Jodi Benson (born October 10, 1961) is an American voice actress and singer. She is known for providing both the singing and the speaking voice of Disney's Princess Ariel in The Little Mermaid and its sequels. In 2002 and 2006, she reprised the role of Ariel in the English versions of the Kingdom Hearts series.
Benson was born Jodi Marzorati in Rockford, Illinois. She attended Boylan Catholic High School and Millikin University, and currently lives in north Georgia with her husband Ray Benson, both of whom are Christians, and their two children. Benson became a Christian through her husband-to-be, Ray Benson, at the age of 18.
Benson has become well-known in popular culture for providing the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. She even parodied this later when she provided the voice for the character of Ann Darrow in The Mighty Kong - Ann sang and swam through the water with her hair flowing about her in an Ariel-like way. She also provided the voice for a character called Aquagirl in a two-part episode of Batman Beyond. In an interview with Christians in Cinema, Benson said that winning the role of Ariel was God-ordained. She has also said that she never gets tired of singing her signature song, "Part of Your World".
Benson has also done voice-overs in video games. She played Ariel again in the video games Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. She was also in Grandia II where she was the American voice actress for Millenia. From its premiere in 2005 to its end in 2008, Benson did voice work for the Emmy Award-winning Cartoon Network animated series, Camp Lazlo, as the characters Patsy Smiles, Scoutmistress Jane Doe and Almondine the Owl.
Benson played Cloe in The Save-Ums in 2007 and had a small role as "Sam" in Disney's Enchanted as a tribute to Ariel.
In non-Disney films, Benson was a voice actress for Don Bluth's version of Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, voicing the title character. She performed many songs in this film, including a duet with Gary Imhoff in "Let Me Be Your Wings".
On The 1998 VHS of The Little Mermaid, Jodi Benson herself appeared during the intro and before and after the previews telling two CGI fish named Gil and Phil and told them about everything that was happening at Disney at the time such as Mulan, Lady and the Tramp being released on video that year, A Bug's Life, and Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC.
Benson's Broadway credits include a role in the short-lived Broadway musical Smile, where she introduced a song called "Disneyland." Howard Ashman, the lyricist of Smile, would go on to write the lyrics for The Little Mermaid. Benson also sings "Disneyland" on a compilation CD called Unsung Musicals. In 1989, Benson appeared in another short-lived musical, Welcome to the Club, alongside Samuel E. Wright, who did 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.
Benson played the narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1998.
