The Disney Renaissance is a period that spanned from 1989 to 1999 and is credited with revitalizing Disney Animation - a department that was dangerously close to death's door in the mid '80s. The animated films that Disney
would release during this era restored both the studio's reputation, and their financial success. Naturally, something had to start the Renaissance, and that something is a movie called
The Little Mermaid. This film changed everything. It didn't just return Disney Animation to its former glory - it sent its soaring to new heights. Looking back, absolutely everything hinged on The Little Mermaid. Its success was directly responsible for beginning the Renaissance and saving Disney Animation. But what specifically made The Little Mermaid succeed? A movie typically relies on the culmination of hundreds of individual elements to make up a strong end result, but there is one component of The Little Mermaid that I believe can be singled out as the key reason for its strong resonance with viewers, and thus, overwhelming success. And that component is "Part of Your World." [The Trove intro music] Ever since Walt died, Disney Animation struggled. The '70s and '80s were particularly rough for the studio. The company saw outside management for the first time ever when Michael Eisner was appointed as CEO and Chairman and Frank Wells was selected as President. Eisner brought in Jeffrey Katzenberg, his colleague from Paramount, to run the film division of Disney. He inherited the disaster-in-progress that was the Black Cauldron, and he
was not too happy about it. The Black Cauldron infamously bombed at the box office and cost the studio millions. Katzenberg knew something had to drastically change. [Don Hahn: "He said in an interview around that time, "We've got to wake up Sleeping Beauty." Then Joe Hale, the producer of The Black Cauldron, was furious. "Who are these guys?" he said, "Sleeping Beauty is awake!" He was fired not long after."] Having hit rock bottom, Disney Animation felt lost to say the least. John Musker and Ron Clements pitched an idea about a mouse who acted like Sherlock Holmes, and it only got hesitantly green-lit because leadership didn't know what else to do. In a stark contrast to the drowning animation division, Disney's live-action sector was thriving and ended up taking over the animation building for its office space. The animation team was demoted to an industrial trailer park in Glendale. A lot went on during this time that I won't discuss here, but if you're interested in Disney Animation history, I highly recommend the documentary "Waking Sleeping Beauty" that details the journey of the Disney Renaissance. It can be viewed on Disney Plus. The Great Mouse Detective opened to good reviews and decent box office revenue which was nice, but not quite enough. Michael Eisner was asked if
Disney could even afford to keep making these animated movies. The answer was no, but he said
that they had to anyways. ["Have to?] ["We have to. That's our- that is our legacy."] So Disney committed to putting out one animated film a year, starting with "Oliver & Company" in 1988. Home video was a massive turning point for Disney. They decided to release Pinocchio on VHS as a trial and it was a resounding lucrative success. They say it was like printing money. So Disney started releasing more of their old titles on home video and eagerly wanted to get to work making more films to also release on VHS. It was around this time when Ron Clements pitched the idea of "The Little Mermaid." ["And basically they wanted to draw on different ideas, and one of the ideas that Ron, uh, brought in was "The Little Mermaid"] ["He had- that was one of his three."] Another pivotal game changer was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." It was an old developmental project that really took off after Steven Spielberg showed interest in it. Robert Zemeckis was brought on to direct. He got Richard Williams to head the
animation for the movie in London rather than going with Disney's Burbank team. Disney Animation still didn't garner high regard at this point. So while this was going on, Burbank made progress on "Oliver & Company" and "The Little Mermaid." Upon its release, "Roger Rabbit" was highly praised and acclaimed. It made waves with its technological achievements and made the studio millions. The top talent in London was then sent to Burbank to help on their projects, and it was an exciting time. "Oliver & Company" opened the same day as Don Bluth's "The Land Before Time" and ended up making more money than it during its run. There's an extremely important person
who rarely gets any credit for his massive contribution to Disney Animation - David Geffen. Geffen was a good friend and mentor of Jeffrey Katzenberg's, and it was him who initially connected Katzenberg to Howard Ashman and suggested Disney work with him. Howard Ashman was the savior of Disney Animation. There's no point in mincing words. It was Howard who came to this lost studio and applied his vision. He picked up this dusty, banged up thing and polished it to shine brighter than ever before. Geffen knew Howard from working on Howard's Off-Broadway musical production "Little Shop of Horrors." Alan Menken was also working with Howard on the musical. The show was an instant success and even got made into a movie. The next project Howard worked on
