The Little Mermaid Jr. swim away after Ariel takes Ursula's nautilus shell. Music by Alan Menken and All Lyrics by Glenn Slater, The Little Mermaid Jr. The Little Mermaid Jr. is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (written for the film), with additional lyrics by Glenn
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) Disney's strongest villain in decades. Meanwhile, Carroll's performance has garnered similar acclaim to the point that the role has eclipsed her previous body of work, ultimately becoming virtually synonymous with the character. At the behest of Disney executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, director and screenwriter Ron Clements was among several filmmakers instructed to research new story ideas that could potentially be adapted into the studio's next major animated film release. Clements first discovered Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" at a local bookstore, and began deliberating why Disney had never attempted to adapt the story before.