Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

[cellarhound]

OK, I am not the only one that bought this...

First off, I would advise people to take a look at the trailers... here are my thoughts:

1. Meet the Robinsons is looking good... But it is suprisingly resembles a Disney Version of Jimmy Newtron... I like the integration of Space Mountain into the film... I am looking forward to it.

2. TinkerBelle... Why? Dear god? Why is Disney making this? When J. M. Barrie made this character in 1904, he created the character with something very specific in mind... Something that speaks to adults in a way that flys over the head of children... (pun intended) The character is most definately attached to the character of Peter Pan... It is pshycological device... If you separate them, to do this secrite garden knock off with Enya-esque celticism, you really missed the point.

3. Platnum Edition of Peter Pan... Yay... In my opinion this is the greatest Disney Animated feature ever made.

4. Special Edition of Robin Hood... Yay... Not the best film, but I can't wait to see the special features - it should be your "Greatest Performance"...

5. Cinderella III... in a word.... :barf:

--------

Special features

You know, I am disappointed at how sparce this disk was on the Special Feature front... You went overboard packing it in on Aladdin...

I think anyone on this board should simpley because on disk 2 is the CGI version of the proposed Ride WDI made for the Little Mermaid... (Stealing a page from other websites who have done the same... That is flattery... It's nice to know you're paying attention!) You know there is still time to build this... you built Pinochio way after the fact... Little Mermaid is way more popular than Pinochio...

No games?

The Back Stage was fantastic... I was not surprised at how involved Ashman was on the project, because many of the songs are very simular to those in Little Shop of Horrors ("Part of Your World" and "Somewhere Thats Green" always reminded me of eachother.)

It also begs the question of, "Why Disney Feature Animation ditched the Integrated Musical concept?"

I want to know how you guys got Katz to agree to be interviewed...

And watching Back Stage only wants me to see a fully restored Director's Cut of the Black Cauldron more - even with all its violence... If Disney artists worked over 10 years on that film... I wanna see it, for the sake of the ART of animation, as it was originally intended to be seen... Not because Katz thought it was a better film edited... But because it is art... Is it too much to ask?

------

The film:

Still works for me...

[Dr. Shrinker]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

5. Cinderella III... in a word.... :barf:

I had never heard of a Cinderella II...and I bought Cinderella last year! Also, there's a trailer for Little Mermaid III....again, never heard of a part II (not that I let my daughter buy ANY of those crappy sequels).

You know, I am disappointed at how sparce this disk was on the Special Feature front... You went overboard packing it in on Aladdin...

I think anyone on this board should simpley because on disk 2 is the CGI version of the proposed Ride WDI made for the Little Mermaid... (Stealing a page from other websites who have done the same... That is flattery... It's nice to know you're paying attention!) You know there is still time to build this... you built Pinochio way after the fact... Little Mermaid is way more popular than Pinochio...

I completely agree. There was more interesting stuff for Snow White, a 75-year-old movie, than there was for a 17-year-old one.

The Back Stage was fantastic... I was not surprised at how involved Ashman was on the project, because many of the songs are very simular to those in Little Shop of Horrors ("Part of Your World" and "Somewhere Thats Green" always reminded me of eachother.)

Yes!
I noticed that too! In fact, I was annoying the hell out of my daughter by belting out "Somewhere That's Green" during the chorus of "World"...but it's still a great song. I believe someday Menken (sp?) and Ashman will be seen as the Rogers & Hammerstein of the latter-day musical: the Disney films, Little Shop, even South Park!

[kcnole]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

The ride through was fantastic, I wish they'd make a dvd of ride through's like that of all the rides that have been removed from the park. I'd pay a lot of money for professional ride throughs of Mr. Toad, 20k, If You Had Wings, Mission to Mars, Horizons, World of Motion, etc....

I was a little disapointed in the deleted scenes section because I was expecting more than just black and white drawings with voiceovers, but they were interesting.

The movie is still great and the updated artwork was fantastic. I had the same reaction to Cinderella III. I never even knew they made a Cinderella II. There should be some law about making crappy sequels for great movies.

I am extremely excited about the Fox and the Hound coming out on Monday. That was my all time favorite movie as a kid. I SOOOOO cannot wait.

