When Disney's "The Little Mermaid" debuted in U.S. theaters on Nov. 17, 1989, the film's composer Alan Menken knew it was no run-of-the-mill kid movie.
"I knew it was special," Menken told HNGN.com in an exclusive interview.
With two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes and millions in ticket and video sales to its name - not to mention an equivalent return on merchandising through the years - "The Little Mermaid" continues to reassert its place as the movie that saved Disney's film studios and also reignited an interest in movie musicals that's continued right up to last year's smash hit "Frozen."
Written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the instant classic about a mermaid princess named Ariel who longs to be human, "was a kind of a revelation because the music was so good and the writing was so good," movie critic and author Marshall Fine told HNGN. "Those are really the two key elements that revived Disney in the late '80s and early '90s."
A hit was a much sought-after and welcome change for Disney's animation studios, which had been experiencing an epic dry spell.
"They sort of lost their way after Walt Disney died" in 1966, Fine said. The animation department saw flop after flop, including movies like "The Black Cauldron," which made only $4 million the weekend it opened in July 1985 - less than the $5 million grossed by an "E.T." re-release.
Menken knew the movie, based on a fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, was special. But even he could not anticipate the film's fallout: Broadway shows, toys, Halloween costumes, party favors and even "The Little Mermaid"-themed weddings.
"It was hard for me to anticipate how much resonance it would have in the world," said Menken, who currently has a fairytale comedy in the works with ABC named "Galavant."
The franchise also launched two sequels, one in 2000 about Ariel's daughter and a 2008 prequel named "Ariel's Beginning," and it also morphed into a TV series. Jodi Benson was the voice of Ariel in each of the movies and even now she says she is still very much committed to the role.
Benson told USA Today last year that every time she belts out "Part of Your World," she flashes back to the very first time she recorded it with Ashman.
"It's just as special to me as the first time," she said.
The film's fans - current ones and those from generations yet to come - certainly agree.
