This wonderfully illustrated 1968 Russian animation is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. It begins with a Copenhagen tour guide’s introduction to Andersen’s story, and unfolds to show us the rest of the story, which is not quite the same as the Disney version. As is often the case with re-imagined fairy tales, the older tale is much darker. Much of the imagery in this animation is also dark, yet magical, as you can see in this beautiful night scene.
The Little Mermaid was directed by Ivan Aksenchuk with music by Aleksandr Lokshin and cinematography by Mikhail Druyan. The talking voice of The Little Mermaid is played by Nina Gulyayeva, and Viktoriya Ivanova is the singing voice of The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid was released by Soyuzmultfilm.
