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
The Little Shop of Horrors the film entering the public domain. Because of this, the film is widely available in copies of varying quality. The film was originally screened theatrically in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, but has largely only been seen in open matte at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 since its original theatrical release. The film's critical reception was largely favorable, with modern review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a "Tomatometer" score of 91%. "Variety" wrote, "The acting is pleasantly preposterous. [...] Horticulturalists and vegetarians will love it." Jack Nicholson, recounting the reaction to a screening of the film, states that