"The Little Mermaid" was produced by Golden Films in the year 1993 and was distributed by Goodtimes Entertainment and other companies worldwide. The story is based on the popular fairy tale, "The Little Sea-Maid" by the famous Danish story-teller Hans Christian Andersen. The story begins when Lena, a little mermaid princess, daughter of the sea-king, is eagerly awaiting her birthday celebration taking place that same evening. Lena is a carefree and fun-loving creature, who's official royal pet and best friend is Bink, a dolphin who often finds it hard to keep secrets. Lena dreams of one day marrying a handsome human prince and go live with him in the "above world" away from the sea. She is enjoying a dance with a statue when Bink reminds her that if she doesn't hurry she'll be late for her party. Far away, Cassandra, the sea-witch feared by all the young
mermaids, is watching Lena and her friend Bink and soon makes plans of fulfilling the princess' dreams of visiting the above world. As Lena and Bink swim off the the palace for the celebration, they are interrupted by a great whirlpool that grabs hold of them and carries them both up to the sea's surface. Lena is marvelled as she sees a great big ship float by filled with humans which happen to be celebrating the birthday party of the handsome prince aboard, the prince Stefan. Lena asks Bink to return to the palace and tell her father that she'd be there shortly so she can spend some time watching the prince at his party. Unfortunately, shortly after the magnificent fireworks that take Lena's breath away, a great big storm starts forming out at sea. The ship's captain calls for all sailors to prepare to outrun the storm. However, the storm is faster than they are and the ship soon finds itself in mortal peril as it begins to sink. Lena watches as Prince Stefan sinks beneath the waters and immediately swims to his aid. Lena ties the prince and his faithful companion Cosgrove to a floating mast and carries them both off to an island where she hopes they'll be rescued by a group of students from an all-girls school near the beach. From that day, Lena remembers the Prince Stefan and falls in love with him, hoping to one day see him again and perpaps become his wife. Lena makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to pay for Cassandra's services which give her legs to walk on the land, but the sea-witch warns her that if Prince Stefan were to marry someone else, she would then be turned into sea foam on his wedding day.
The story of "The Little Mermaid" has been adapted many times, but I've always chosen this over most other versions. It does have weaker animation quality, just like "Thumbelina" released on the same year, but at the same time, it tells another wonderful story. It does change the original story's ending in order to make it less tragic, but unlike in the Disney version, that ultimate sacrifice is an ever-lasting one, so in a way, it makes up for the change many critics and fans of the original Andersen tale may find disappointing. The characters are likeable; Lena is carefree, sweet and just plain adorable. The other characters all play their roles beautifully as well. Like all other Golden Films productions, "The Little Mermaid" features a great deal of classical compositions, especially Mussorgsky's "Promenade: Gnomus", which is heard numerous times throughout the film, becoming almost a recurring theme. All of the classical pieces are nicely chosen to caress the different films; a favorite one, "Ave Marķa" plays during the most touching moments in the movie. The opening song, "The World Above" is also really pleasant to listen to, it isn't really long, hardly over a minute, but it is memorable and well-written. Overall, fans of Disney's The Little Mermaid may be a bit disappointed with this version, but I surely wasn't. The film, despite its weaker animation, has high story and character values and that's really more important to me in the end. Highly recommended!
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Thanks for letting me know you've updated this. Re-rated for you.
Soho_Black 27.11.2007 13:47
I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD features. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
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