also used for a few shots, including the wrecked ships and Eric's carriage.

On which 1986 Broadway show did the lyricist first hear Jodi Benson, leading to her Ariel audition?

Smile, the lyricist's 1986 musical about a teen beauty pageant, closed after 48 performances, but Jodi Benson's turn in it won her the Ariel audition.

In what year did Hans Christian Andersen first publish 'The Little Mermaid'?

'The Little Mermaid' appeared on 7 April 1837 in Andersen's 'Fairy Tales Told for Children'; he drew on Fouqué's novella 'Undine' but felt his own ending improved on it.

In the 2023 remake, Scuttle became a female bird of which diving species so she could appear underwater?

Scuttle is a Gannet in the remake, voiced by Awkwafina; gannets plunge from height to chase fish, which let a bird visit Ariel below the waves.

According to Scuttle the seagull, what is the proper name for a fork?

A dinglehopper is Scuttle's name for a fork, which he says humans use to straighten their hair; he is equally sure a smoking pipe is a 'snarfblatt'.

The Little Mermaid was Disney's first animated fairy tale since which film?

Sleeping Beauty (1959) was the studio's previous fairy-tale feature; The Little Mermaid's 1989 success launched the run of hits known as the Disney Renaissance.

Studio executives wanted Ariel to have hair of what colour before the animators won out?

Executives pushed for Blonde hair, echoing a recent live-action mermaid hit; the animators chose red because it contrasted with Ariel's green tail and was easier to darken in shadow.

The Little Mermaid's original script was written with which Golden Girls star in mind for Ursula?

Bea Arthur was the intended Ursula when the script was written, but she passed on the role, and Pat Carroll eventually voiced the sea witch.

Which supervising animator handled Ursula on the 1989 film?

Ruben Aquino supervised Ursula; Glen Keane and Mark Henn drew Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks handled Sebastian and Andreas Deja King Triton.

The 1989 film was Disney's last animated feature to use which process, introduced on 101 Dalmatians?

Xerography, which photocopied animators' pencil lines directly onto cels, had been used since 101 Dalmatians in 1961; from 1990 Disney switched to the digital CAPS ink-and-paint system.

The Little Mermaid's 1997 theatrical reissue opened on the same day as which rival animated film?

Anastasia, Don Bluth's film for Fox, opened on 14 November 1997 against the reissue, which nonetheless added $27.2 million to Disney's gross.

Roughly how much did The Little Mermaid gross worldwide across its releases?

$235 million is the film's approximate worldwide total across its 1989 run and later reissues, earned from a production budget of about $40 million.

Who played Ursula in the 2019 Hollywood Bowl presentation of The Little Mermaid in Concert?

Harvey Fierstein played Ursula at the Hollywood Bowl in May 2019, with Lea Michele as Ariel, Cheech Marin as Chef Louis and Peter Gallagher as King Triton.