Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's 1989 animated film '' The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its sequel,

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

, and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

spinoff, as well as many other Disney works going up to the present day of the 2020s. Benson also filled in for Paige O'Hara as the voice of Belle in '' House of Mouse'' and voiced the character

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

in the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

and third films of the ''Toy Story'' franchise (1999–2010), and in the ''

Toy Story Toons ''Toy Story Toons'' is an American computer-animated series of short films based on the '' Toy Story'' franchise. The storylines of the series begin after '' Toy Story 3''. The films are set at Bonnie's house, the new home of Andy's toys. Three s ...

'' short '' Hawaiian Vacation'' (2011). For her contributions to Disney, Benson was named a Disney Legend in 2011. She also gave voice to the spirited "Weebo" in Disney's live action '' Flubber'', starring

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

. For Warner Bros., she did the voice of the title character in ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" i ...

'' in 1994, a

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including '' The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), '' An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...

animated feature film with songs by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include " Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", " I Write the Songs", " C ...

. Her other projects include '' Secret of the Wings'', '' Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure'', '' 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure'', '' Balto: Wolf Quest'', and '' Balto III: Wings of Change''. She appeared as Patrick Dempsey's assistant Sam in Disney's live-action feature film '' Enchanted''. While being a Disney Legend, she also voiced Jane Doe and Patsy Smiles in

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

's ''

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey that goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleback M ...

''. She also voiced the character Tula in

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

's animated series '' The Pirates of Dark Water''.

Personal life

Benson was born and raised in a Catholic environment, graduating from Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois, and

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in C ...

. She experienced a

religious conversion Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

while dating actor/singer Ray Benson (not to be confused with frontman

Ray Benson Ray Benson (born Ray Benson Seifert, March 16, 1951 - October 31st 2022) i Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel as well as an actor and voice actor. He Death In Car Crash Accident Biography In 1970, Benson, a native of Philadelphia, forme ...

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...

). The two of them later married in 1984. They have two children, McKinley and Delaney. An article originally published in 2013 by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said the couple "live north of Atlanta, GA."

Career

Benson made her debut in the 1983

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films ''Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', '' High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...

-directed " Marilyn: An American Fable". Other Broadway credits include a starring role in the 1986 Broadway musical ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

'', where she introduced a song called "Disneyland". In 1987,

Howard Ashman Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

, the lyricist of ''Smile'', would go on to write the lyrics for ''The Little Mermaid''. She describes the song "Disneyland" at the "Smile" Reunion concert held on September 22, 2014, "This is the first piece of the puzzle of my life, the first step of the journey, so to speak". Benson also sings "Disneyland" on a compilation CD called ''Unsung Musicals''. In 1989, Benson appeared in the Broadway musical, '' Welcome to the Club'', alongside Samuel E. Wright, who performed the voice for Sebastian the Crab in ''The Little Mermaid''. In 1992, Benson received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Polly Baker in '' Crazy For You''. She played the narrator in ''

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. ...

'' in 1998. In 2004-06, Benson became the host and narrator of the children's Christian home video series called "Baby Faith", created by Integrity Publishers & FamilyTreeMedia. Benson also played the Queen in a one-night concert version of Rodgers & Hammersteins ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in May 2010. She was at the 2012 SYTA conference singing her signature song "Part of Your World" on August 27, 2012. Benson has been the guest artist for the Candlelight Processional for five years at Walt Disney World including December 10–13, 2012. She joined the "2013 Spring Pops" on May 14–15, 2013 as a guest soloist with the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

. Benson can be heard on over a dozen recordings. Her animated TV series include the Emmy Award-winning ''

'' for the Cartoon Network, '' The Little Mermaid'', '' Batman Beyond'', '' The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy'', '' The Wild Thornberrys'', ''Barbie'', '' Hercules: Zero to Hero'', '' P. J. Sparkles'', and the series '' Sofia the First'' for Disney. On the concert stage, Benson has performed as a concert soloist with symphonies all over the world, including The Boston Pops, The Philly Pops (conductor: Peter Nero), The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (conductor: John Mauceri), The National Symphony (conductor: Marvin Hamlisch), Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo, and the San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies. She starred in the Kennedy Center Honors for Ginger Rogers, and in ''Disney's Premiere in Central Park with Pocahontas'', ''The Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Spectacular'' and ''Disney's 100 Years of Magic''. Benson is the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line and ambassador for feature animation. On June 6, 2016, Benson performed the role of Ariel at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

's concert performance of ''The Little Mermaid''. She also made a special appearance in ABC's 2019 live musical spectacular ''

The Little Mermaid Live! ''The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!'', or simply ''The Little Mermaid Live!'' is a musical television special created for ABC, based on the 1989 film ''The Little Mermaid''. It is produced by Done and Dusted and di ...

''The Little Mermaid''

In late 1986, Benson first heard of the audition for ''The Little Mermaid'' through lyricist and playwright

. The two had just worked together in the Broadway show ''

'' until its run ended early. He knew she would be the perfect fit for the role and that she would be a great replica of Ariel. After hearing the demo for "Part of Your World", she sang a small part of it on tape where it was later sent to Disney executives. Before her audition for ''The Little Mermaid'', she was primarily a stage actress. It was Ashman's first Disney project. In early 1988, Benson won the role of Ariel.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theme parks

Stage

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Jodi Benson at the Disney Legends Website

Performance
''Working in the Theatre'' seminar video at

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

.org, April 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Jodi 1961 births Actresses from Illinois Musicians from Rockford, Illinois American Christians American musical theatre actresses American voice actresses American film actresses American sopranos American video game actresses Audiobook narrators Living people Actors from Rockford, Illinois 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Christians 21st-century American actresses 21st-century Christians 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Traditional pop music singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers Hanna-Barbera people Disney people