Missing Scene on TLM PE DVD?!

[ImTravisB]

Hi! I'm Travis and I just joined the forums today. I thought I would make my first post about something I read in one amazon.com review of The Little Mermaid PE DVD. The person mentions what he considers to be alterations to the film (but after listening to the audio commentary and hearing the directors remarks about the staircase being and early CGI effect, I think are false). He also says there's a little missing scene on the DVD of Ariel falling out of bed...here is the review :


"In this Platinum Edition, computer generated (CG) effects have been added. The first being where human Ariel hears about the engagement to Eric and runs down the stairs, only to find Eric standing with Vanessa (Ursula in disguise). The short scene of her running down the stairs has been totally redone, and the whole background of the staircase has been computer generated. The only original drawing here is Ariel herself.


Also, when just Ursula takes control of the trident, we see Flounder and Sebastian on the ocean floor just as she gets upset and starts to grow. As the camera pans upward away from them, you can see the background has had CG effects added.

Finally, the short scene of Ariel falling out of the bed (where she bounces off and we see the dinglehopper beside her) has been deleted. Upon viewing this new version and taking these things into consideration, I admit I got a little upset. Did they really need to add CG to the film? Was it necessary to remove Ariel's short bed segment? Was there something offensive hidden in the scene that I never noticed before? These are the only differences from the original film I noticed, but were they really necessary? The original looked just great, and in my opinion, one should NOT alter a classic such as this.

Oh well, I guess this makes the old VHS's and the first Limited Issue DVD release even MORE valuable, as they are unaltered.

Just wanted to share my views and warn those collectors out there exactly what they'd be buying!"

I'm not exactly sure how informed this person is, or who his/her sources are but this slightly concerned me, as I remembered that on The Lion King DVD the "original theatrical" version used some the re-tooled animation on the DVD as well.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Does anyone know what this person is talking about?

[goofystitch]

Well, I don't have time to compare my Limited Issue copy to my Platinum one, but it is certain that "The little Mermaid" did use some computer animation. Computer animation was used in a 2-D film for the first time in "The Black Cauldron" and extensively in the clock climax of "The Great Mouse Detective." I'm not 100% positive, but I don't think Disney added CG elements to the PE of TLM. As for the falling out of bed scene, I saw the film hundreds of times as a kid and don't recall Ariel falling out of bed, but I could be wrong. The reviewer might be confusing it with another animated film. Alot of people claim to have seen Bambi's mother get shot in "Bambi," but they never actually showed it. So I could be wrong, but so could he. The people on this forum are very knowledgeable so I'm assuming that if something like that was cut, there would have been pages of discussion devoted to it. And they would know, because some people were quick enough to spot a second of "Cinderella" in which the image blurs (actually it doubles, but looks blury) and had many pictures to prove it. lol. Welcome to the forum! Great first post and topic!

[Disneykid]

That reviewer is most definitely false. The CG staircase has always been there, and I've seen the movie a couple of hundred times to know that Ariel never fell out of bed. There isn't even any ROOM to insert a shot of her falling out of bed. The shots of her in bed all follow each other perfectly without any sort of time cut. John Musker and Ron Clements did a very in-depth interview for IGN DVD, and they stated that they altered absolutely nothing in film. They both feel pleased with the film as it is, and Ron Clements went as far as to say movie mistakes should be left alone because the audience grows accustomed to seeing them with repeat viewings.

[Razor Roman]

in the commentary they mention the CGI staircase, as well as the opening shot of the boat being CG. I have a feeling the "wedding barge" was also CGI as well as the coach Ariel and Eric ride around town in. You can usually spot the CG even if it is hand-inked like it was in TLM because it is "tighter" than the hand drawn stuff, almost looks like a cutout sliding around the screen.

[The Merman]

Yup Disneykid is spot on. Ariel jumps on her bed, stretches her arms and curls them around her pillow, then falls a sleep. She does not fall out of the bed! I have seen this movie thousand of times since I was 2 and never have I encounterd a scene of her falling out of bed. Not on VHS or DVD. And the CGi as pointed out have ALWAYS been there.
But welcome to the forum! Its so nice to meet new Disney fans around the globe.

[JamesDFarrow]

I saw Bambi get stomped on by Godzilla.

James (runs for cover)

[Disney Duster]

John Musker and Ron Clements did a very in-depth interview for IGN DVD, and they stated that they altered absolutely nothing in film. They both feel pleased with the film as it is, and Ron Clements went as far as to say movie mistakes should be left alone because the audience grows accustomed to seeing them with repeat viewings.

Yes, they say that, and yet the priest's knee has been re-drawn in one scene on the wedding ship.

Click here, scroll down, and see.

[jeremy88]

The CG staircase and the CG scene where Sebastion and Flounder are quivering have always been there.

[yanya]

I'm very disappointed that the "happy" Priest was altered in the wedding. I know... I know, it was just his "knees"! Still, I remember watching that bit after I grew up a little and laughing for quite a while. Now if I should have children some day down the road they'll never get to enjoy that later on.

[Disneykid]

John Musker and Ron Clements did a very in-depth interview for IGN DVD, and they stated that they altered absolutely nothing in film. They both feel pleased with the film as it is, and Ron Clements went as far as to say movie mistakes should be left alone because the audience grows accustomed to seeing them with repeat viewings.

Yes, they say that, and yet the priest's knee has been re-drawn in one scene on the wedding ship.

Click here, scroll down, and see.

I know, and call me crazy, but I honestly don't think they know about this change. Why do I say that? Because they don't mention it in the commentary. You may say, "well, of course not. It's supposed to be like that controversy never existed," but in the Aladdin commentary, they talk about the "Good kittty; take off and go/Good teenagers take off their clothes" fiasco. The fact that they don't mention another alteration due to an urban legend here is fishy (excuse te pun) to me.

[rexcrk]

I just can't believe that there are people out there with such bad eyes that they'd see "SFX" as "SEX" and a priest's knee as a... well you know (don't excactly know what I'm allowed to refer to it as here ) and ears that hear "Good teenagers take off your clothes". Either that or they're just VERY disturbed individuals

[totallyminnie86]

the aladdin controversy was mentioned in the commentary? huh, I must have missed that. I could've sworn I watched the whole thing. And I was just thinking earlier today that its too bad Disney can't just speak candidly instead of acting like controversy never exsisted. I'm glad to hear they at least confront the subject.

[disneyboy20022]

What is it with the Little mermaid and innapropriate things such as the first cover art for the video when The Little Mermaid was first released on video and this priest. I didn't even know about the priest until reading this post. I'd say if people are watching disney to spot stuff like this they are really watching it for the wrong reasons and I think that that people just are thinking way to hard and/or needs a new hobby very badly.

Perhaps the same guy who did the banned vhs cover art also did this to the priest?

I guess one may never know for sure....

[DisneyFanatic]

I'm very disappointed that the "happy" Priest was altered in the wedding. I know... I know, it was just his "knees"!

It kind of bugged me that they removed it. But I firmly beleive it was his knee, that is actually why it bugs me. Why remove something that is not dirty? maybe I'm the only one who thinks it was his knees and the only one it bugs...But I'm thrilled to finally have TLM on DVD I never had the limited ed (and I got the lithos, plushes, & pin stuff).