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 (1989 film) cut from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" when appealing to Katzenberg. Keane pushed for the song to remain until the film was in a more finalized state. During a second test screening, the scene, now colorized and further developed, tested well with a separate child audience, and the musical number was kept. The film was originally released on November 17, 1989, followed by re-release on November 14, 1997. After the success of the 3D re-release of "The Lion King", Disney announced a 3D re-release of "The Little Mermaid" scheduled for September 13, 2013, but this was cancelled on January 14,