Under the Sea
Greetings readers, and welcome to this week’s trivia post.
On November 17, 1989, Disney’s 28th full length feature animated film, The Little Mermaid, debuted in theaters and was received with critical acclaim. The Little Mermaid (1989) is credited with ringing in a new age in Disney animation, known as Disney’s Animation Renaissance.
The film’s plot follows a precocious young mermaid, named Ariel, whose adventurous spirit compels her to explore the human world. During a storm, Ariel has a chance encounter with an equally adventurous sea-fairing prince, whom she rescues from the waves. Ariel is taken with the prince and strikes a bargain with Ursula, the sea witch, for a pair of legs, and a chance at true love.
Ariel is accompanied on her quest, by her loyal side kicks Sebastian the crab, Scuttle the seagull and Flounder the fish.
Hmm, Teenagers. They think they know everything. You give them an inch, they swim all over you.
Sebastian, The Little Mermaid
Part of Your World
Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale of the same name, Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the first film in the Disney Animation Renaissance cannon.
After Walt Disney died in 1966, Disney animation began to wain in popularity and the quality of the films went into a subtle decline. The mid 1980s saw a resurgence within the company, and the premiere of The Little Mermaid marked the beginning of a new era in Disney animation.
The animated films released by Disney during this time period are: The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999)
Nine of the ten films in the Disney Animation Renaissance were nominated for Academy Awards, six of which won at least one Academy Award. Six of the films won Best Original Song and five won Best Original Score. The first five films won awards in both categories. The Disney Renaissance is also notable for the film Beauty and the Beast, it was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.
For more information on this period in Disney history, check out the documentary films, Waking Sleeping Beauty and the Howard Ashman documentary, Howard. Both films can be found on Disney Plus.
The Mysterious Fathoms Below
The Little Mermaid was originally planned as a vignette in one of Walt Disney's earliest feature films, a proposed package-film featuring a collection of Hans Christian Andersen tales. Walt Disney had intended to release the untitled Hans Christian Anderson project after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), but production was put on hold for various reasons.
A written treatment was also put together for Anderson’s fairy tale, The Snow Queen. The scripts and concept art for both vignettes were eventually shelved in favor of other projects. Walt Disney’s treatment of The Snow Queen would later be dusted off and re-imagined as Disney’s smash hit, Frozen (2013).
In 1986, The Great Mouse Detective (1986) co-director Ron Clements discovered a collection of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales while browsing a bookstore. Clements wrote his own treatment of The Little Mermaid and presented it to the Walt Disney Studio. The idea for film was green lit the next day by Walt Disney Studios executive Jeffrey Katzenberg.
When The Little Mermaid was in the early stages of production, the original treatment of the script was found, along with the studio’s original production art. Coincidentally, many of Walt’s changes to the original Little Mermaid story were similar to the changes made by Ron Clements in his updated version.
The original story did not have a happy ending. Walt Disney himself believed the original ending to Hans Christian Andersen's version to be too depressing and altered it.
In 1987, songwriter Howard Ashman became involved with The Little Mermaid. The film contains 10 original songs, including three reprises, with lyrics by Howard Ashman and a score by Alan Menken.
Best of luck with this week’s trivia, and the answers to the Salute to our Troops trivia questions are in the second half of the article.
Little Mermaid Trivia
1) Before King Triton asked him to watch over Ariel, what job did Sebastian the crab have in King Triton’s royal court?
A) court composer B) court jester C) dancing instructor D) court advisor
2) Finish the spell Ursula uses to transform Ariel into a human.
“Beluga sevruga
Come winds of the _______ Sea
Larengix glaucitis
Et max laryngitis
La voce to me”Ursula, “Poor Unfortunate Souls”
A) Red B) Caspian C) Aegean D) Caribbean
3) Scuttle the seagull helps Ariel identify human objects she retrieves from the ocean floor. Which human object does Scuttle call a snarfblatt?
Scuttle: This... I haven't in years. This is wonderful!
Ariel: What is it?
Scuttle: A banded, bulbous snarfblatt.
Ariel, Flounder: Oh.
A) bag pipes B) a wig C) a pipe D) a spyglass
4) Which song from The Little Mermaid won an Academy Award for best original song?
A) Kiss the Girl B) Under the Sea C) Poor Unfortunate Souls D) Le Poissons
5) What name did Ursula the sea witch take when she transformed into a human?
A) Caroline B) Cossette C) Antoinette D) Vanessa
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Veterans Day Trivia
1) Which branch of service did Walt Disney serve in from 1918-1919?
A) US Navy B) US Army C) Red Cross D) Military Press Corps
2) The US Military’s Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program (MWR), owns and operates a golf themed resort on Disney property, near Orlando, FL. Located near the Magic Kingdom theme park, what is the name of the military owned and operated resort?
A) The Wilderness Lodge B) Shades of Green C) The Magnolia Golf Resort D) Bay Lake Tower
3) In the Soarin’ over California attraction, which military aviation team makes a fly-by in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park?
A) the Army Elite Apache Longbow Squadron B) the Air Force Thunderbirds C) the Navy Blue Angels D) the Howling Commandos
4) In December of 1941, the US Army briefly occupied the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA, to protect which military asset?
A) a nearby Lockheed facility B) Los Angeles Air Force Base C) San Diego Naval Base D) Disneyland
5) In 1942, which Disney character was ‘drafted’ into the US Army and starred in a series of war time propaganda films?
A) Mickey Mouse B) Donald Duck C) Goofy D) Pluto
Bonus:
In what year did Prince Harry’s Invictus Games take place at the Walt Disney World Resort?
A) 2016 B) 2017 C) 2018 D) 2019
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Stay optimistic, and see you real soon!
Sincerely,
Harper