History WesternAnimation / TheLittleMermaid1989

Its success led to a [[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid franchise]] that has seen two direct-to-video follow-ups (a [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea sequel]] and a [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning prequel]]), a [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992 prequel TV series]] and a [[Theatre/TheLittleMermaid successful Broadway musical]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/little_mermaid_ver1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Tagline}} Somewhere under the sea and beyond your imagination is an adventure in fantasy.]]'']]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/littlemermaidposter.png]]

A live telecast on ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' was announced in 2016 but was shelved, then revived in summer 2019 and broadcast on November 5 that same year, to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary. The live version was a hybrid, combining live performances with the original film (songs were taken from both the movie and the Broadway version), and starred Creator/AuliiCravalho as Ariel, Music/QueenLatifah as Ursula, Shaggy as Sebastian, Creator/JohnStamos as Chef Louie, Amber Riley as the emcee for Sebastian's concert at the beginning, and Graham Philips as Eric, with Creator/JodiBenson appearing at the beginning and end of the special; in addition, Flounder, Flotsam, and Jetsam were depicted using puppets, and Max was portrayed by a real sheepdog named Bagel.

The film's critical and commercial success was considered a huge turning point for both Disney and WesternAnimation as a whole. Since the rise of home television in TheFifties, animation in the Anglosphere had gone through a rather ugly [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeofAnimation dark age]] marked by severely reduced budgets and the rise of the AnimationAgeGhetto, leading to a glut of low-quality animated films and TV shows which was meant to pander to child audiences and sell merchandise. Additionally, Disney had spent the better part of TheSeventies and TheEighties licking the wounds of Walt Disney's death in 1966, and while the films they put out after ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' and before this one are still well-loved among fans and critics, both groups generally agree that they mark a commercial and artistic slump for the House of Mouse between 1968 and 1988, culminating in the infamous and near-FranchiseKiller flop of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985. But after ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' were enough of a financial success to convince Disney to continue production on ''The Little Mermaid'', however, all of that changed.

The film's critical and commercial success was considered a huge turning point for both Disney and WesternAnimation as a whole. Since the rise of home television in TheFifties, animation in the Anglosphere had gone through a rather ugly [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeofAnimation dark age]] marked by severely reduced budgets and the rise of the AnimationAgeGhetto, leading to a glut of low-quality animated films and TV shows meant to pander to child audiences and sell merchandise. Additionally, Disney had spent the better part of the '70s and 80's licking the wounds of Walt Disney's death in 1966, and while the films they put out after ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' and before this one are still well-loved among fans and critics, both groups generally agree that they mark a commercial and artistic slump for the House of Mouse between 1968 and 1988, culminating in the infamous and near-FranchiseKiller flop of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985. But after ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' were enough of a financial success to convince Disney to continue production on ''The Little Mermaid'', however, all of that changed.

The film's critical and commercial success was considered a huge turning point for both Disney and WesternAnimation as a whole. Since the rise of home television in the 1950s, animation in the Anglosphere had gone through a rather ugly [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeofAnimation dark age]] marked by severely reduced budgets and the rise of the AnimationAgeGhetto, leading to a glut of low-quality animated films and TV shows meant to pander to child audiences and sell merchandise. Additionally, Disney had spent the better part of the '70s and 80's licking the wounds of Walt Disney's death in 1966, and while the films they put out after ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' and before this one are still well-loved among fans and critics, both groups generally agree that they mark a commercial and artistic slump for the House of Mouse between 1968 and 1988, culminating in the infamous and near-FranchiseKiller flop of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985. But after ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' were enough of a financial success to convince Disney to continue production on ''The Little Mermaid'', however, all of that changed.

The film's critical and commercial success was considered a huge turning point for both Disney and WesternAnimation as a whole. Since the rise of home television in the 1950s, animation in the Anglosphere had gone through a rather ugly [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeofAnimation dark age]] marked by severely reduced budgets and the rise of the AnimationAgeGhetto, leading to a glut of low-quality animated films and TV shows meant to pander to child audiences and sell merchandise. Additionally, Disney had spent the better part of the '70s and 80's licking the wounds of Walt Disney's death in 1966, and while the films they put out after ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967'' and before this one are still well-loved among fans and critics, both groups generally agree that they mark a commercial and artistic slump for the House of Mouse between 1968 and 1988, culminating in the infamous and near-CareerKiller flop of ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985. But after ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' were enough of a financial success to convince Disney to continue production on ''The Little Mermaid'', however, all of that changed.

A [[Film/TheLittleMermaid2023 live-action remake]] was released in 2023, with Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'', ''Film/IntoTheWoods''; ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'') at the helm and Music/AlanMenken returning as a composer and writing new songs alongside Creator/LinManuelMiranda, who is co-producing the film with Marc Platt. R&B singer Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel, with Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Creator/JavierBardem as King Triton, Creator/MelissaMcCarthy as Ursula, Creator/{{Awkwafina}} as Scuttle, and Creator/JacobTremblay as Flounder.

A [[Film/TheLittleMermaid2023 live-action remake]] is set for release in 2023, with Rob Marshall (''Film/{{Chicago}}'', ''Film/IntoTheWoods''; ''Film/MaryPoppinsReturns'') at the helm and Music/AlanMenken returning as a composer and writing new songs alongside Creator/LinManuelMiranda, who is co-producing the film with Marc Platt. R&B singer Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel, with Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Creator/JavierBardem as King Triton, Creator/MelissaMcCarthy as Ursula, Creator/{{Awkwafina}} as Scuttle, and Creator/JacobTremblay as Flounder.

In 2022, it was selected in UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for preservation as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".

->''I don't know when\\

Part of your world!''