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The Little Mermaid

Howard Ashman's "The Little Mermaid" was a Broadway musical disguised as a Disney cartoon. It then actually became a Broadway musical (briefly, with Sherie Rene Scott as the villainess). "Mermaid" will now return to the screen--as a live-on-TV event with Queen Latifah. (Why not?)

"Mermaid" won Ashman his first Oscar (not his last), and that Oscar went to "Under the Sea." The song was a kind of extended sales pitch: The speaker was trying (and failing) to get the titular mermaid to fall in love with aquatic life. Because of the song's success, Ashman rehashed its charms with "Be Our Guest" (another sales pitch), and rehashed its charms yet again with "Prince Ali" (Sales Pitch Three). "Guest" and "Ali" failed to win Oscars, though they both managed to generate attention, at least, from major prize-givers.

One thing to love in "Under the Sea" is its epigrammatic opening: "The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake. You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake." Clean, crisp, to the point. Providing a delightful spin on "grass is always greener, etc." And also confidently laying out the thesis of the song: Everything that follows will flow easily from these opening words.

That said, I think the reason Ashman won the Oscar is the song's bridge. Here, he is doing a kind of spin on Dr. Seuss. He is listing various concrete nouns having to do with the water, but also listing nouns having to do with orchestral music. With his exuberance, he is (additionally) getting little kids to fall in love with language. (I was one of those little kids.)

The newt play the flute...
The carp play the harp...
The plaice play the bass...
And they soundin' sharp...
The bass play the brass!
The chub play the tub!
The fluke is the duke of soul...

 To point out just a small fraction of the genius on display here: Who knows what "plaice" are? And who knows that the plural form of "plaice" is, also, "plaice"?

Underneath the words' literal meaning, Ashman is saying, "Hey, kids, the English language is a crazy playground. Get to know it. It will serve you well."

You can't really overstate the fact that Ashman left a major gift to the world. So: Enjoy Queen Latifah. Enjoy the show!
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