Disney’s hand-drawn tale of a mermaid who longs for the human world was made at Walt Disney Feature Animation in California, kicking off the Disney Renaissance.
Where was The Little Mermaid made?
The Little Mermaid is a hand-drawn Disney animated film, created by Walt Disney Feature Animation in California – not filmed on location. Its undersea kingdom is invented.
How The Little Mermaid was made
The studio – California
Walt Disney Feature Animation drew the film at its California studios.
Hand-drawn animation
Artists painted the film by hand, cel by cel, in the traditional Disney style.
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker
The pair adapted the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
An undersea world
The story unfolds in the imagined mermaid kingdom of Atlantica.
Where you can go instead
There is no Atlantica to visit, but the film is credited with launching the “Disney Renaissance” of the 1990s – a real turning point in animation history.