was a musical adaptation of the movie "Smile." This show was unfortunately not a success. The show was panned by critics and only lasted a mere 48 shows. Howard was devastated by this and just wanted to get away. This was when Mr. Katzenberg reached out to Howard. [Don Hahn: "The combination of Howard Ashman's talent and the Walt Disney name is a home run waiting to happen. With best regards, Jeffrey."] I don't think this guy was right about a lot of things, but in this case, he could not have been more correct. When Howard first came to Disney, he was put in the live-action field but animation was where he really wanted to be. [Howard: "When I was, uh, approached with an opportunity to work for Disney
period, I leapt- I said what about animation? What about working in that department? That was what I really wanted to do here."] Because of his musical theatre background, Howard saw the connection between Broadway and animation. [Howard "Maybe one of the last- maybe the- the last great place to do Broadway musicals is in animation. Um, it's a whole other world."] Howard spoke at a crew meeting for "The Little Mermaid" and explained this mindset. [Don Hahn: "Howard sat down when he first got there, and using "The Little
Mermaid," he literally taught us how to tell a story with songs."] [Howard: "Yeah, I think we wanted to make songs that would tell the story, songs that would really push the plot along and keep things driving ahead. So it's not like you stop and sing a song ... ... and she has to sing "Part of Your World" because she wants to go up to dry land so badly."] Jodi Benson, voice of Ariel, says, "The characters actually run out of words, can't express themselves anymore, and it has to come out in song." Michael Landis, who writes for Smithsonian Magazine, said: "In classic Disney animated features of old, plot was advanced through dialogue and songs were incidental." "For instance, in Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs, the song "Whistle While You Work" does nothing to move the plot forward." Arguably the most important song in a musical is the "I Want" song. [Howard: "In almost every musical ever written, there's a place that's usually about the third song in the evening ... ... but the leading lady sits down on something and sings about what she wants in life, and the audience falls in love with her
and then roots for her to get it for the rest of the night."] Mike Gabriel, an animator at Disney, said they didn't have a clue about "I Want" songs. [Mike Gabriel: "Your lead character needs a want, they have to have a strong want and then a want song. And you're going, "okay," not even having a clue about that stuff before Howard was around. You would've thought we would've known that."] The inclusion and emphasis put on the "I Want" song is really what changed everything. And of course, for "The Little Mermaid," that song was called "Part of Your World." [Ariel singing: "I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing"] "Part of Your World" was the first song Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote for the film. Howard had opted to bring on Menken as his composer for the project having worked closely with him in the past. "Part of Your World" actually shows similar structure to the song "Somewhere That's Green" from "Little Shop of Horrors." The two of them even nicknamed Ariel's track "Somewhere That's Dry." The song was first shown to the film's directors, John Musker and Ron Clements, at Howard's apartment in Manhattan. Menken played the piano while Howard sang. Musker reminisces: “Howard became Ariel before our eyes and ears, singing fervently with unabashed sincerity. Traffic whizzed by below us out on that cold December night as he poured out his heart in song. He looked up to the ceiling of his apartment as he sang, and it became the out of reach human world. He made us see it, too, and feel it, this far off place of wonder that so entranced this little mermaid. He made us root for this mermaid so desperate to belong to that distant and untouchable realm. It was moving and we loved the song.” So they had the all-important "I Want" song. Clements and Musker loved the song, but they did have a few notes. Musker thought “I want to be where the people are” should remove the article “the” because the phrase "the people" sounded too political and reminded him of Illinois governor Dan Walker. Musker recounts that Howard was "appalled" saying, “What? She’d have to hold the word ‘where’ longer to make that work.” He apparently tried it and said it sounded terrible. [singing: "I wanna be... whe-ere people are"] [mystified sound effect] Musker says that “Howard generally guarded his lyrics with the primal ferocity of a mother bear defending her doe-eyed cubs." "In hindsight, I’m glad Howard didn’t change the lyric. It was a silly note.” Howard was willing to accommodate some requests, however. Musker and Clements suggested that some of the lyrics describing human artifacts be changed because Ariel wouldn't know their proper names. Her teacher about the human world was Scuttle, after all, and he used words like “dinglehopper” and “snarfblatt.” That’s where the fun and iconic “whozits and whatzits” and “thingamabobs” came from, and it really was a great note from the directors. Ariel's made-up words add so much personality and charm that contribute to the song's memorability. The way Ariel stops to question herself or recall certain words makes "Part of Your World" endlessly quotable and fun. I think
