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How did Disney revive the animated musical with The Little Mermaid?

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Animated scene from The Wild Robot showing a round-eyed robot with a fox perched on its shoulder in a forest clearing. — Animation Scene from the 2024 science fiction animated film *The Wild Robot*, directed by Chris Sanders.

Disney revived the animated musical with the 1989 release of The Little Mermaid, which was widely considered the company's best animated effort in over 40 years.1

This resurgence was driven by a strategic collaboration between Walt Disney Studios and the creative team of composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman. After achieving success in theatre with Little Shop of Horrors, the duo was recruited by then-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg to develop an animated musical version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.2

The film’s success established a new template for Disney’s animation department, blending high-quality musical storytelling with the studio's traditional strengths in family entertainment. This triumph paved the way for a string of subsequent animated blockbusters, including Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, effectively revitalizing the medium of the animated musical for a new generation.21