Oh, Howard...

Today I'm going to see the Little Mermaid with my wymen. But now I'm going to go see it not just because I can make the racists mad when the movie rakes in all the money (every ticket counts, no?) but because over the weekend I watched Howard, the documentary Disney+ has about lyricist Howard Ashman and I learned that he was the genius behind The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and Beast and.. The Little Shop of Horrors (which I lurrve!).

Yeah, I know the Little Mermaid is probably a little too long, the special effects are probably a little heavy handed, Ursula's make up is busted and Miranda's style of writing may not be exactly like Ashman's but I know that already. I'm going for the fun and music. And to look at the prince.

But hear me out: Disney+ was gonna yank the documentary. Just right before the new movie premiered. @daveleedwnundr has the tea:

And I said 'was' because after people -rightfully- complained, Disney+ has 'decided' to leave the documentary up. It was kinda a slap on the face that Disney+ was going to remove his documentary during Pride Month. Right when the new movie was coming out. Bu that's corporations for you. Howard Ashman kinda literally unstuck Disney with some of the most beloved animated movies/musicals by almost everybody and this was how the corporation was going to pay him: my removing this documentary from its lineup.

Yep, that 'Part of your World' song was not just about a mermaid. It was written by a gay man who put his whole soul into a song that most children (and many an adult) can sing almost from beginning to end. When he wrote it he had recently learned that he had AIDS (which was a death sentence back then), was living with his male partner (who helped him during his last years) with whom he had built their ideal house and he was inspired by a Drag Queen (Divine) to create Ursula and wrote about a daughter rebelling against her father. Very Woke, if you ask me...

So if you are not going to go see The Little Mermaid with your girlfriends/nephews/nieces/assorted family children close to you, then make sure you watch this documentary. It's fantastic. The amount of work. The dedication. The talent. Howard Ashman was taken too soon. But at least we have this documentary to remind us of his genius.

XOXO

P.S. It's only on Disney+ but if know anybody with that streaming service, invite yourself to watch the documentary. And don't forget to bring popcorn. It's the polite thing to do...