The Little Mermaid's Banned VHS Cover Hides An Explicit Secret - Was It Intentional?

Despite the dark history behind "The Little Mermaid," it's the very definition of a Disney animated classic. Released in 1989, the film single-handedly launched the famed Disney Renaissance, and long after its release, it remains a beloved classic. In fact, Ariel (Jodi Benson) is still regarded as one of the best Disney characters of all time. Much of its fandom stems from its home media release, with households around the world having played the VHS over and over again back in the day. While this experience is near-universal for many who grew up fans in the '90s and 2000s, not all of their plastic VHS clamshell covers were the same.

In fact, a banned VHS "The Little Mermaid" cover holds quite an inappropriate and seemingly intentional secret. One of the towers atop King Triton's (Kenneth Mars) palace appears rather phallic, to say the least. In a now-deleted Instagram post (via Inquirer), Disney artist Dave Woodman discussed the infamous "Little Mermaid" cover and how it came to exist. Animator and producer Stephen Worth cited artist Ron Dias as the one responsible, claiming he included the questionable tower as an inside joke. However, he didn't have time to remove it before it was sent in to Disney. Surprisingly, even though the shape was pointed out, it got the stamp of approval from Disney brass, so it appeared on VHS tapes, posters, and more. "Ron shrugged his shoulders and said, 'If they don't care, I guess I don't either,'" Worth shared.

Eventually, parents took notice of the "Little Mermaid" VHS cover art's dirty secret, resulting in it being pulled and a non-explicit version replacing it. Nevertheless, the cover remains widely-discussed and laughed about in the modern day, and has even become a source of frustration in some circles.

Now, over 30 years past the initial VHS release of "The Little Mermaid," the banned cover has yet to be forgotten. Thanks to the Internet and social media, folks from around the globe have been able to share their memories of the cover. Of course, considering the cover's taboo nature, some online have wondered if this VHS is worth more than your average "Little Mermaid" tape. Others have even tried to cash in on the controversy, like the person Redditor u/Jowitness highlights in their thread who's trying to get a whopping $500 for it.

In reality, it's not among the extremely valuable VHS tapes potentially hiding in your closet. As many in a Reddit thread by u/JoZaJaB pointed out, it's pretty common and typically ranges in price from a few cents to a few dollars. "There's for some reason a common misconception that old Disney VHS tapes are worth money when they're so widely available that I can't walk down the street without tripping over a copy of Aladdin," added u/MarfeeWarfee, pointing out the all-too prevalent idea that Disney tapes in general are worth a fortune, especially the supposedly ultra-valuable "black diamond" tapes.

All these years later and the banned "Little Mermaid" VHS is still causing headaches. Back then it was parents concerned about exposing their kids to inappropriate imagery, now its VHS collectors concerned about people being scammed into paying obscene amounts of money for a near-worthless tape. How times have changed.