StreamingSoundtracks.com - The Little Mermaid

#	Track Listing	Length	Played
01	Fathoms Below Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	1:41	50
02	Main Titles Alan Menken	1:26	127
03	Fanfare Alan Menken	0:27	17
04	Daughters Of Triton Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	0:37	20
05	Part Of Your World Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	3:11	191
06	Under The Sea Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	3:11	229
07	Part Of Your World (Reprise) Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	2:14	57
08	Poor Unfortunate Souls Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	4:48	246
09	Les Poissons Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	1:32	97
10	Kiss The Girl Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	2:39	185
11	Fireworks Alan Menken	0:38	31
12	Jig Alan Menken	1:31	46
13	The Storm Alan Menken	3:16	39
14	Destruction Of The Grotto Alan Menken	1:51	20
15	Flotsam And Jetsam Alan Menken	1:22	19
16	Tour Of The Kingdom Alan Menken	1:23	30
17	Bedtime Alan Menken	1:19	24
18	Wedding Announcement Alan Menken	2:15	54
19	Eric To The Rescue Alan Menken	3:39	42
20	Happy Ending Alan Menken, Howard Ashman	3:10	181

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Reviewers Rating

1 review done for this album.

Formulaic Fishy Fun

By:	ladylark
Date:	26 Sep 2008
Rating:

Disney Soundtracks are an interesting bunch. Fun but formulaic. Each soundtrack will have a song setting up the story, a song of longing from the main character often referred to as an "I Want" song, a song of conflict (that is not always the villain's song but often is,) and a song of love.

Now, this may sound like I am trivializing Menken's efforts and Ashman's lyrics. I'm not. This method of score writing goes all the way back to Snow White.

What Menken and Ashman did with the Little Mermaid is take a formula and turn it on its ear to set the standard for Animated Disney films to come.

The first song, Fathoms Below, is the set up song. It not only tells about Triton and his daughters but also hints at what his relationship with the surface world. The Daughters of Triton is another set up song showing Ariel's tendency to be headstrong and not think about her responsibilities and duties. These two songs, despite their length, set up the entire movie.

The "I want" song from this album is "Part of Your World" and its reprise. This song shows Ariel's yearning for the surface world and Eric. An interesting point of trivia, this song was almost cut from the movie because a child in the test audience showed more interest in picking up his spilled popcorn than the song. Thankfully the director and composers were able to convince the producers that the song was necessary. Since it has become an integral and memorable part of the movie and score.

The Song of Conflict is also in two forms on this album. Since the conflict that Ariel faces is not just from Ursula alone but from herself as she battles with the choice of chasing her love and losing her home or playing it safe "Under the Sea." People might argue that this song is not a song of conflict but from the very first phrase you can tell that it is. Sebastian is doing everything in his power to keep Ariel out of trouble and at home. While in "Poor Unfortunate Souls" Ursula is doing everything in her power to get her tentacles into her. It is a nice duality.

Finally we come to the song of love, "Kiss the Girl." Sung by Sebastian to aid Ariel in her quest to stay human for Eric. It is not a love song in the truest sense since it is a little tongue in cheek, but it is still lovely.

The purely instrumental parts of this ST are part of what set The Little Mermaid apart from its predecessors. The score incorporates several of the melodies from the core songs into it - most notably with parts of "Part of your World" showing up multiple times and the melody of "Poor unfortunate souls" being used as the main battle music later on.

This score deserves all of the praise and awards it was given. Since it truly revolutionized the Disney Formula.

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