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

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 ...

feature film ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...

''. It is 1:41 minutes in length, while the version in the musical is about twice as long, with additional lyrics written by Glenn Slater. The song is written by Alan Menken and

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 ...

, sung by the Ship's Chorus, and was featured on the album '' The Little Mermaid - An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack''. The song later made a brief appearance in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season 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 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...

'', sung by a teenaged Ursula during a flashback.

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 filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and C ...

that thought in a film, unlike a

Broadway show Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

, audiences would be unwilling to watch a lengthy opening number. The extended sequence was meant to show that Ursula is

King Triton This article lists information of animated original characters from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'' franchise, covering the 1989 film, its prequel , its direct-to-video sequel and prequel films, and the stage musical adaptation. ''The Little ...

'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 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. Female merfolk may be referred to as mermaids, although in a strict sense mermaid ...

, 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, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes ass ...

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 Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

and

Prince Eric This article lists information of animated original characters from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'' franchise, covering the 1989 film, its prequel , its direct-to-video sequel and prequel films, and the stage musical adaptation. ''The Little ...

Composition

The song is a "rousing sea chanty".

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