it's a big reason it's still relevant today. So they have the song, and the lyrics had been tweaked. Now they needed someone to sing it. Jodi Benson was a Broadway actress. She'd been cast as Doria, a leading role in Howard's musical adaptation of "Smile." [Benson: "I got the sense that Howard felt so badly about "Smile" closing so drastically and horribly that Howard gave me the chance to audition."] Howard apparently invited the entire female cast of "Smile" to audition for "Mermaid" using "Part of Your World, but he didn't reveal the project's name to them. Benson recalls nervously
rehearsing using a cassette tape of Howard singing the song for reference. Her audition was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder and submitted to Disney along with about 400 others. Disney listened to the auditions without names or photos attached. The original "The Voice." And a year later, Benson got the call that she'd been selected. It really fitting because Benson had sung an "I Want" song of sorts in "Smile" entitled "Disneyland." [Benson singing: "Gotta get to Disneyland, on a western breeze"] Benson recalls that she really struggled with over-singing. She was trained for projecting her voice as loudly as possible on the stage, and she'd never been behind a microphone in the studio before. She said: “I have to admit, it was really frustrating for me because I really wanted to sing the crap out of it.” [Benson: "And- and what I did is, I would get to the point after I'd do it like 25 or 30 times... I'd say, "Howard, can you please just give me the line reading? If I can just imitate you."] It's sort of unheard of for anyone else to be in the recording booth with an actor, but Howard stayed with Benson the whole time. She said: “All of my lines, all of my vocals, he was right on my left side.” [Howard singing: "I want to see"] [Benson: "So not as breathy, but yet, not high quality."] [Howard: "Like you're talking, like...yeah."] [Benson singing: "I wanna be where the people are"] Benson is not hesitant to give Howard all the credit. She says, “…every nuance, everything you hear, everything you like about Ariel is because of one man.” “The privilege to me is to be able to make sure that I give credit where credit is due because if you like the giggle or you like this or you like that... That’s Howard. That’s his interpretation that he gave me to read and then translate. So I don’t take that performance as mine. It’s not mine, I just got to embody it as an actress.” “Ariel is Howard, ultimately. And I just got really good at copying him.” [Howard singing: "Ready to stand"] [Howard speaking: "Do that for me."] [Benson singing: "Ready to stand and ready to know what the people know"] [Howard: Now, you were doing more voice than that when we were recording, right? A lot more."] [Benson: "A lot more."] Benson says Musker and Clements had no ego to step aside and let Howard be her director for not only the singing, but her dialogue as well. It was Howard's suggestion to turn the lights off in the studio to get Benson in the zone by sort of recreating the grotto right there. [Benson singing: "sun...wandering free, wish I could be part of that world"] I love knowing just how well Howard knew Ariel, and I have no doubt that he is the driving force behind her. But since she's so resistant to take any credit, I just want to take a moment to shower Jodi Benson with some praise. She may have been told exactly how to perform the lines, but she still executed them to perfection, and that's not easy. She's a marvelous talent. For the final version, certain takes were selected that weren't perfectly sung, and some lines aren't even sung at all - more spoken-word. ScreenRant’s Turner Minton noted that Benson’s vocals add “a rawness to the song, giving a depth of eagerness to Ariel’s voice that makes for a genuine performance.” Filmtracks.com says Benson’s performance is “tender enough to be believable … while also accurately resonating at the necessary high ranges.” Hitflix’s Donna Dickens credits much of the film’s success to Benson’s performance of the song. [Howard: "Just the intensity. It's like it's about...all that emotion, and then...not letting it out."] [Benson: "Not letting it out."] [Howard: "Not letting it out, but having it...here."] [Howard singing quietly: "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love?"] It was only after hearing Benson sing "Part of Your World" that animator Glen Keane felt compelled to animate the character. He typically animated villains or rougher looking characters, so it was a big shift for him, but he turned out to be the right guy for the job. [Keane: "I said look, I have to do Ariel.
