The Little Mermaid Last Song Syndrome, Why Doesn't Disney Make Catchy Songs Like These Anymore?

"Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun"

"The sea weed is always greener, in somebody else's lake, you dream about going up there but that is a big mistake"

I watched the Little Mermaid again last night with the kids, for the hundredth time since its release in 1989. And I woke up singing the tunes to Kiss The Girl while getting ready for work this morning, from the shower, to breakfast, to the ride to town. Yeah, why doesn't Disney make catchy songs like those anymore? "Go on and kiss the girl, whoow whow... Shalalala my oh, my, (forgot what goes here) nanananah nah why oh why, go on and kiss the girl"

It's embarrassing for me to admit that while I was having dinner at my godfather's house when I was only seven in Cagayan de Oro, I grabbed the fork and combed my hair with it. My Mom had her eyes wide open, and Papa was explaining that I was imitating what I saw at the movie. I was holding the dinglehopper in my left hand and lowered it next to my plate. Where's Sebastian? Oh yeah, one summer we went to the beach in Opol, and found a tiny white crab. I insisted on bringing him home because he was Sebastian. We housed him in a silver mixing bowl, to my mother's dismay and I put in sand and water for him. He disappeared the next day. He must have sneaked out to the river nearby and left a little princess wondering what happened to him. Either that or Papa just hid the fact that he died. I would never know what happened to my white Sebastian.

That time it was still in betamax. Later on, my parents acquired a VHS player, but didn't have a rewinder yet, so it was my uncle whose arms were beat from rewinding with a ballpen or pencil, a heavy VHS, my own copy of The Little Mermaid.

Never mind my parents, adults had to go to work, and I had my VHS of Little Mermaid to attend to. At least five times a day. Before and after nap time in the morning, afternoon, and before bedtime.

And yesterday, it was Little Mermaid again with the kids, for summer. "Under the sea, lalalala. Under the sea, darling it's better, down here it's greener, take it from me, eeeee..."

Who in the world doesn't love The Little Mermaid? Ursula is a better villain compared to Morgana, the sea witch who appears in the second part of the story. Ariel already has a daughter in it.

I didn't enjoy the second part when it came out as much as I did in my kindergarten years. I've honestly developed a sense of critiquing to what I see on television since those dinglehopper days.