Design Exploration: Disney's The Little Mermaid

For my first one, I chose to look at something I've been in love with for a very long time. I am a huge Disney fan, and I have found that some of the most interactive websites I have been to have been designed by Disney. This time, I was looking at the new movie just released: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.

When the page first opens, the world of Altantica is opened right away, and an introduction to major characters is started. The characters are interactive buttons, and when clicked on, a short character bio is brought up to be read, giving a quick look into some of the back story for this movie. The characters are ranged from most important, Ariel as the biggest, to not as important in the major plot, the band members as one of the smallest. Ranging the buttons by size lets the user subconsciously know that certain characters are more important to the plot and development of the movie vs. being secondary characters who help move things along.

The menu for the site is located at the bottom of the interactive area, allowing for easy access. The buttons have roll-over effects, and lighten up when the mouse is placed over them. This catches the user's attention, while still being subtle enough to not distract from the interaction above with the characters.

Disney has always been good at integrating mini games right into their websites, and this one is no exception. Already on the front page is a hunt for the seashells game. It isn't very noticeable, but it gets the user to notice it by flashing and extending an info bar when scrolled over. This game invites the user to go further into the site to find these other shells since they are not all located on the front page.

The website does have its drawbacks of course. The side bits seem a little crowded to me; however, it does get the point across that this is an ad for the new movie, not just a website to play around on. There is a photo of the movie and an order now button trying to entice people to buy the movie if they enjoyed the site. The ad however does not have much interaction, which is good as it doesn't lead the user to think that this goes into some other part of the website related to the Little Mermaid. This means that the user can concentrate on enjoying and exploring the website.

The theme of water is kept throughout the website, through its color scheme but also through the transitions between the pages. There is a wave effect placed on the background photo while the rest of the page is being loaded. The music placed throughout the site is also one that tends to lead to the thought of water when paired with the site. While this music also leads one to think of royalty, it is soothing to listen to, and doesn't distract from the overall feel of the site. The sound of bubbles popping when scrolling over a button also leads the user to a feel of water and being "under the sea". This also allows the user to know when a button is going to lead somewhere as it makes the popping sound when scrolled over.

Throughout this site, it is not forgotten that this is an ad for the movie itself. There is only just enough information supplied to entice the user into either looking for more, or making a purchase of the movie. It's a kid friendly site, which is good since kids do have an influence on parents, family, friends, etc if this movie is bought for them. Allowing the kids themselves to explore the city of Altantica is a way to market the movie to the people who are most likely to watch it.

All in all, this site is put together with very little animation in that things are moving everywhere, but with enough that it makes looking at the site fun. This helps in the selling of the movie, as well as just getting people onto the site and thus possibly other sites made and maintained by Disney.