THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989) **1/2 What a genius! How can anyone make a seagull look so much like Buddy Hackett!?! This film is a favorite of all my girls, and the unexpected thing is that it's stuck with them, more than similar films like Cinderella and Pocahantas . Upon analyzing this phenomenon, all three heroines are apparent teenagers but only Little Ariel is imperfect, as are most human teenagers. In fact by blindly following her passion for the world outside her realm (and ignoring the orders of her father! oh, shame), Little Ariel creates a colossal mess. But Little Ariel, like the best of the teenage world, recognizes the problems she's caused (without denying the glorious impulses and instincts that brought them on) and is going to do something about it, dammit! Even if she can't. So it's a children's film for teenagers, then? Something like that. And a good one.
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