I remember the first thumbnail sketches, Benson tells EW of the first iterations of Ariel.

She had blonde hair.

She looked like one of the exaggerated faces from [the]Peter Panera.

She looked a little bit glamorous and a little bit mature to me.

He was like, The voice is what gives the character life,' Benson recalls Keane saying.

I was like, Oh, shes blonde.

Then it started to evolve, she explains.

I remember being like, Woah, shell be the first red-headed Disney princess, wow, thats big!

If were going to make that bold statement, then we need to just jump in.

When Benson signed on toThe Little Mermaid,she had never done voiceover work before.

For Benson, it was a bit of learning curve.

I was driving the engineers crazy, she giggles, Ariels bubbly laugh still instantly recognizable.

He played all the parts.

Because he knew them better than anybody else.

Especially when it comes to the vocals.

He could play all the parts and sing all the parts and interpret all the lyrics so beautifully.

Benson did have one significant factor in common with Ariel, however an affinity for water.

We moved to a house when I was four that had an indoor pool.

It was so fun.

I started swimming when I was four, so that was a no brainer, she laughs.

Having just worked with Howard on a Broadway show, it was not foreign, she explains.

I didnt realize this was something different.

That Disney had not participated in this throw in of creation process before.

But it was familiar to me coming from Broadway.

I just remember thinking, Oh my gosh, what would Walt think about all of this?'

His foundation of the studio is animation, and thats so sad.

I didnt have a clue to that.

One thing, however, stands out above the others when it comes to being associated with Ariel.

Im proud of her tenacious spirit.

I love the fact that she keeps knocking on doors even when theyre closed.

She keeps pushing forward without ever giving up, Benson muses.

I have that tenacity in me.

[I didnt know] what the heck I was talking about, but I was tenacious.

Ariel has been tenacious indeed being an iconic part of the Disney canon for three decades and counting.