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Short family animated film

The Little Mermaid (1968): Cast & Plot

The Little Mermaid (1968) movie poster

The Little Mermaid is a 1968 short family animated film directed by Ivan Aksenchuk, starring Anatoliy Papanov as The Guide (voice), Lidiya Korolyova and Yuliya Yulskaya. It runs 28 minutes.

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The Little Mermaid (1968) movie poster
Release year
Runtime
28 min
Director
Ivan Aksenchuk
Genres
Family , Animation , Fantasy
Original language
Russian
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is The Little Mermaid About?

The premise of The Little Mermaid without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

Set in modern Copenhagen, tourists gather around the Little Mermaid statue as a guide explains its story. A fish beneath them scoffs and begins recounting the mermaid’s love. On her fifteenth birthday she surfaces, sees a prince battling a storm, saves him and declares that the beautiful and brave should not die, leading her to wish to become human.

The Little Mermaid Themes & Keywords

· 50 tags
  • mermaid
  • courage
  • kindness
  • sculpture
  • bay
  • guide
  • fairy tale
  • ship
  • significance
  • fish
  • birthday
  • foolishness
+38 more
  • storm
  • ocean
  • rescuer
  • sea foam
  • desperation
  • messenger
  • embankment
  • sea bottom
  • crystal palace
  • potion
  • fish tail
  • reckoning
  • dance
  • voice
  • dawn
  • first ray of sun
  • price
  • perdition
  • wedding
  • ornamentation
  • crown
  • dread
  • agony
  • leg
  • magical boat
  • monk
  • obstacle
  • tourist
  • the little mermaid character
  • good old days
  • love at first sight
  • magic vessel
  • copenhagen denmark
  • young prince
  • danish capital
  • neighboring kingdom
  • sea witch
  • love story
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Cast & crew

The Little Mermaid Cast & Characters

Anatoliy Papanov leads the cast as The Guide (voice), with Lidiya Korolyova as The Fish Guide (voice) and Yuliya Yulskaya as The Sea Witch (voice). Directed by Ivan Aksenchuk; 7 actors are credited in all.

Also Starring in The Little Mermaid

· 3 more
From the director

More from Ivan Aksenchuk

More films directed by Ivan Aksenchuk: Nevermind The Grief, Frost Ivanovich, Cinderella and Ilya Muromets and Highwayman Nightingale.

Full filmography
Plot

The Little Mermaid Plot Summary

What happens in The Little Mermaid from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 12 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 3-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

As the story opens, a busful of tourists are touring Copenhagen. Their The Guide draws their attention to a beautiful statue at Langelinie. But the scene quickly shifts beneath the waves, where a wry fish narrator teases the human belief that love can truly last, telling the tale to several smaller fish as the camera glides into an underwater realm.

A galleon founders on a rough sea, and its young captain, a prince, struggles to keep the ship from harm before he finally succumbs to the waves. From an alabaster palace beneath the sea, four mermaid princesses rise: the three older sisters dressed in blue bestow a vivid red cloak on their younger sister, signaling the protagonist’s fate with a subtle, symbolic gesture.

Full summary

The whole story of The Little Mermaid, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Quiz

How Well Do You Know The Little Mermaid?

10 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 10

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered
  10. Question 10: not answered

What city do the tourists begin their tour of in the opening scene?

Details

The Little Mermaid Also Known As

10 alternative titles, including “Rusalochka” and “La Piccola Sirenetta”.

Also known as
  • Rusalochka
  • La Piccola Sirenetta
  • A Pequena Sereia
  • La sirenita
  • La Petite Sirène
  • 海的女儿
  • Η μικρή γοργόνα
  • La sirenetta
  • Küçük Denizkızı
  • Rusalochka (la Petite Sirène)

Seen The Little Mermaid?

FAQ

The Little Mermaid FAQ: Cast, Runtime & Release Date

Runtime, release date, director, cast, post-credit scenes and language of The Little Mermaid, each answered in a sentence.

How long is The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid runs 28 minutes.

When was The Little Mermaid released?

The Little Mermaid was released in 1968.

Who directed The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid was directed by Ivan Aksenchuk.

More films by Ivan Aksenchuk

Who is in the cast of The Little Mermaid?

The Little Mermaid stars Anatoliy Papanov as The Guide (voice), Lidiya Korolyova as The Fish Guide (voice) and Yuliya Yulskaya as The Sea Witch (voice), among 7 credited actors.

Does The Little Mermaid have a post-credit scene?

No. The Little Mermaid has no extra scene during or after the credits.

What language is The Little Mermaid in?

The original language of The Little Mermaid is Russian.

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