9 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About The Little Mermaid

To help you get in the mood to go under the sea again, we’ve dredged up 9 little-know facts about the songs, the script, the production, and the voice work of The Little Mermaid. We’ll really light up those mysterious fathoms below!

Okay. That’s enough song-name puns.

What did you think? Did you know any of these facts already? How many times have you seen The Little Mermaid? Or did you prefer a different one of the Disney Animated Classics? What’s your favorite song from the Little Mermaid Soundtrack? Are you looking forward to Sofia Coppola's live-action take on the story?

Let us know in the comments below!

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Movies are a very complicated mess of time, money, people, and strange decisions. Inevitably, in the hodgepodge of life that goes into creating a movie, a few strange and interesting things happen here and there that are rather fascinating little tidbits of information. Every Monday starting in 2014, tune in to Cinefix for lists of things we find out that you (probably) didn't know!

[AaronTMeyer]

Looks like one of those Ursula rejects went on to be the inspiration of Yzma in Emperor's New Groove

[TreysGirl]

I can't imagine this movie without the song Part Of Your World !! it's such a romantic and deep song.

[JaKeForever]

There's is absolutely nothing wrong with a grown man watching the entire Disney collection alone while singing every song word for word either!

[amandasanders]

This is why Ursula needs her own movie. With a backstory like that, everyone would probably see it 😱

[GreenEnvy.]

I never thought of the Crabs voice as Jamaican. I just thought that's how crabs speak.

[daviddeal]

The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie of all time

[eugenewilliams]

the second part of of part of your world where Ariel's on the rock, always gives me chills

[moonchild]

Ursula is a Cecaleia, a mitical being that looks like a mermaid with tentacles intead of a tail, and magic powers instead of a siren´s song.

[maxwellatuatasi]

Fun fact: Ariel didn't do so good in school. All of her grades were under the C.

[Kairichan]

Another fun fact: Ariel is also partially influenced by her animator Glen Keane's wife, most notably that part in the movie where she plays with her hair and bites her lip when she meets Eric again after getting her legs

[OwliSketches]

i love the aspect of triton's seven daughters representing the seven seas.

[heathertaylor]

Technically, octopus' "legs" are, in actuality, 6 legs and two arms. So the artists had the facts straighter than anyone imagined. I wonder if they were aware of this fact, or it just happens to neatly, albeit accidentally, mesh with reality.

[buciallstar]

wow! Little Mermaid without Part of your world? Unimaginable!

[EVAUnitA]

The next morning after Ursula's defeat, Ariel is sitting on a rock in the bay looking out at Eric on the beach. (...Um, _again._ Hmm.) Her posture and pose is a direct reference to the famous metal statue _Den lille Havfrue_ ("The Little Mermaid") in Copenhaugen, Denmark.
BONUS CONTENT: one of the graves of the-late pianist entertainer Victor Borge (his ashes were buried in both the USA and his native Denmark) has an authorized copy of _Den lille Havfrue_ on it!

2:22 Ursula is not an octopus, but rather a cecaelia.

9:00 I don't cry, but I _am_ a 33yr-old male Arielholic! Have been ever since I saw the movie in theaters in 1989 when I was 7yrs old! (Had it memorized almost word-for-word by re-watching the VHS over-and-over by the time I was 8yrs old.)

[LunarSagittarius]

I'm helping out with a Little Mermaid camp currently. We didn't have any singers audition for Ariel, so an 11-year-old who's never participated in school choir and hadn't done any shows before was picked. At first I had close to no faith in her, she refused to sing in front of the cast and when she sang privately with us, it wasn't that great. No diction, it was airy, it was quiet, she didn't belt and her timing and notes were slightly off for the first few music rehearsals we had with her. A week after the casting, we did our first run through the show(these camps put shows together in 9 days). As our Ariel started her scene, suddenly she gave us more facials and showed more character. She started singing and I already noticed a huge improvement in her voice, actions, facials, etc. When we got to the climax of the song I honestly starting crying. From this little unexperienced 11-year-old came such a beautiful and powerful voice, it was unlike any other singer had ever sang this song. I'm seriously proud of her, this is going to be a good show.

[andrewvickers]

3:29 - Kermit the Frog also appears in that scene in the movie as well

[paulafer]

"The Little Mermaid is as close as perfect as it gets" FINALLY! All of my friends bugg me about how much i love the little mermaid, BUT FINALLY SOMEONE THINKS THE SAME WAY I DO (Freakin awsome movie)

[angelofmusic]

LOL. I knew that Ursula was Triton's sister even when I was a kid! I mean "When I lived in the palace..." Isn't that a pretty big hint that screams (at least to me) "HEY! I WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO HAVE FEASTS WHICH MUST MEAN I'M RELATED TO A KING!! oh hey, Triton's a king now so i must've been related to him somehow.... sister? About the same age... yeah, that works." XD

[violentvixen]

actually, the red hair was only because it was far easier to shade under the sea. Blonde was originally considered, but when you put in shadows on yellow, you get a gross green. But red is striking through all the shading and lighting so it stuck.

[vys]

Omg!! Areil has always been my fave princess And my fave Disney movie is THE LITTLE MERMAID!!!! Love it♥♥♥!!!