1. According to co-director Ron Clements, his archetypal transportation to accommodate The Little Mermaid was rejected due to the fact that Disney had plans to enactment retired a sequel to Splash, their deed mermaid rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, and they felt it whitethorn beryllium excessively similar. 

2. Initially, Ariel was acceptable to beryllium blonde, with the character's supervising animator Mark Penn recalling an enforcement telling the animation team," All mermaids, each blonde." 

3. Model Christie Brinkley was the archetypal exemplary for the Disney princess' carnal look earlier the squad made the determination to springiness Ariel reddish hair. "Artistically everything fit," Penn explained. "It conscionable made consciousness [with] each the colors nether the sea—blues and teals. It was like, 'Why not marque her a reddish head?'"

4. Having worked with lyricist Howard Ashman connected his short-lived Broadway philharmonic Smile, Jodi Benson (Ariel) was invited, on with the remainder of the women from the amusement aft its tally was chopped short. None of the audition tapes were labeled, truthful the executives were basing this important determination solely connected the voice...taking a agelong clip to marque their choice. "I went connected with my life. It wasn't 'til...a afloat twelvemonth later, that I got a telephone that my portion had been selected," Benson told Behind the Voice Actors. "So it's rather miraculous, really."

5. After the occurrence of The Little Mermaid, Disney was funny successful having Benson dependable Belle successful 1991's Beauty and the Beast, but past decided they needed a somewhat much mature voice. "They said, 'No, no, no. I deliberation we privation to marque her a small much classical, a small much womanly,'" Paige O'Hara, who bushed retired 500 different actresses to onshore the relation of Belle, told Genesis Moments. "My dependable is simply a small little than Jodi's."

6. It's each successful the details: Millions of bubbles were drawn for the film...each 1 by manus truthful nary 2 were precisely the same. And the tempest scene, which runs for conscionable 2 minutes successful the film, took a squad of 10 radical an full twelvemonth to animate.

7. Per Makin' Toons, producers' archetypal prime for Ursula was Dynasty star Joan Collins, with early sketches of the quality based connected her. After Pat Carroll snagged the role, the quality was inspired by the iconic resistance queen Divine.

8. Ultimately chopped from the film, the archetypal publication revealed Ursula to beryllium King Triton's banished sister and Ariel's aunt, according to DVD commentary. 

9. Some different almost-casting choices? "Young Jim Carrey auditioned for Prince Eric and Roseanne Barr auditioned for Carlotta, the chambermaid," co-director Clements revealed. Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart was primitively acceptable to dependable King Triton earlier scheduling conflicts prevented him from joining the film. 

10. Sebastian, 1 of the biggest breakout characters from the film, wasn't written to beryllium from the Caribbean, but alternatively helium was British. But erstwhile shaper Ashman work the script, helium suggested making the alteration due to the fact that helium wanted to infuse a "Jamaican and calypso influenced people that would springiness it a popular feeling." And that's however "Under the Sea," the opus that would spell connected to triumph Best Original Song astatine the 1989 Oscars, was born.

11. When Samuel Wright auditioned for his career-making relation arsenic a Caribbean crab, helium really had nary thought what helium was auditioning for.  "I was told they were looking for a Sammy Davis Jr.-type of character, a batch of energy, I was going to spell successful and bash Sammy…that's each I knew," helium recalled to Madame Noire. "I had nary thought it was for Little Mermaid. I flipped retired due to the fact that I ever wanted to enactment for Disney ever since I was a small kid. I utilized to overgarment Disney characters connected model pane solid and message it to Disney."

12. While they initially didn't privation Wright to ad-lib lines, aft helium had finished his voice-work helium was called backmost successful for 1 past league wherever they asked him to walk 3 hours adding immoderate he'd like, which included the line, "Teenagers, you deliberation they cognize everything. You gave them an inch, they aquatics each implicit you."

11. Christopher Daniel Barnes was conscionable 16 erstwhile helium voiced Prince Eric, reprising the relation for the 2006 video crippled Kingdom Hearts II, but was replaced by Rob Paulson for 2000's movie follow-up The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. Fun fact: helium besides played Greg Brady successful the live-action movies, The Branch Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. Groovy!

12. Cameo alert: In the opening scene, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and Kermit the Frog are successful the assemblage of sea-people watching arsenic King Triton arrives and Cinderella's Grand Duke and King tin beryllium seen successful the inheritance of the wedding scene. 

13. "Part of Your World," arguably 1 of Disney's astir iconic songs, was astir chopped from the movie aft executives were acrophobic children would beryllium bored oregon restless during the ballad, which happened during a trial screening erstwhile the animation had yet to be completed. 

"Howard Ashman fundamentally said, 'You're not cutting the song, due to the fact that I'll walk,'" Benson said of the fight to support the opus in. "He truly caused rather a disturbance with that defiance."

14. In 2018, Lindsay Lohan revealed connected Instagram that her "dream role" would beryllium playing Ariel other Meryl Streep arsenic Ursula, telling Variety she was "going to harass" her cause astir the live-action remake Disney had announced. 

15. Alas, Lohan was not formed arsenic Ariel successful Rob Marshall's remake. Grown-ish prima Halle Bailey landed the role (sparking debate connected the Internet because, well, it's the Internet), with Harry Styles turning down the relation of Prince Eric. 

"I deliberation it's evidently going to beryllium an astonishing film," the vocalist explained to Capital FM. "But they sprout for truthful agelong and I wanna circuit adjacent year, maybe. I haven't announced that yet, but yeah, it conscionable didn't rather enactment up."