I watched the Nostalgia Critic and look what I found in a clip from The Little Mermaid, and look what I saw:

You’ll see it at 2:26

 Magdalen with the Smoking Flame or Repenting Magdalene by Georges de la Tour

Image via ABC Gallery

I love that the animators obscured the skull found in the original painting.  I do wonder why, out of all found in the Western art history canon, did they choose this painting?

I found some links that attempt to explain this (only clicked two), but if anybody has links to interviews with the animators and their reasons behind creating a reference to this work?