I- I can feel it in my heart."] I find Ariel's emotions to be showcased through physicality so well throughout the film. She spends the second half not being able to speak, so her body language
and gestures become paramount. But even within this song, she says so much through her movements, and
that's all Glen. The way she clutches her hands to her chest when she sings the word "burn" is a favorite moment of mine. As she recalls the word she’s looking for, her passion for discovery matches the definition of the word. Jerry Beck of The Animated Movie Guide says that "Part of Your World" “captures Ariel’s yearning so intensely that when she extends her hand toward the surface, we long to reach out with her.” Ariel wouldn't be Ariel without Howard. But as far as I'm concerned, she also wouldn't be Ariel without Jodi and Glen. Howard is Ariel's spirit, but Jodi and
Glen were integral in bringing her to life for audiences. I think the voice work in "Part of Your
World" is the best voice work I've ever heard, and Ariel's movements and expressions in the scene enhance the powerful emotion that we hear. It was a gorgeous collaboration between the three of them to bring this beloved mermaid to life. When movies are being made, they'll often go through a series of test screenings throughout the production process to ensure the film is on track to succeed with audiences. At one of these test screenings for "The Little Mermaid," a partially finished version of the "Part of Your World" scene was shown, and it didn't
seem to hold the children's attention all too well. The kids were a bit restless, squirming and spilling their popcorn. This led Jeffrey Katzenberg to believe that the song needed to be cut. This was not met kindly. [Katzenberg: "You know, Howard Ashman said "over my dead body," you know, "I'll strangle you.""] [wheeze laughing] [static] Glen Keane was a big part of the fight to keep the song. [John Musker: "Finally Glen Keane, uh, went to Jeffrey and said "Jeffrey, uh, you cannot cut this. You- you're crazy, this is the heart of the movie. It's, uh, her whole dream, and to cut that will really gut our emotional involvement with our heroine."] Keane convinced Katzenberg that the
song itself wasn't the issue and once other things were adjusted and the movie was finished, it would be okay. Alan Menken recalls that Howard said: [Menken: "These movies launch off this kind of a song. It may be temporarily kind of hard to make work but in the big picture, you have to have
this song. You have to have those earned heart moments."] Katzenberg was thankfully convinced in the end. [Katzenberg: "Ultimately he was right, and not only did it stay in the movie, but it's one of the more memorable moments in the movie."] Apparently MGM wanted to cut "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" after "The Wizard of Oz's" first preview screening, so it's not the first time something like this has happened, but I'm so, so glad that so many members of the crew stood up for Ariel's Song. Because of what Howard taught them, they knew the importance of it. [Howard: "Um, it's her dream. You're not going to miss what the film's about. That's the central issue of the entire film. By having her sing it makes that point indelible. She wishes she were human. And at the end she will become human and live happily ever after. That's what she wants. I really feel that without this song, the movie as a whole would not have succeeded - at least not to the
extent that Disney needed it to. It would still be a fun animated story, but why would anyone resonate with it? Why would anybody truly care? "The Little Mermaid" released in theatres in November of 1989, and it was a resounding success. On a budget of 40 million, it made 235 million. Between the good press, the box office, and the merchandise sales, Disney was back on track to embark on what would be widely considered as their greatest decade ever in animation - the Disney Renaissance. I said I think the movie owes its success to "Part of Your World." So what exactly is it about this song that works so well? Benson's compelling vocal and Glen Keane's effective animation were both factors, but again, it comes back to Howard. He knew this song was the heart
