Walt Disney Books – The Little Mermaid: Ariel and the Aquamarine Jewel (English Version)

The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant

Walt Disney Character Description of Jake from "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990)

The character of the Australian Mr. Competent, Jake, has a very difficult role to perform: he must be simultaneously an adventure hero and a comical figure; moreover, he mustn't be Crocodile Dundee. This last point the animators seems to have taken very much to heart for, although Jake's persona has many of the macho, tough-guy attributes of that hero and countless other Australian stereotypes, the core of the characterization...

The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant

Walt Disney Character Description of Vanessa from "The Little Mermaid" (1989)

When Ursula adopts human guise in order to ensnare Eric romantically (with the aid of Ariel's hostage voice), she takes for herself the name Vanessa. Vanessa so strongly resembles Ariel that it is easier to note the differences than the similarities. Some are superficial - the hair colour, for example - and others much more fundamental. A curious feature of Vanessa is that, even though Ariel is in theory still a little...