Sotiris wrote:That's so cool! Do you you still have access to that correspondence? It'd be interesting to read what he thought of it back then.
Sorry, I wish I did! Unfortunately, I no longer have access to that email address; and as this was over 20 years ago, I don't even remember the name of the animator. I can paraphrase the parts I remember, though.
He described the story as an unnecessary “soap opera” with the way Ursula’s “crazy sister” is introduced. Way too convenient since they couldn’t logically bring Ursula back, but of course Pat Carroll is amazing and they wanted to include her voice.
He also felt it was partially a rehash of the first film, and I asked how since Melody is too young for it to be a love story (again, this was all before the movie was released so I didn’t know anything other than it focused on Ariel’s preteen-ish daughter). So I asked if it isn’t about love, what does it focus on? He answered with something like, “heritage, I guess. Learning who she is and where she’s from.”
Something I recall him talking about was that the studio shared an amazing video with their artists that worked on Ariel and Melody. It was of Glen Keane explaining who she is as a character and how to animate her properly. I mused that I would love to see that video, and he pointed out that even if he still had access to it, Disney would likely go on a witch hunt if it was ever leaked, lol.
I wish I could remember more! If anything returns to me, I’ll add it to this thread.