of the film. Hearing somebody so genuinely and unabashedly long for something they can't have is moving. It's human. Which sounds ironic considering Ariel's status as an animated mermaid, but it's true. Keane described it as the moment “the audience starts thinking of Ariel as this real, living thing. A girl who’s dreaming of something more. And since so many of us feel just like that…that’s when the audience falls in love with this character.” Ariel has often been dismissed as a bad role model because she's said to have given up everything pining after a man, but "Part of Your World's" existence negates that. Initially Musker and Clements wanted the song to be about Ariel longing for Eric. She was to sing to the statue that Flounder gifts her. But Howard knew that for Ariel, it was all about being on land, and a song about her fascination with the human world would much better serve the plot - and the character. She sings it before ever laying eyes on Eric. Ariel is an explorer, an amateur archaeologist, even. Her trove is essentially a museum of human artifacts, and that's pretty cool. Even more so when you remember she's only 16 years old. Her dedication to her interests combined with her adventurous spirit are qualities I'm sure many people have admired and identified with. Ariel shows open-mindedness in the face of her father's prejudice. This in particular can be interpreted several different ways. Ana Mardoll of Bitch Flicks says, “Her fantasies of being human conflate with her fantasies of living in a feminist-friendly society where she can speak her mind freely and grow intellectually.” [Ariel singing: "Betcha on land, they understand, bet they don't reprimand their daughters"] Ariel may be seeking a number of different things in her pursuit of the human world, but the Wicked Wiles series on iwatnedwings.com argues that “she’s really after something that can’t be stolen, found, or bought – she wants change, to be part of a different kind of society.” This naturally leads into the discussion of Ariel's journey in congruence with the LGBT community and those adjacent to it. The Guardian’s Guy Lodge calls “Part of Your World” “something of an all-purpose anthem for LGBT not-belongers.” Howard himself was a gay man. In the "Waking Sleeping Beauty" documentary, Don Hahn comments that: [Hahn: "Howard wasn't exactly the first guy who sprang to mind when you said Disney. He was born into a Jewish
Family in Baltimore where he grew up on stage in the local children's theatre association. He was gay, edgy, and loved musicals - especially Peter Pan."] Those that knew Howard have differing opinions on if he ever overtly put secret meanings and metaphors into his lyrics about his own experiences. Sarah Gillespie, Howard's sister, says she doesn't think he put his personal life in anything he wrote or did. [Gillespie: "But what there really was with Howard was great empathy, which means that he could put himself in the other person's place. It's not that he really wanted to be a mermaid who got legs, but he put himself in Ariel's position, in Ariel's life. That's- that's empathy. And from that's- from that place you can write that character. I think that's the definition of an artist."] [Peter Schneider: "I think that was the genius of Howard, was that he was not political. He was human. He dealt with human issues, and human thoughts."] From Jodi Benson's perspective, she remembers Howard as quiet and not wanting attention, so he may have been embarrassed to have any spotlight put on him for it, but she believes he'd be proud to be part of something that has empowered people to be themselves. Howard was informed of his HIV diagnosis on March 3rd 1988 during production for "The Little Mermaid." There are those who believe that Ariel's journey can't be separated from Howard's identity, that "Beauty and the Beast" can't be separated from the AIDS epidemic, and I suppose we won't ever really know if Howard intentionally inserted these themes into his work, but I can't imagine they weren't affected by it in some capacity, whether it was intentional or not. “Sympathy involves understanding from your own perspective. Empathy involves putting yourself in the other person's shoes and understanding WHY they may have these particular feelings.” You don't have to have necessarily experienced something yourself in order to have empathy, but a lot of times that is the case. From my own view, I just don't think that "Part of Your World" could have been written as convincingly and compellingly if someone from an oppressed experience didn't write it. It's not to say that only queer people
can relate to it. Billboard's Taylor Weatherby writes that “When you’re singing a song fantasizing over a life you can’t [have], it makes for a moment everyone can relate to.” But coming from a queer perspective with a seemingly impossible desire roots the song in a genuine foundation. The Smithsonian Magazine writes: “The central story of The Little Mermaid is, of course, 16-year-old Ariel’s identity crisis. She feels constrained by her patriarchal mer-society and senses she doesn’t belong. She yearns for another world, apart from her own, where she can be free from the limits of her rigid culture and conservative family. Her body is under the water, but her heart and mind are on land with people. She leads a double life. She is, essentially, “in the closet” (as symbolized