I last watched and reviewed The Little Mermaid six years ago when Disney last re-released their classic family film. My review, in which I called Ariel a “seashell-bikini-wearing vixen,” I believe was attempting to be funny but it just came off as creepy, especially in the #metoo age.
So now, with Disney having re-released The Little Mermaid yet again in a Multi-Screen Edition (or Anniversary Edition, it confusingly says both on the cover… oh and also “The Signature Collection” just to really add to the clutter), I’m revisiting the film yet ago, now married to a redhead who grew up idolizing Ariel and with a daughter who hopefully will grow up enjoying the movie while completely ignoring the underlying messages the story projects.
Fans of The Little Mermaid, if not already an owner of the movie on Blu-ray, should consider picking some version of the box set, which comes with DVD and digital copies as well. The box set come with over “3 hours of bonus,” an odd grammatical statement that is also crammed onto the cover, which is the same number of hours of bonus features the 2013 release boasted. Kids will enjoy a Sing-Along version of the movie.
The good news is that while the animation is a little rough around the edges by today’s standards (Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, released just a couple years later, are significantly more advanced), the movie still holds up extremely well.
The Little Mermaid is still very entertaining, even if the story is pretty straightforward and teaches little girls that it is OK to give up your family and entire way of life (not to mention your genetics) to be with a handsome rich guy. The music is terrific–I’d argue The Little Mermaid still has some of the most memorable and colorful songs of any Disney film–and when you pause the movie the Blu-ray actually switches to sing-along mode, even if you want to switch into kid mode one last time.
from FilmJabber Movie Blog https://ift.tt/2C0VKKp
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