Films are something that we all look towards for escapism – the action, the humour, the romance, the animation. Sometimes these can hold so much more meaning then just an image on a screen and create narratives and memories in our own lives. Welcome to the sister article to Music Memories where we take a look at some of these personal stories attached to films.

Film: The Little Mermaid
Original Release Date: 1989

If there was one film that as around in my early childhood then it is The Little Mermaid. I don’t know how old I was when I first saw it but I had an Ariel and Eric pair of dolls so I assume very young (Eric ended up losing one of his legs very early on so I only remember him having one leg!).

It is one of those films that I always adored – so much so I have always cried at the ending (my friends made me watch it at university and guess what I cried again – embarrassing!). I even cried when the VHS broke!

I don’t know why I liked it so much. I think the music has a lot to do with it as well. I think it was things such as the fork as a hairbrush, Sebastian, the seagull and things like that made it a good film. I wasn’t really a fan of Ursula or even part of the story.

I haven’t seen the film in years. I am not a fan of the live action films so I haven’t made any effort to see the new one – I saw a clip of it over the summer as the open air cinema in Kings Cross was playing it but was not really paying attention.

It is one of those films I suppose links to my childhood and when I do have a chance to see it I don’t because I am not in that place anymore but I know that film had a huge impact on me growing up.

Facts about The Little Mermaid

• In the opening scene when King Triton arrives at the arena, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and Kermit the Frog can be briefly seen in the crowd of sea-people as mermen when he passes over them.
• Originally, Sebastian was to have an English accent.
• Ariel is the first Disney princess to have biological siblings
• This is the movie that brought Disney into its renaissance era in 1989, after repeated defeats at the box office.
• This was the first Disney film to receive an Academy Award since Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), though other films had been nominated.