"Fathoms Below" is the opening song from the 1989 animated

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feature film ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

''. A rousing

sea shanty A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ...

written by

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...

and

Howard Ashman Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950 – March 14, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist and stage director. He is most widely known for his work on feature films for Walt Disney Animation Studios, for which Ashman wrote the lyrics and Alan M ...

, the song is sung by the ship's crew on the film's original soundtrack. An extended version with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater appears in the 2008 stage adaptation of the musical. The song has since appeared in a 2015 episode of ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'', sung by a teenaged Ursula during a flashback, as well as the 2023 live-action adaptation of the film, sung by Prince Eric (

Jonah Hauer-King Jonah Andre Hauer-King (born 30 May 1995) is a British-American actor. He began acting while studying at St John's College, Cambridge. He is best known for playing List of The Little Mermaid characters#Prince_Eric, Prince Eric in Walt Disney Pi ...

) and the ensemble.

Production

Ashman decided to structure the opening sequence as an underwater montage, and so along with Menken wrote the song "Fathoms Below". The song was severely cut in size as

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

that thought in a film, unlike a Broadway show, audiences would be unwilling to watch a lengthy opening number. The extended sequence was meant to show that Ursula is King Triton's sister. The storyboarded and pencil animation of this can be found on YouTube. The song is featured in the

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attraction ''Electric Water Pageant''.

Synopsis

The "ship full of sailors first came onto the stage in the “Fathoms Below” number", and they sing about the mysteriousness of the deep blue sea, and mythical stories of the

merfolk Merfolk, Mercreatures, Mermen or Merpeople are legendary water-dwelling, human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world. Merfolk, Merpeople, or simply Mer refers to humanoid creatur ...

, such as "look out lad, a

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

be waiting for you". The song it introduces the film and the legend of the merfolk from the perspective of sailors reciting to Prince Eric and foreshadows the love story between Ariel and Prince Eric. In the 2023 live-action film, however, it is moved to after " Part of Your World" when Ariel discovers Eric's ship amidst the fireworks being launched from it and observes Eric's birthday celebration before the storm.

Reception

Filmtracks wrote that "of the seven songs in "The Little Mermaid", the first two ''Fathoms Below'' and '' Daughters of Triton'' are weaker ensemble pieces that cannot compete with the lengthier production numbers that follow". In regard to the former song, the site added "The working voices of 'Fathoms Below' are strong both in their representation of the sailors and in their recording quality. Had this song been expanded for the film as it would be for the Broadway show, it could have been a hit." While describing the film's album as "flat and dull", it noted "Only the vocals in "Fathoms Below" and some of the percussion in "Jig" seem to exhibit a three-dimensional sound". Reviewing the Broadway musical, Variety wrote "“Under the Sea” would have been a more obvious scene-setting opener than the ho-hum sea chanty “Fathoms Below,” expanded from a few throwaway bars in the film".

References

{{authority control 1989 songs Songs with music by Alan Menken Songs with lyrics by Howard Ashman Songs from The Little Mermaid (franchise) Disney Renaissance songs Song recordings produced by Alan Menken Song recordings produced by Howard Ashman