Ariel and Flounder

Little Mermaid

Released:  November 17, 1989

The very first Disney animated film that I went to see as an adult was the Little Mermaid.  I was in college full-time, working a part time job when a friend of mine suggested we go to see the new Disney film out in theaters.  She had heard it was a good film and I was up for a break from my studies.  As Ariel’s story unfolded on the big screen, all of the wonderful emotions with animation that I experienced as a kid flooded my mind.  I loved the story, the music, the staging and to think that practically everything you saw on the screen was actually hand drawn seemed amazing to me.  How many bubbles did they have to draw?

The Little Mermaid was significant on many fronts, and after the success of Roger Rabbit it really signaled the beginning of Disney’s second golden age of animation.  It brought together Howard Ashman and Alan Mencken, two talented Broadway music veterans who were instrumental in bringing back the Disney magic.  The film was also the last animated feature to use hand painted cels done in the traditional style since the days of Snow White.  Disney animator’s incorporated memorable characters, great story-telling and wonderful humor while connecting with a delightful score and memorable songs.  The film went on to win two academy awards, became the highest grossing animated film at the time (over $200 million worldwide) and entertained us in way that we had not really seen since Walt’s passing.

     Original Key Master setup, gouache on celluloid, watercolor on paper

     Supervising Animator - Ariel:  Glenn Keene

     Background Artist: Lisa Keane

     Sequence 1, Scene 14

     Acquired:  April 27, 2012

The holy grail in any animation collection is the key master setup, a collection of production elements all of which go under the camera to create a single frame in the film.  Unfortunately for me, I was not aware that Disney had sold these types of setups through Sotheby’s until the Lion King sale in 1995.  When I first started building an animation collection, I got to view this key master setup up for sale at my first Christies New York auction in 1995.     Unfortunately, I was not able to acquire it at the time.  Fast forward years later, this piece came back up on the auction block by Philip Weiss, an auctioneer I befriended in the 90’s who has been featured on the Antiques Roadshow.  Comprised of a two cel setup, production overlay and a watercolor background, this key master is one of the best from the original auction and beautifully portrays Ariel and Flounder’s story from the film.  In this scene Flounder is nervous and scared of encountering a shark which causes him to stumble into a skeleton and coming crashing into Ariel during this shot.

As I mentioned in a prior post I really love to understand how the screen shot is setup from a production process standpoint.  I also believe that you can learn a great deal about the piece when you get the chance to examine it up close and understand its' essential elements.  The above image is an uncropped and raw version which clearly shows a lot more detail particularly with the production overlays in the foreground.  After I purchased this piece I learned that Lisa Keene was the artist.  She worked for Disney nearly 25 years and contributed to a number of Disney's best contemporary classics from Beauty & the Beast, Lion King,  Hunchback, Enchanted, Tangled and others.  You can learn more about her work at her own website.

If you are lucky enough to find a multi-cel setup such as a key master, why not try framing and displaying the piece with a multi-plane effect.  Considering this piece had four separate production elements, that is precisely what I did to visually recreate the multi-plane camera effect when viewing this art on the wall.  I separated each element (cels and overlay) by spacing the matting them individually against the background.  Using conversation materials, this framing design also helps to protect each production element from reacting each with other (ie. moisture content or chemically attracting one layer to another).  When you combine the painting in this visual format it gives you the 3D effect.  

You can actually look around the foreground elements to see what is behind.  Makes it more appealing when enjoying the piece in your own gallery at home.  Fun!