The Little Mermaid (Fully Restored Special Edition) (Disney's Masterpiece)

"The Little Mermaid" is scheduled for an October 2005 release on DVD. In 2001, Disney launched a 'Platinum Edition' line which includes their 10 best-selling titles on video to go on DVD. Every one of these films, comes as a 2-disc set featuring 'making-of's and commentaries from the talents who worked on the movie. Needless to say it would also include a highly enhanced version of the film (and sometimes even newly added sequences, such as is the case with "Beauty and the Beast" & "The Lion King"). On the 1999 DVD release of "The Little Mermaid", Disney did only little in restoring the film's look; this time, there's much more to look forward to. Disney gives each one of the films a deluxe treatment, especially in the visual and sound departments.
'Til then, sit back and enjoy the film as it is: charming, innovative, and most of all - fun.


Good if you don't mind minor edits   October 28, 2006
Dark Helmet (Seattle, WA)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful

Finally got around to watching this last night. In this review I'm not going to bother to review the movie itself. It's seventeen years old. I'm sure if you are interested in it you've seen it by now. Rather, I'm going to review the technical quality of the film and the extras provided on the DVD. One thing that feel I should point out up front is that the movie HAS been edited, but only in one scene. The infamous 'clergyman sporting an erection' that caused such a stupid flundie flap has been photoshopped. The theatrical poster artwork is not on the cover or anywhere on the disc for a similar reason. You can find out more by going to Snopes and looking in the Disney films section. I personally don't care, but some people do. Now, on to the review.

This version is widescreen, but it's 16:9 widescreen and not theatrical widescreen, but this has been the case in pretty much all the Disney movie DVDs so no surprises there. The Little Mermaid was the next to last movie Disney did using painted cels, and the film has gone through some kind of digital restoration process. There are comparison shots on the back of the DVD box that show the difference. The colors are very vibrant, and I didn't notice any problems with the encoding or animation. There is support for surround sound and audio tracks in English, French, and Spanish.

It's a two disk set. Disc one has the movie, the configuration options (subtitles, commentary, language ect), a music video of the song 'Kiss the Girl' by someone I've never heard of, a bunch of previews that will be outdated in a few months, and a preview of what's on disc 2. On the box it touts something called Fast Play, which basically means when you load it in, after the standard FBI warnings and all that, the disc gives you the option of immediately starting the movie or going to the menu with the stuff I just mentioned. If you choose to start the movie directly, it plays a bunch of previews that you can skip past using chapter forward on your remote, if you go to the menu and pick play movie, it starts right away. You're actually not forced to sit through ten minutes of BS previews with no way to skip them like on some of the previous Disney DVDs. I approve.

The majority of the extras are on disc 2. It's broken up into three major sections: Backstage Disney, Deleted Scenes, and Games. Backstage Disney is the largest section. It has scads of concept art (imagine Ursula as a lionfish or manta ray instead of an octopus), a videos on how the movie was made, and a new animated short, The Little Match Girl. A silent film with a musical background and is amazingly enough, actually true to the story. It's pretty well done, IMHO. Deleted scenes is just that, stuff that was cut. There really isn't much. Only three selections, and two of them are just pieces that were cut from scenes that did make it in. There's an expanded version of the opening song, a very short scene where Triton's daughters tell Sebastian that Ariel isn't at the recital before it starts, and an extra verse in Ursula's song. All of these were cut before the final animation was done, and so as you watch it switches back and forth between storyboard still shots and very rough sketchy animation. The games I didn't even bother with, because has there ever been a DVD player game that hasn't totally sucked? Didn't think so.

Overall, it's going to boil down to how much you like the movie, and how much you hate minor edits. If not seeing Jessica Rabbit with no underwear for three frames bothered you, then this DVD is not for you. Otherwise, it is a comprehensive look at the movie that marked the beginning of Disney's second golden age.

I give it 9 out of 10 voice containing seashells.