See also Beattie, Ann;Beloved;Bonfire of the Vanities,
The; Book publishing;Closing of the American Mind,
The;Color Purple, The; Erdrich, Louise; Hwang, David
Henry; Irving, John; King, Stephen; Literature in
Canada; Mamet, David; Minimalist literature; Oates,
Joyce Carol; Poetry; Theater;White Noise; Wilson, Au-
gust.
Little Mermaid, The
Identification Animated film
Directors John Musker (1953- ) and Ron
Clements (1953- )
Date Released November 17, 1989
The Little Mermaidsolidified the beginning of the Disney
renaissance in animation, while playing to the hearts and
minds of the children of the 1980’s.
The last of five feature-length animated films re-
leased by the Walt Disney Company in the 1980’s,
The Little Mermaidcame on the shoulders of two
other Disney works. The success ofWho Framed Roger
Rabbit(1988), a mixed live-action and animated
film, had helped build an audience for a large-scale
animated feature. Meanwhile,Oliver and Company
(1988) demonstrated that a market also existed for
films fitting Disney’s traditional animated-feature
format, the musical. Learning from the successes of
both films, Disney made some changes toThe Little
Mermaidduring its final year of production, tailoring
it for the audiences of the late 1980’s. The company
also chose to set the film in a fantasy world, as it had
in former classics with great success.
The result was a breathtaking glimpse of life un-
der the sea featuring the mermaid Ariel and her
friends. The musical elements of the movie included
classic Broadway-like songs mixed with such Carib-
bean-flavored numbers as “Under the Sea,” which
received an Academy Award for Best Song. The film
also won the Oscar for Best Score. The movie sig-
nified the beginning of computer-generated two-
dimensional animation at Disney, as the process was
tested on the final scenes of the film.The Little Mer-
maidincluded something new to Disney animated
features that was a rarity even in previous live-action
films: a strong heroine. Before Ariel, most of Dis-
ney’s leading females relied on their Prince Charm-
ings and were only the source of conflict. Although
she is such a source inThe Little Mermaid, Ariel is also
an intelligent, inquisitive young woman who makes
her own decisions. Ultimately, it is Prince Eric who
kills the villain Ursula, but it is Ariel’s courage that
drives the story. This is a change from the Disney
norm and the beginning of a trend by the company
to use both sexes as intelligent leading roles. Ariel re-
flected the growing equalization of the sexes in me-
dia that occurred during the 1980’s. These elements
combined to make Disney’sThe Little Mermaida sta-
ple for the company.Impact Disney’s version of Hans Christian Ander-
sen’sThe Little Mermaid became the strongest-
performing full-length animated feature since Walt
Disney’s death. Grossing over $110 million in the
United States,The Little Mermaidgave Disney anima-
tion a resurgence that would allow it to dominate the
1990’s animated feature genre. It also sparked a mer-
chandising spree for Disney and led a missing gener-
ation of consumers to become reacquainted with
the Disney name.Further Reading
Haas, Linda, Elizabeth Bell, and Laura Sells.From
Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and
Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1995.
Johnston, Ollie, and Frank Thomas.The Illusion of
Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions,
1995.
Kurtti, Jeff.The Art of The Little Mermaid. New York:
Hyperion Books, 1997.
Daniel R. VogelSee also Academy Awards; Feminism; Film in the
United States.Live Aid
The Event Two synchronized benefit concerts
Date July 13, 1985
Places Wembley Stadium, London, England, and
John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia,
PennsylvaniaLive Aid was a fundraising event staged by many of the de-
fining musical icons of the 1980’s. It raised hundreds of
millions of dollars for Ethiopian famine relief, and it dem-
onstrated the extent to which musical artists were willing to
exercise their financial power for humanitarian causes.596 Little Mermaid, The The Eighties in America