by her “cavern”—or closet—of human artifacts, where the character-building song “Part of Your World” takes place)." Hans Christian Anderson, the author of "The Little Mermaid" fairy tale, was widely believed to have been gay himself. Disney obviously gave their version of the story an optimistic twist with a much happier ending, but the themes can't be untangled from the core story. They're in the DNA. Ariel is self-proclaimed to have "everything," and yet, she has this deep yearning and longing for something else. She can't relate to anyone around her. She's lonely. I have this beautiful poster made by Cyclops Print Works that pictures Ariel positioned in front of Atlantica. In the movie, Atlantica is this stunning, golden palace. It's glorious, bright, and welcoming. Anyone would want to live there. But in this poster, which is from Ariel's perspective, Atlantica looks dark and ominous. It doesn't feel like home to her. It's a symbol of her entrapment. This idea of Ariel having it all and yet being deeply unsatisfied beyond her control can be likened to gender dysphoria and the trans experience. It may be a little on the nose to compare, but Ariel can't be at peace until she physically changes forms, trading her fins for legs. Lindsey Romain of Marie Claire views “Part of Your World” as “an anthem for anyone whose personal identification might not align with their physical presentation.” Jos Truitt, a trans individual, expressed that “If the Disney princess was singing about what I was feeling, maybe I wasn’t so alone, so weird and wrong after all.” There's even a British charity and advocacy organization in the UK called Mermaids that supports gender variant and transgender youth. It was founded in 1995 by a group of parents of gender non-conforming children. I think it says a lot that the figure of the mermaid has been so widely adopted by trans communities. The "Part of Your World" reprise is sung after Ariel saves Eric from drowning, so this version of the track could be vulnerable to anti-feminist critiques, but I still don't personally see it in any sort of negative light. Howard's initial vibe for the reprise was sad. He had Arrow looking out at Eric from a distance singing, "I'll never be part of that world." Musker and Clements said that Ariel was more optimistic than that, and to their surprise, Howard agreed. That's where the determined excitement comes from at the end of the reprise. [Ariel singing: "Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world"] It's actually the only time Ariel says "part of your world" rather than "part of that world." It becomes specific to Eric now. If this turns anybody off, I won't argue with you. If you see Ariel as throwing away her original ambitions and becoming blinded by love, that's your interpretation. But Ariel refining her goal to become more specific makes it tangible. She already wanted to be on land more than anything, but her father's rage and her new interest in Eric were the tipping point. She has a deep love and longing for the human world, but it's nice if she has someone to experience that world alongside. I understand that female characters have often been confined to romantic plot lines, but I don't see Ariel's pursuit of love to be a bad thing. Of course, we should always consider things in their wider context and not just in a vacuum, but an animated Disney film from the
'80s doesn't necessarily have to be an airtight feminist narrative in order to possess value. Things can be flawed and worthy at the same time. I approach "The Little Mermaid" from a deeply personal place, so I'm aware that I can be biased when it comes to this film, but I do think it receives misguided harshness at times. I certainly don't view Disney movies as fantastic examples to follow in real life. I don't treat them as how-to-live-life manuals. They're familiar, nostalgic escapes to magical worlds that can also hold special meanings that resonate with all types of people. That's what I think Disney movies are for. "Part of Your World" has been so impactful that it's still part of the cultural zeitgeist today. Jodi Benson had been unaware of the potential axing of the song back during production, but is, of course, aware of it now. She said: “I don’t know what I would do [if it had been cut], because that’s what I’ve been doing for 33 years, is singing that song and telling that story.” I was lucky enough to get to meet Jodi and hear her sing her iconic song at a comic expo a few years ago, and that meant the world to me. Jodi has credited this role and particularly this song with changing her life. She intended to spend her career on the stage, but she's worked behind the microphone reprising the role of Ariel for more than three decades now. She reminisces back to when she was cast in the role, saying: “I thought