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Ultimately, his focus shifted to the written word, and storytelling in particular. A friend once confided in Andersen that to pen a fairy tale was to ensure immortality, and thus began the career of a man who is now considered to be one of the greatest storytellers of modern history. But as all good writers seem to realize, the best way to tell a story is to put a little of yourself into it, and with this is mind, Hans Christian Andersen put pen to paper and produced a story of longing, a story of dreaming and a story of changing the course of one’s own fate. This story was called “The Little Mermaid”. When Walt Disney first decided to work this tale into an animated short in the late 1930’s, he was less concerned with staying 100% true to the telling and more concerned with developing what could become another piece of Disney magic...a story to delight audiences and last for generations to come. The original written work was surprisingly poignant and emotional, and does not end with what modern readers would feel is a “happy ending”; and it surprises me that of all the parts of the story, it was this morose ending that Walt wanted to stay fairly close to. But the project was shelved, and would lay dormant with no beginning, middle OR ending until the 1980’s. As is explained in the 45 minute documentary-style featurette, “Treasures Untold”, the 80’s were a turbulent time for the Walt Disney Studios...so turbulent in fact, that the company was actually considering scrapping the entire animation side of their business. While unthinkable before that time, and just as unbelievable now, Disney almost ceased to make animated films completely. Something needed to be done...something needed to save the studio. First up were management changes, followed by new animation talent, followed by a new project. The odd thing was, nearly all of these additions were fresh and unfamiliar with their respective roles! Directors that had never directed, writers who hadn’t written for this format, animators brought in from outside the Disney company, a composer who had never scored a film, and so on and so on. Even the story of The Little Mermaid was brought to the front after a trip to a bookstore, completely without knowledge that Walt had tucked away in his vaults the beginning of a project based on the same tale. But as tends to happen when these mixed-bags are thrown together, there were sparks...actually, in this case it was fireworks! The project became a passion, the passion became a crusade and the crusade became one of the most beloved Disney stories of all time; the story of a little mermaid girl who falls in love with a human prince and would do anything to be with him...including losing her beautiful voice and very nearly her life. We all remember the delightful crab Sebastian leading his underwater orchestra in the rousing Caribbean-inspired number, “Under The Sea”, and Ariel singing her heart out in “Part Of Your World” about how badly she wants to join the world of her love-from-afar. You surely remember the waves crashing heavily on the side of the prince’s ship during a blinding storm that eventually sends his vessel to the bottom of the sea, and I’ll wager you have fond memories of Ariel’s first awkward moments on two-legs! And of course...Ursela! Need I say more? But what does need to be said about this new two-disc release of The Little Mermaid, is that you have never seen a single frame of it looking this fantastic or sounding this vibrant! Thanks to an all new digital restoration of this timeless classic, the animation is simple exuberant and the sound is crystal clear and sparkling. There have been many a claim throughout the history of DVD regarding “new”, “remastered”, “digital transformation”, “restored”, etc etc...but I can assure you that on this Platinum Edition release of The Little Mermaid, you really CAN see and hear the difference immediately! All it takes is a quick look at the included trailer to see just how much life can be restored into these classic Disney releases through the all new magic of the digital age; and to see it applied to a film SO beloved and a re-release SO looked forward to, by so many, for so long, is a special treat. But a snazzy picture and delightful tunes aren’t the only reason to pick this one up! There is a variety of special features that are all worth checking out... Amongst the bonus materials are a few stand-bys for a release of this type: never before seen deleted scenes, a brand new music video for “Kiss The Girl” as performed by Ashley Tisdale, and a sneak peak at the upcoming DVD release of The Little Mermaid III. But this release took things a step or two...or even THREE, further! There is an exclusive animated short called The Little Match Girl, a DisneyPedia option which provides an interesting look into a real under sea world and the creatures living there which inspired those in The Little Mermaid. “Treasures Untold: The Making Of Disney’s The Little Mermaid” is a 45 minute featurette which tells the entire history of the film, from its conceptions as a fairy tale, to its early Disney translation, to its role in the Disney company’s history, to its eventual success at theatres and with home audiences. The sheer amount of information provided here is a delight to see and the excitement of the interviewed personalities from the film’s production is contagious. But this excitement pales in comparison with that of some Imagineers and some animators known as the special effects unit. In the first of two featurettes we are introduced to the animators who do all the work that ISN’T character related...which in The Little Mermaid is a lot of animation! These are the folks who animate the water, the wind, the rain, the bubbles, the trees and anything else that moves and isn’t a main character. These fellas are brought back together after 17 years to watch the film and reminisce about the trials and tribulations as well as the joys of working on one of Disney’s most adored works. A second set of extras introduces us to a group of Disneyland park Imagineers who worked very hard on an attraction based on the movie. Years were devoted to the story, design and construction of this ride, but unfortunately for you and I, it was never developed. In an unprecedented extra feature, Disney has put this ride together in a computer simulated virtual reality and is allowing us, AND the Imagineers, to ride through it for the first time ever! This feature is VERY cool and not only takes you on the ride through, but allows you to join with the very people whose designs it was based on as they travel through for a first ride. BIG kudos to DisneyDVD for this feature and BIG hopes that they continue this sort of above-and-beyond thinking with future extras! All of this and more is yours when you pick up this release; a release that you already KNOW you want! Come on and face it...you know you loved this film and you know you want to show it to the members of your family who may not have seen it yet. There has never been a better time for anyone to gather around the TV and take in what is arguably one of our generations best animated features! -aaron-
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