Jodi Benson


Jodi Marie Benson is an American actress, voice actress and singer. She is best known for providing both the speaking and the singing voice of Disney's Princess Ariel in The Little Mermaid and its sequel, prequel, and television series spinoff. Benson voiced the character Barbie in the 1999 Golden Globe-winning movie Toy Story 2 and its 2010 Academy Award-winning sequel Toy Story 3. She also voiced Barbie in the Toy Story cartoon Hawaiian Vacation. For her contributions to the Disney company, Benson was named a Disney Legend in 2011.
She also gave voice to the spirited "Weebo" in Disney's live action Flubber, starring Robin Williams. For Warner Bros., she created the voice of Thumbelina in 1994, a Don Bluth animated feature film with songs by Barry Manilow. Her other projects include Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings, ', ', ', ', , and Balto III: Wings of Change. She appeared as Patrick Dempsey’s assistant Sam, in Disney’s live-action feature film Enchanted. While being a Disney Legend, she also voiced Jane Doe and Patsy Smiles in Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo. She also voiced the character Tula in Fox's animated series The Pirates of Dark Water.

Personal life

Benson was born and raised in a Catholic environment, graduating from Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois, and Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.
She experienced a religious conversion while dating actor/singer Ray Benson. The two of them later married in 1984. They have two children, McKinley and Delaney. An article originally published in 2013 by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said the couple "live north of Atlanta, Ga."

Career

Benson made her debut in the 1975 Kenny Ortega-directed "". Other Broadway credits include a starring role in the Broadway musical Smile, where she introduced a song called "Disneyland". In 1983, Howard Ashman, the lyricist of Smile, would go on to write the lyrics for The Little Mermaid. She describes the song "Disneyland" at the "Smile" Reunion concert held on Sept. 22, 2014, "This is the first piece of the puzzle of my life, the first step of the journey, so to speak". Benson also sings "Disneyland" on a compilation CD called Unsung Musicals. In 1989, Benson appeared in the Broadway musical, Welcome to the Club, alongside Samuel E. Wright, who performed the voice for Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid.
In 1992, Benson received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Polly Baker in Crazy For You. She played the narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1998.
Benson also played the Queen in a one-night concert version of Rodgers & Hammersteins Cinderella at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in May 2010.
She was at the 2012 SYTA conference singing her signature song “Part of Your World” on August 27, 2012.
Benson has been the guest artist for the Candlelight Processional for five years at Walt Disney World including December 10–13, 2012.
She joined the "2013 Spring Pops" on May 14–15, 2013 as a guest soloist with the Boston Pops.
Benson can be heard on over a dozen recordings and has a six-part DVD series entitled Baby Faith from the creators of Baby Einstein. Her animated TV series include the Emmy Award-winning Camp Lazlo for the Cartoon Network, The Little Mermaid, Batman Beyond, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Wild Thornberrys, Barbie, , P. J. Sparkles, and the series Sofia the First for Disney.
On the concert stage, Benson has performed as a concert soloist with symphonies all over the world, including The Boston Pops, The Philly Pops, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The National Symphony, Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo, and the San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies. She starred in the Kennedy Center Honors for Ginger Rogers, and in Disney's Premiere in Central Park with Pocahontas, The Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Spectacular and Disney's 100 Years of Magic. Benson is the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line and ambassador for feature animation.
On June 6, 2016, Benson performed the role of Ariel at the Hollywood Bowl's concert performance of The Little Mermaid. She also made a special appearance in ABC's 2019 live musical spectacular The Little Mermaid Live!

''The Little Mermaid''

In late 1986, Benson first heard of the audition for The Little Mermaid through lyricist and playwright Howard Ashman. The two had just worked together in the Broadway show Smile until its run ended early. He knew she would be the perfect fit for the role and that she would be a great replica of Ariel. After hearing the demo for "Part of Your World", she sang a small part of it on tape where it was later sent to Disney executives. Before her audition for The Little Mermaid, she was primarily a stage actress. It was Ashman's first Disney project. In early 1988, Benson won the role of Ariel.

Filmography

Live-action

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991HunterPolice officerTV series
1997Caroline in the CityMotherTV series
2003The Brotherhood of Poland, New HampshireChoir SoloistTV series
2007EnchantedSam
2019The Little Mermaid Live!HerselfSpecial

Animation

Direct-to-video

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Why Christmas Trees Aren't PerfectPrincess ArabellaVoice
1992Disney Sing Along Songs: Friend Like MePrincess ArielVoice, archive footage
1994Disney Sing Along Songs: Circle of LifePrincess ArielVoice, archive footage
1995Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney WorldPrincess ArielVoice, live action
1995Guideposts JunctionHerselfA six-part Christian video series for children
1998BlablalandLola Pesto

Video games

YearTitleVoice roleNotes
1997Ariel's Story StudioPrincess Ariel
1998A Bug's LifeAtta
1999Disney's Arcade FrenzyPrincess Ariel
2000Grandia IIMillenia
2000Disney's Aladdin in Nasira's RevengeNasira
2002Kingdom HeartsPrincess ArielEnglish dub
2004'Voice of Mother
2005Kingdom Hearts IIPrincess ArielEnglish dub
2007'Princess Ariel
2011Kinect Disneyland AdventuresPrincess Ariel
2012Disney Princess: My Fairytale AdventurePrincess Ariel
2012Princess Ariel
2016Disney Magical World 2Princess Ariel

Theme park attractions

YearTitleRoleNotes
2003Mickey's PhilharMagicPrincess ArielVoice role

Discography

YearAlbumNotes
1990The Little Mermaid Soundtrack
1991Precious Moments Timmy's GiftPerformed the song, Starlight Theme
1991Jodi Benson Sings Songs From the Beginner's Bible I
1992Jodi Benson Sings Songs From the Beginner's Bible II
1992The Little Mermaid: Splash Hits
1992Crazy for You Cast Recording
1993'
1994Unsung Musicals
1994Thumbelina Soundtrack
1995Songs of Guideposts Junction
1996Hollywood ChristmasVarious artists
2000'
2004
2004Disney Princess Music Hits
2005Disneys Princess Christmas Album
2005Disney Princess Tea Party
2006Ultimate Disney Princess

Awards and nominations