Disney's animated film The Little Mermaid was released in 1989.
The film was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. It became a major commercial and critical success and is widely associated with the revival of Disney's animated feature division during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The story follows Ariel, a mermaid who wants to explore the human world and falls in love with Prince Eric. Its songs, colorful underwater setting, and expressive character animation helped establish the style of Disney's modern animated musicals.
The film is sometimes confused with Disney's later live-action adaptation, which arrived in 2023. The 1989 movie is the animated version featuring the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, and Samuel E. Wright.