The Little Mermaid (film)

The Little Mermaid is a Disney animated feature adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The film was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and first released on November 15, 1989 by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. Grossing over $80 million domestically, this movie is given credit for breathing life back into the animated movie genre after a string of critical and commercial failures (The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective), signaling the start of a decade-long period of successful Disney movies.

Controversy

Ever since its initial release, The Little Mermaid has been at the center of controversy regarding the subliminal sexual content in the film. It was said that on an early promotional poster and video cover, one of the castle spires had a striking resemblance to a phallus, or penis. The spire in question did in fact look as described, but the inclusion of such a design was later reported to have been placed there by a disgruntled employee; something found to be displeasing to most Disney fans. Later promotional posters and video/dvd covers have ben re-designed to exclude this content.

Related Topics:
The Little Mermaid - Phallus - Penis

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Also on another issue, it was said that the priest performing the wedding between Eric and Vanessa (Ursula in disguise), was suddenly exibiting a very obvious penile erection. Although at first glance it seems that way, it can clearly be seen in the film that the alleged erection is actually the priest's bony knee poking through his robe. Nevertheless, The Walt Disney Company has been in the recent years the subject of attacks and even boycotts regerding not only this film, but others such as The Rescuers, Aladdin, and The Lion King, which have been accused of containing similar sexual references.

Related Topics:
The Walt Disney Company - The Rescuers - Aladdin - The Lion King

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These two issues have also been regarded as being urban legends about The Little Mermaid. The following two links lead to a site that explains those legends with more detail:

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• A phallus was drawn on the video cover for the movie by a disgruntled artist.
• A minister becomes aroused during the wedding scene in the movie.
• After Ariel is turned into a human by Ursula in her cave you can see her outline and she is obviously naked.
• More generally, despite being a traditional, if more subdued, depiction of a mermaid, some parents were upset over Ariel's lack of clothing.