Will be released by Discotek Media uncut for the first time on DVD in 2015 in North America.
Among the similarities with Disney's version, both title mermaids have animal best friends (Fritz and Flounder) and a green tail; the protagonist and her friend venture through wrecked ships in both versions; early drafts featured a male dolphin sidekick named Breaker, which was cut from the film while his curious traits were incorporated into Ariel; their fathers are similar in appearance; and the Sea Witch is colored black and purple. The animated series for Disney's The Little Mermaid features the Evil Manta, which slightly resembles the Sea Witch from this film (a giant devil ray). An early conceptual art actually had Ursula being a human-manta hybrid. Furthermore, Marina is a blonde - just like Ariel was supposed to look like before producers decided on her being a redhead.
The film has live action shots of Denmark, in the beginning and ending of the movie. This is where the author Hans Christian Andersen is from and it shows us the little mermaid statue in copenhagen.
Riffed in 2023 for Rifftrax by MST3K alums Kevin Murphy, Michael J. Nelson and Bill Corbett.