I’d just fly out to California, have a blast for a couple of days, hang out with Howard, and then it’ll just disappear and I’ll get a paycheck.” Not quite the case. A fun note is that she was doing a Broadway show with Sam Wright, who played Sebastian, at the time. The cast wasn't going to be focused on at all initially. Their names were just going to roll during the credits and that would be it. No press or recognition. Disney hadn't prepared a single version of "Part of Your World" because they hadn't anticipated its overwhelming success, but the track was being heavily requested at radio stations. Benson ended up doing tons of press and even filmed a music video to be played during the end credits of the VHS tape. People had pitied her for doing animation voice work before the movie came out because it wasn't a desirable job at the time, but after "The Little Mermaid's" success, she says they were all asking her, "why didn't you tell me?" It just speaks volumes to the way the song and the movie changed the world view about animation. While animated Disney movies had contained some form of "I Want" songs for years, they were never truly in the Broadway style and they never possessed the agency or urgency of "Part of Your World." "The Little Mermaid" solidified the Disney Renaissance as an era defined by its Broadway musical style and "Part of Your World" is credited with making the "I Want" song a popular staple of future animated Disney musicals. From “Belle,” to “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” to “Just Around the Riverbend,” to “Out There,” to “Go the Distance,” to “Reflection,” these types of songs are a monumental part of what many consider to be Disney's most successful and iconic era. Den of Geek’s David Crow believes that “’Part of Your World’ was the heart and soul of 'The Little Mermaid', and defined the Disney formula to come.” He also comments on the second time Ariel revisits the track, noting that “it’s in the reprise that she sings with a distinction of sudden purpose that made Ariel and the Renaissance she represented a departure from all previous animated movies … With conviction, Ariel convinces viewers that she’ll get exactly what she wants” Aja Romano of dailydot.com says of "Part of Your World": “This was the moment when the Disney Renaissance really happened: the moment the princess became relevant again, a girl with something to fight for.” Circling back to Howard Ashman, it really can't be disputed that he changed everything about Disney Animation, and the genesis of it all was this song. This mermaid with a monologue put to music. Janet Maslin, a film critic for the New York Times, called it "a musical bullseye" and wrote that any Broadway musical
would be lucky to include a single number as good as "Part of Your World." Roy Disney was the former Vice Chairman of the Disney Company who also led the animation department at the time "The Little Mermaid" was being made. He said of Howard: [Roy: "I don't want to compare him to Walt, but on the other hand, he had that kind of influence on everybody. It was- it was a remarkable amount of influence."] [Roger Allers: "Certainly in animation history, and in, uh, film history, and musical history - I feel like Howard's mark is indelible and it's ongoing. It has not diminished over the years. Howard's gift was so strong, and his light was so bright that, uh, it's just as strong today as it was then."] [Menken: "He was the force behind what all this has become. And it came from his heart and his intellect, and he didn't get to live to see it. But his work lives on."] Thank you so much for joining me on this deep dive of the iconic Disney song that sparked the Renaissance: "Part of Your World." The idea to make this video came to me when I was crafting my last video about my Top 10 Disney songs. "Part of Your World" is, of course, my favorite Disney song, and when I was researching fun facts for that video, I discovered just how much I didn't know about the song's inception and its true impact. It's been the most lovely and gratifying journey to learn all of this that I've shared with you today. If you relate to "Part of Your World," I'd love it if you could share why in the comments below, and if there's another Disney song that resonates with you, feel free to share about that as well. One of the best things about Disney movies and music is their ability to make us feel seen and to connect us with one another, so it would be amazing to have discussion surrounding that in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, consider hitting like and subscribe, and head over to The Trove to check out more video essays, rankings, and trivia videos. I'll have playlists linked In the description below. Thanks again for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.
