One of my favorite movies is Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” recently released on DVD. This 1989 animated movie is an adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a mermaid who strove to become human to win the love of a prince, and was almost single-handedly responsible for redeeming the animated feature film industry. It heralded a long succession of enormously successful animated films, and became one of the bedrocks of Disney marketing. But while its success and cultural importance might be enough to bring it to anyone’s notice, it has myriad merits besides