It91裸聊视频檚 not uncommon for people to just look at Jodi Benson and burst into tears.
Sometimes they hyperventilate or scream. But mostly they break down and start sobbing. Benson will hold them, heaving in her arms, and pat their back gently.
Benson isn91裸聊视频檛 a household name but for many she91裸聊视频檚 an intimate part of their childhood. She supplied the singing and speaking voice of Ariel, the heroine of the 1989 animated Disney hit 91裸聊视频淭he Little Mermaid,91裸聊视频� which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Benson says she will sometimes watch as the stunned movie91裸聊视频檚 fans virtually go back in time in front of her. 91裸聊视频淚t triggers a memory for them,91裸聊视频� she says.
91裸聊视频淭hey remember who they were with when they saw the movie the first time. Maybe that sibling is no longer with them, that grandparent is no longer with them. It reminds them of a relationship that had been broken with a parent. So they have all sorts of emotions that go on.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭he Little Mermaid 91裸聊视频� has changed a lot of lives, not least of which is Benson91裸聊视频檚, who has continued to perform Ariel virtually every weekend in concerts as well as on film in the 91裸聊视频淲reck-It Ralph91裸聊视频� franchise.
91裸聊视频淭he Little Mermaid91裸聊视频� also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut and reviving the art form. Many believe we91裸聊视频檇 never have Anna and Elsa from 91裸聊视频淔rozen91裸聊视频� without first having Ariel.
91裸聊视频淒isney was starting to get into a groove that would continue, but I feel like a lot of that started with 91裸聊视频楢 Little Mermaid,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� says Ron Clements, who co-wrote and co-directed the film.
Benson was a rising Broadway star when Ariel came into her orbit. She had been in a short-lived musical 91裸聊视频淪mile91裸聊视频� when Howard Ashman, the musical91裸聊视频檚 lyricist and story writer, invited the out-of-work cast to audition for his next project, an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淭he Little Mermaid.91裸聊视频�
Producers wanted the singing and speaking voice to be supplied by the same actress. So Benson, a lyric soprano, sang the signature 91裸聊视频淧art of Your World91裸聊视频� on a reel-to-reel tape and was handed a few of pages of dialogue.
91裸聊视频淚 ran into the ladies91裸聊视频� room,91裸聊视频� she recalls 91裸聊视频渁nd waited for everybody to get out of the stalls and started talking to the mirror, sort of trying to come up with what would she sound like at 16.91裸聊视频�
Benson, it turned out, was a master mimic. She had spent countless hours in her room as a child with her guitar, singing along to records by Barbra Streisand, Carole King, James Taylor as well as Marvin Hamlisch91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淎 Chorus Line.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚 would start to just sing like them. But it wasn91裸聊视频檛 like I was trying to be them. It91裸聊视频檚 just that91裸聊视频檚 what I heard. And so that91裸聊视频檚 just what you do. You just sound like what you been listening to,91裸聊视频� she says.
A year or so after auditioning for Ariel, she got the call that she91裸聊视频檇 won the role. 91裸聊视频淚 completely forgot that I had auditioned,91裸聊视频� she says. Back then, voiceover work wasn91裸聊视频檛 very glamorous and big celebrities wouldn91裸聊视频檛 consider it.
91裸聊视频淚t wasn91裸聊视频檛 a good job. Doing voiceovers was what you would do when your career was on the back half, when it was tanking,91裸聊视频� says Benson. She thought Ariel would be just another notch on her resume. It was not.
91裸聊视频淭hings just changed overnight,91裸聊视频� she says.
Propelled by such Alan Menken songs as 91裸聊视频淯nder the Sea91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淜iss the Girl,91裸聊视频� the film won two Grammys and earned three Academy Award nominations. It was critically acclaimed, with Roger Ebert calling it a 91裸聊视频渏olly and inventive animated fantasy,91裸聊视频� and would go to earn $211 million worldwide. Parents of children with learning disabilities have told Benson their child91裸聊视频檚 first words were from the film.
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A live-action remake is in the works, featuring new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created 91裸聊视频淗amilton.91裸聊视频� He loved the 1989 animated film so much its partly the reason he named his first child Sebastian 91裸聊视频� the mermaid91裸聊视频檚 crab friend.
It was the kind of hit that Clements and his animators at Disney had long been hoping for. He had started at Disney in 1974 and was part of a new generation of artists trying to change the notion that animation was just for kids.
Clements had pitched a two-page treatment of the musical to then-studio head Michael Eisner and was given the green light. For Clements and his partner, John Musker, the stakes were high: It was the first fairy tale Disney had done for some three decades.
91裸聊视频淭here was a feeling 91裸聊视频� all through 91裸聊视频楲ittle Mermaid91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� that this film had potential to be the film that could break through and work the way we were all hungry for and hoping for,91裸聊视频� recalls Clements, who went on to co-direct 91裸聊视频淎laddin91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淗ercules.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚t was really, really gratifying that it did break through. It broke through the stigma that animated films were just for kids. It became a date movie. People started taking Disney animation seriously again.91裸聊视频�
Over the past 30 years, Ariel has become the bridge between classic princesses like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and modern ones like Mulan and Merida. And Benson has become the official Ariel ambassador, tapped to do sequels, video games and shorts, in addition to voicing other characters like Barbie in the 91裸聊视频淭oy Story91裸聊视频� franchise.
Her arms are always open to fans and she91裸聊视频檚 now welcoming the fourth generation to 91裸聊视频淭he Little Mermaid.91裸聊视频� So feel free to cry on her shoulder.
91裸聊视频淚t doesn91裸聊视频檛 feel like a job. It just feels like a way of life more than more than anything else,91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淵ou have this multigenerational moment that families can share together. And I get to be a small piece of the puzzle of their story.91裸聊视频�
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
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