"That's Why It's Hotter Under the Water"

The Broadway bound The Little Mermaid begins its out of town tryouts tomorrow in Denver so expect opinions to start flooding the web. Before the stage version is upon us and we're all rethinking the adaptation of the Disney adaptation of the famous fairy tale, I wanted to pimp my earlier piece on this Disney revivifying toon in case any readers missed it back in December.

I'm like a proud papa... or mama rather; it was a long painful labor squeezing that article out.

...it's easier and more appropriate to read The Little Mermaid as a hormonally addled sexual awakening fable. Ariel does writhe around ecstatically in a bikini but the pleasure she's imaging is inchoate. She (and Disney) is just growing up. It's worth noting that this signature song is not initially about a man. She will meet Prince Eric in the next scene and he will give shape to her longing. The song gains its true title "Part of Your World" [italices mine -ed] only in reprise, after Ariel rescues Eric from drowning. She caresses his face and sings it to him, her desire now tangible. To have him, to grow up, she must become human. This becomes her goal but it's also a frightening journey. The moment her wish is granted is telling, played as it is for sheer terror with thunderbolt flashes of light, her fin splitting --legs opening. What has this young girl done?!

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I'm doubtful that a Broadway version aimed at the tourists will be as rich with subtext as the animated film but we'll see. Break a le--- er, fin.

Blog News: I am leaving town for a few days for some sun and sand and I had planned to blog as I travelled. Unfortunately my laptop died a not entirely swift & not entirely painless death so I am turning over the reigns to some ol' reliables. You know their work: gratuitous JA from My New Plaid Pants, actressexual icon StinkyLulu and the one and only Nick Davis (OMG. He lives! --it's almost worth quitting for a few days just to hear from him again) will all be popping in to chat movies in my absence.