I'm a hound dog. WHOOOOOOOO

[DisneyMickey]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

Loved it! A nice addition to my collection. I really did enjoy the Making of the Little Mermaid. Not as much as Aladdin, but still very thourough.

[aimster]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

Also, there's a trailer for Little Mermaid III....again, never heard of a part II (not that I let my daughter buy ANY of those crappy sequels).

I saw Mermaid II on Disney Channel on a fluke a few years ago. It was... well kinda stupid. Ariel & Eric have a kid and name it Melody and Ursula's sister (?) comes and "curses" the kid so well you know what happens next. The animation was awful... looked like a Saturday morning cartoon, not feature quality animation.

[disneytim]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

1. Meet the Robinsons is looking good... But it is suprisingly resembles a Disney Version of Jimmy Newtron... I like the integration of Space Mountain into the film... I am looking forward to it.

I hear 'ya. I was thinking Jimmy Neutron Meets The Incredibles.

2. TinkerBelle... Why? Dear god? Why is Disney making this?

When the DVD was first announced, I was very skeptical. Britney Murphy? Oy Vey. However, after seeing the trailer, I'm suddenly intrigued. The animation appears to be a better quality than you'd expect from direct-to-video and the snippet of Murphy's voice as Tink sounds right. They got my attention enough to give it a shot.

3. Platnum Edition of Peter Pan... Yay... In my opinion this is the greatest Disney Animated feature ever made.

Not the greatest, but definitely in the top ten. I'd love to see a fully restored flight over London.

4. Special Edition of Robin Hood... Yay... Not the best film, but I can't wait to see the special features - it should be your "Greatest Performance"...

One of Disney's more underrated movies, post Walt. The animation was a little rough, but it had tight pacing, some good laughs and a clever song score by Roger Miller.

5. Cinderella III... in a word.... :barf:

Agreed :yuck:

--------

You know there is still time to build this... you built Pinochio way after the fact... Little Mermaid is way more popular than Pinochio...

I'm not to sure about that. Both are great films, but Pinocchio has stood the test of time for over 65 years. TLM just has more aggressive marketing.

I want to know how you guys got Katz to agree to be interviewed...

Welcome to the kinder, gentler (i.e. Eisner-less) Disney. Bob Iger has mended a lot of fences in a year. I'm sure Katzenberg was standing behind one of them.

And watching Back Stage only wants me to see a fully restored Director's Cut of the Black Cauldron more - even with all its violence... If Disney artists worked over 10 years on that film... I wanna see it, for the sake of the ART of animation, as it was originally intended to be seen... Not because Katz thought it was a better film edited... But because it is art... Is it too much to ask?

I think it would be interesting to see, but still a mess.

------

The film:

Still works for me...

Oh, hell yeah. :thumbup:

[sailerm]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

There should be some law about making crappy sequels for great movies.

There is. It's called the law of economics. If people stop buying the Cheap-quels, Disney will stop making them.

I do feel that as a Platnium Edition it's a little light in the bonus features (there is not even a game on it as bragged about on the box and menus), but the features that are there are top notch. Including a nice back story on Hans Christian Anderson,

One surprise that the "censored" Priest in the film, is "uncensored" in one clip on disc two.

Another great bonus that may go unnoticed by most is the inclusion of fully translated French and Spanish audio tracks, and how good Disney does in finding voices in other languages that match the originals so well, and how well they translated the song lyric. (Spanish was my first language)

[DisneyMickey]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

There is. It's called the law of economics. If people stop buying the Cheap-quels, Disney will stop making them.

I do feel that as a Platnium Edition it's a little light in the bonus features (there is not even a game on it as bragged about on the box and menus), but the features that are there are top notch. Including a nice back story on Hans Christian Anderson,

One surprise that the "censored" Priest in the film, is "uncensored" in one clip on disc two.

Agreed. And yes I did notice that little miss in editing on the second disc.

[Sosai X]

Re: Little Mermaid DVD Reviews

LM II: Return to the Sea was a bit weak, but it fits its target demographic: kids and tweens. Adults would find it a bit boorish. Cinderella II is the most ridiculous of the direct-to-DVD sequels. When the cat finds true love, I was done with it. Never bothered to finish it.