Page 31 - Trending_032519

Now 30 ‘The Little Mermaid’ paved the way for Elsa and Anna
By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s not uncommon for people to to just look at Jodi Benson and burst into tears Sometimes they they hyperventilate or scream But mostly they they break down and start sobbing Benson will hold them heaving in in in her arms and pat their back gently Benson isn’t a a a a a a a a household name but for many she’s an an an intimate part of of their childhood She supplied the the the the singing and speaking voice of of of Ariel the the the heroine of of the the the 1989 animated Disney hit “The Little Mermaid ” which is is is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year Benson says she will sometimes watch as the stunned movie’s fans virtually go back in in time time in in front of her “It triggers a a a a a memory for them ” she says “They remember who they they were with when they they saw the the the the the movie the the the the the first time Maybe that that sibling is is no no longer longer with with them them them that that grandpar- ent is is no no longer longer with with with them them them It reminds them them them of of a a a a a a a a a relationship that that had been broken with with a a a a a a a a a parent So they have all sorts of of emotions that that go on ” “The Little Mermaid “ “ has has changed a a a a a a lot of of lives not least of of which is Benson’s who has has continued to perform Ariel virtually every weekend in in in concerts as as well as as on on on film in in in the “Wreck-It Ralph” franchise “The Little Mermaid” also had a a a a a a a a a a a big role in in in making Disney into an an an an animation juggernaut and and reviving the art form
Many believe we’d never have Anna
and and Elsa from “Frozen” with- out first having Ariel “Disney was starting to to get into a a a a a a groove that that would continue but I feel like a a a a a a a a a lot of that that started with ‘A Little Mermaid ’” says Ron Cle- ments who co-wrote and co-directed the film Benson was a a a a a a a a a rising Broadway star when Ariel came into her orbit She had been in in in a a a a a a a a a a short-lived musical musical “Smile” when Howard Ashman the the musical’s lyricist and story writer invited the the out-of-work cast to to audition for his next project an an an adaptation of of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid ” Producers wanted the the singing and speaking voice to be supplied by the the the same actress So Benson a a a a a a a a a lyric soprano sang the the signature “Part of of of Your World” on on a a a a a a a a a a a a a reel-to-reel tape and and was handed a a a a a a a a a a few of of of pages of of of dialogue “I ran into the ladies’ room ” she recalls “and
waited for everybody to to get out of of the the stalls and started talking to to to the the mirror sort of of trying to to come up with what would she sound like at at 16 ” Benson it turned out was a a a a a master mimic She had spent countless hours in in in her her room as as as a a a a a a a a child with her her guitar singing along to records by Barbra Streisand Carole King James Taylor as as well as as Marvin Hamlisch’s “A Chorus Line ” “I would start to to just just sing like like them them But it wasn’t like like I I I I was was trying to to be them them It’s just just just that’s that’s what what what I I I heard And so so that’s that’s just just just what what what you you do You just just sound like what what what you you been listening to ” she says A A year or or so after auditioning for Ariel she she she got got the the call that that she’d won the the role “I complete- ly forgot that that I I had auditioned ” she she says Back then voiceover work wasn’t very glamorous and big celebrities wouldn’t consider it it “It wasn’t a a a a a a good job Doing voiceovers was was was what you you would do when when your career was was was was on the the back half when when it was was tanking ” says Ben- son She thought Ariel would be just another notch on on her resume It was not not “Things just changed overnight ” she says Propelled by such Alan Menken songs as “Under the the the Sea” and and “Kiss the the the Girl ” ” the the the film won two Grammys and and earned three Academy Award nominations It was critically acclaimed with Roger Ebert calling it it it a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a “jolly and and inven- tive animated fantasy ” and and would go to earn $211 million worldwide Parents of children with learning disabilities have told Benson their child’s first words were from the the the film A live-action remake is in in the the the works featur- ing new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda who created “Hamilton ” He loved the the 1989 animat- ed ed ed ed film so so much its partly the the the reason he he he he named his first child Sebastian — the the mermaid’s crab friend It was the kind of hit that Clements and his animators at at at Disney had long been hoping for He had started at at Disney in in 1974 and was part of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a new generation of of artists trying to change the notion that animation was just for kids Clements had pitched a a a a a a a a a a a two-page treatment of the the the musical to then-studio head Michael Eisner and and was given the the the the green light For Cle- ments and and his partner John Musker the the the stakes were high: It was the the first fairy tale Disney had done for some three decades “There was a a a a a a a a feeling — — all through ‘Little Mermaid’ — — that that this film film had potential to be the the film film that that could break through and and work the the way we we we were all all hungry for for and and hoping for for ” recalls Clements who went on to co-direct “Aladdin” and “Hercules ” ” “It was really really really really gratifying that it did break through through It It It broke through through the stigma that animated films were just for kids It It became a a a a a a a a a a a a date movie People started taking Disney animation seriously again ” Over the the past 30 years Ariel has become the the bridge between classic princesses like like Cinder- ella and and and Sleeping Beauty and and and modern ones like like Mulan and and and Merida And Benson has become the official Ariel ambassador tapped to do do sequels video games and shorts in in in addition to to voicing other characters like Barbie in in in the the “Toy Story” franchise Her arms are always open to to to fans and she’s now welcoming the fourth generation to to to “The Little Mermaid ” So feel free to to cry on on her shoulder “It doesn’t feel feel like like a a a a a a job It It just feels like like a a a a a a way of life more more than than more more than than anything else ” she says “You have this multigenerational moment that families can share together And I get get to to to be a a a a a a small piece of of the the the puzzle of of their story ” ___
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter com/Ken- nedyTwits
JOURNAL REVIEW | 31