La sirenetta

Original title: The Little Mermaid Characters: Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian, Flounder, Ursula, King Triton, Scuttle, Flotsam and Jetsam, Grimsby, Max, Chef Louis, Carlotta, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella and Alana Production: Walt Disney Studios Regia: Ron Clements, John Musker Author: Hans Christian Andersen

Country: USA Year: 1989 Gender: Tale Episodes: 1 Duration: 83 minutes Recommended age: Movies for all ages

Walt Disney's animated film, The Little Mermaid (The Little Mermaid in the American original) was released in theaters in December 1989 and represents the rebirth of Disney classics after the dark period of the 80s. Thanks to this resounding success ( about 210 million dollars collected), the production of the same lucky number of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Pochahontas and so on began. The animated feature film The Little Mermaid is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, although its ending and many parts of the original story are twisted. The idea for the realization of the fairy tale already came to Disney himself in 1941 and a screenplay and some drawings were written by Kay Nielsen, who illustrated some scenes of the storm. The sad ending of the fairy tale discouraged the production of the film which was set aside to make room for other projects. At the end of the 80s it was taken over by Michaeal Eisner and Roy Edward Disney, who under the direction of John Musker and Alan Menken decided to make a version suitable for the Disney style with a happy ending, which would highlight good feelings. The focus was on characterization of the characters and in particular on the soundtrack, which transforms the animated film into a real musical, so much so that the songs Kiss the girl ("Baciala") and Under the sea ("In fondo al mar ") in 1990, they won the Academy Award for Best Song.
The story has as its protagonist the young Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid, daughter of the powerful sea king Neptune. Ariel is beautiful and gifted with a splendid voice, but she does not respect the rules of the court, which would like her to perform in front of the audience of the deep sea. This sends his music teacher Sebastian into despair, a small red crab, faithful right hand of Neptune who would like to take care of the young princess's vocal talent more. Ariel is a curious girl and is fascinated by human beings, which she sees passing by with her huge sailing ships. Together with the cute little yellow fish Flounder, he goes in search of artifacts from ships, which he collects inside a cave. To understand the use of these artifacts, such as a fork or a pipe, he asks the seagull Scuttle for explanations, but he gives completely personal interpretations. One day Ariel sees a ship pass by and intrigued by the lights of the celebrations, she notices the beautiful Prince Eric, with whom she falls in love. Unfortunately, however, a violent storm arrives that sends the ship's crew into difficulty and Eric himself ends up in the sea, overwhelmed by the waves. He is saved by the Little Mermaid, who brings him back to shore and awakens him with her sweet melodious song, and then returns to the sea. When Eric regains consciousness, he no longer finds his savior, but he remembers the voice he falls in love with and swears to himself that one day he will marry that woman. King Neptune, seeing the strange behavior of his daughter in love, instructs Sebastian to supervise her and discovers that Ariel has had contact with the world of men, his hated enemies of all time, as marauders of the sea. In a fit of anger, he destroys all of Ariel's collected items inside the cave and forbids her to go up to the surface. Distraught Ariel, is deceived by the evil Ursula, the witch of the seas who promises to transform her into a human being with lots of legs, in exchange for her magnificent voice. Ariel will have three days to make the prince fall in love and kiss him, otherwise Ursula will have the same life as the young mermaid. Ariel accepts and signs a contract, but feels happy as she is turned into a girl, even though her legs are a little weak at first. On the beach he meets Eric, but he no longer has his voice and although the prince is attracted to that beautiful girl, he does not recognize her as his savior. However Ariel and Eric, come to touch the first kiss, thanks to a melodious song sung by the crab Sebastian, who now follows her everywhere. The witch Ursula, fearing not to carry out her evil project, decides to transform herself into a beautiful woman and use Ariel's voice to make Prince Eric fall in love. So it happens and Eric, under Ursula's hypnosis, decides to get married, sending Ariel into despair. The seagull Scuttle discovers the deception and together with his friends birds and fish, glides during the wedding celebration, destroying the marriage. But meanwhile the sun of the third day has already set and Ariel belongs forever to the witch Ursula, who turns her back into a mermaid and brings her back to the depths of the sea. The intervention of King Neptune can do nothing against the contract of Ursula, who holds Ariel's life in hand, so she decides to offer herself in exchange for her daughter and give her kingdom to the witch. Ursula becomes extraordinarily powerful and transforms into a gigantic monster, but the brave prince Eric confronts her and defeats her by his ship. King Neptune is finally free and to reward his daughter, he definitively transforms Ariel into a beautiful human girl, who can finally marry her beloved prince Eric, even if the price will be to separate from her.

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