I happened to pick up the new Little Mermaid DVD today. Reading the rather idiotic and completely anal review on a certain DVD site, and the sheep following said "reviewer" in agreement, I will tell you that doing a direct comparison with the previous release, the new DVD is just fine - a nice, colorful, anamorphic transfer with none of the softness they're complaining about other than what was intended by the filmmakers. And while it's regretful that Disney didn't include the original mix, the new one is also just fine (the older was a bit smoother to my ears). If you read this guy's "review" and see how he goes on about the size of his screen and the screen lengths he sits away from it and all this crap, you just scratch your head and wonder how people like that have devolved into these pedantic armchair know-it-alls - amateurs who, prior to DVD, knew nothing about anything, and people who were probably four when The Little Mermaid originally came out. Worse, of course, are the sheep who immediately say "Curse Disney, I'm not buying this!"
Well, don't buy it, nitwits.