While not a cast member per se, actress Sherri Stoner, right, was crucial to the creation of Ariel. A former member of the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, she was hired by Disney to pose and model for the animators working on Ariel. She even spent two days in a YMCA pool and a day in a water-filled test tank at Disney so animators could see how long hair behaves in water.

She later served as a model for Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" and went on to a career in producing and writing cartoons, including "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs," where she also provided the voice of Slappy Squirrel. She also co-wrote the screenplay for "Casper."