10 Hidden Details In Movie Closing Scenes
3. The Little Mermaid - First Use Of CAPS Technology
For those who aren't aware of what the Computer Animation Production System (or CAPS) actually was, it's probably best described as the next step in animation. Or at least it was back in 1989 when it was used in a feature film for the first time.
This new digital ink and paint system was designed to help make colouring in lines and enclosed areas easier, whilst also introducing more detail, blended colours, transparent shading and other advanced techniques when creating animated features from there on out.
In the end, the film which first saw CAPS technology realised on the big screen was Disney's The Little Mermaid and this moment came during the film's closing sequence when Ariel floats away on a boat with her new husband Eric.
We see a sea full of mermaids, along with Ariel's father King Triton, Sebastian and Flounder, waving her goodbye as a rainbow appears overhead.
It may have only been a single shot, but this opened the door for the technology to be used in countless other Disney movies following The Little Mermaid, such as Brother Bear, Lilo & Stitch, Tarzan, Mulan and The Lion King to name but a few.