DVDizzy Forum

A friend of mine says that she saw a trailer years ago on a Disney video that was very much like a pre-production thing which showed Ariel as a blonde. I'm wondering if this trailer exists, and if so, which video it was on. I imagine it's from 1988.

I have most of the Disney VHS tapes released during the late 80's, and while there's a trailer for the film on some of them, it's definitely a finished trailer. Could your friend, perhaps, be confusing the Disney version with this version? It's a fairly well-known rendition, so it's very possible that she could've run into a trailer for this one.

I really want to see the old little mermaid trailer from the 80's! most of the places on the net have the 1997 re-release trailer but i really want to see the old one!
if anyone knows where to watch it on the net, or can capture it from an old video, let me know! im dying to see it again!

If I get that VHS, I will capture the movie and upload it like I did with Small One and Ringing Bell

Siren wrote:If I get that VHS, I will capture the movie and upload it like I did with Small One and Ringing Bell

YAY! I think it would be on Bambi, Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan or Rescuers Down Under (classic editions that is)

I'm positive that it's on both Bambi and The Rescuers Down Under. Peter Pan and Jungle Book are also possibilities (I can check later and verify it).

I know there's an early trailer on the Black Diamond Bambi VHS and a video release promo on the Black Diamond Peter Pan VHS. I'd love to see those again. But this chick is convinced she saw a preproduction trailer on a Disney VHS her friend had from around that time with a blonde Ariel.

I know that the trailer that I have seen for The Little Mermaid from the late 80s early 90s didn't have any production shots; it was pretty much like the Aladdin trailer as it showcased shots of previous Disney films (in this case the old classics like Snow White saying that Mermaid would stand alongside those films) and then went onto showcasing movie clips. I have, however, seen trailers like what my chicken is infected has described for Pocahontas and The Lion King (the Lion King and Aladdin videos in the UK contain these trailers, I remember) which show bits of the movie and production, so there may well be a similar thing for The Little Mermaid where they show some concept art of Ariel with blonde hair. But we never know.

I'm not 100% sure, but I thougth Katzenberg made sure early on during production Ariel's hair would be red. I don't recall it ever being considered blonde. There is some pre-production work of a Little Mermaid segment that was considered for the original Fantasia wich had the Little Mermaid as a blonde. I believe it was later considered by Walt Disney for a feature as well. But I always thought the 80's version we know and love showed Ariel with red hair. Suposedly to set her apart from earlier Disney princesses.

Siren wrote:If I get that VHS, I will capture the movie and upload it like I did with Small One and Ringing Bell

Wow that'd be awesome! I'm dying to see it.

siren, is it possible to download the small one from u? somewhere?

Wonderlicious wrote:I know that the trailer that I have seen for The Little Mermaid from the late 80s early 90s didn't have any production shots; it was pretty much like the Aladdin trailer as it showcased shots of previous Disney films (in this case the old classics like Snow White saying that Mermaid would stand alongside those films) and then went onto showcasing movie clips. I have, however, seen trailers like what my chicken is infected has described for Pocahontas and The Lion King (the Lion King and Aladdin videos in the UK contain these trailers, I remember) which show bits of the movie and production, so there may well be a similar thing for The Little Mermaid where they show some concept art of Ariel with blonde hair. But we never know.

I am even more certain that the trailer your friend saw was one that included bits of production now that I've seen some of the original concept art of Ariel escaping the shark at the start of the movie where she has blonde hair; I was in a second hand book shop yesterday and saw this in the big, hardback edition (not the abridged paperback which I've got ) of the Art of Walt Disney.

I've seen concept art of The LIttle Mermaid as a blonde somewhere, but I believe it was from the era that Walt Disney was alive.

In fact, I just paged through [my miniature version of] "The Art of The Little Mermaid" book and couldn't find one picture of her as a blonde.

This may get a little bit off-topic but I'll still say it since it's basiclly the same idea. Was Ballo in The Jungle Book going to be brown? I'm saying this because on a very old poster I saw Ballo brown. So was he ever brown?

Timon/Pumba fan wrote:This may get a little bit off-topic but I'll still say it since it's basiclly the same idea. Was Ballo in The Jungle Book going to be brown? I'm saying this because on a very old poster I saw Ballo brown. So was he ever brown?

it's just as likely that the artist coloring the poster made a mistake. there are tons and tons of old disney merchandise with wrong colors and off-model characters.