Ariel (The Little Mermaid) some publications such as "Time" criticize her for being too devoted to Eric whereas others, such as "Empire", praise the character for her rebellious personality, a departure from previous Disney Princesses. Ariel was based on the title character of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid", but co-director and writer Ron Clements felt that the mermaid in the original story was too tragic and rewrote the character, resulting in Ariel. Jodi Benson, who was predominantly a stage actress, was chosen to voice Ariel because the directors felt "it was really important to have the same person doing the singing and speaking
The Little Mermaid (franchise) the writers of the successful Off-Broadway stage musical "Little Shop of Horrors", teamed up to compose the entire song score. The first film's soundtrack, "The Little Mermaid: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack" contains the songs from the film written by Menken and Ashman, as well as the film's score composed by Menken. The album received the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. As of February 2007, the album is certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA. In 2010, Rhapsody (online music service) called it one of the all-time great Disney and