As I swam lazily through the sapphire water, I reflected
back on my life. I’d achieved many things: long swims across open ocean, dalliances
with beautiful turtlesses, and a small home on an exotic beach. But those feats
are but sand on the sea bottom compared to my greatest success, writing The
Little Mermaid for Disney.
A lot of people think Ron Clements and John Musker wrote
the story, and that’s sort of true. You see, I’m John Musker. At least, that’s
my penname. I actually gave the original tale to Mr. Andersen, but that’s
another story.
Ronnie and I were having some beers, discussing some
pitches for Disney when Andersen came up. I don’t remember how. I suggested he
do The Little Mermaid, to which he responded the ending was too sad.
“No problem,” I told him. “I can rewrite it, drop in a
few contemporary characters, maybe some musical numbers, and there we go.”
“The studio won’t take it without a name on it,” he told
me.
“So put your name on it too. I’m a turtle. What would I
do with the money anyways?”
We worked out a few more details and before long, it was
approved and underway. The project ran into a few snags here and there, but
ultimately the addition of Sebastian and the Caribbean music, at the suggestion
of Howard Ashman, really tied the whole thing together.
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