MickeyBlog fans, listen to me, the human world, it’s a mess. This trivia under the sea is better than anything they got up there. Dive into this treasure trove of facts about ‘The Little Mermaid’.

Ariel as a blonde?

Originally, Ariel was to have blonde hair. However, with the release of the movie “Splash”, a film about a blonde mermaid, Disney animators needed to differentiate themselves. They decided on Ariel’s, now iconic, red hair. Which worked well, the color of her red hair paired nicely with the color of the scales on her mermaid tail.

Ariel’s Sisters

Ariel has 6 older sisters, all of which have names that start with the letter ‘A’. Atina’s name was inspired by the musical “Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy”. Alana was a lyrical nod to Alan Menken, who composed the score for the film. Another sister was named after one of the director’s aerobics instructor, Andrina.

“Part of Your World” was almost cut?

Look at this fact, isn’t it neat? After the first screening of ‘The Little Mermaid’, executive producer, Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to cut the song “Part of Your World.” from the film. It is a good thing it wasn’t removed; the song is one of the most memorable songs in Disney animation. Now, he regrets almost erasing that song from the movie and admits that it’s an embarrassing story.

Uninvited Guests

Some unexpected guests make an appearance during the opening celebration. Hiding in the crowd is Kermit the Frog, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. See if you can spot them as King Triton makes his royal entrance.

Ariel’s Daughter

Ariel is the only Disney princess to become a mother. In the direct-to-video sequel, “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea”, she and Prince Eric have a daughter named Melody. Her daughter dreams about swimming in the ocean and is briefly transformed into a mermaid.

Glut the Shark

The shark that chases Ariel and Flounder in the opening scene has a name, although it’s never mentioned in the film. His name was Glut and it was originally planned that he would return later in the film for another fight, only to be defeated by Flounder. In order to simplify the story, the scene was cut, robbing Flounder of his moment of glory.

Prince Eric’s Crew

Some of the sailors on Prince Eric’s ship are caricatures of crew members who worked on the animated feature. Reportedly, one of the men dancing is drawn in the likeness of Razoul Azadani, who has previously worked with Ron Clements and John Musker.

Clarence the British Crab?

While the film was still in development, there was a character named Clarence who was stuffy English butler crab. Howard Ashman suggested changing the crustacean to Jamaican. This idea influenced the evolution from Clarence to Sebastian and inspired the calypso vibe of the song, “Under the Sea”.

Studying Scenes from Pinocchio

The animators studied scenes involving Monstro, the giant whale from Pinocchio, when animating the shipwreck scene and Ursula’s emergence from the sea. Talk about attention to detail.

Ursula’s Original Designs

In the original character designs, Ursula was portrayed as a spinefish or a scorpion fish with lots of spikes and spines. And contrary to popular belief, Ursula is not an octopus, because she has six tentacles

Bea Arthur was almost Ursula.

The role of Ursula was initially offered to Bea Arthur, our favorite Golden Girl. After Arthur declined the part, Elaine Stritch was cast as Ursula. But when Stritch had problems working with Howard Ashman, she was eventually replaced with Pat Carroll.

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“My name is Victoria Prisco and I’m a writer from New York. Ever since I was little, I have been completely enchanted by the magic of Disney. And I’m still looking for that rabbit hole to Wonderland.”