The Little Mermaid live-action

[Carrehz]

I'm with you, Koudoawaia - so tired of all these remakes...

Thanks for posting that though, DreamvalleyMLP, I was curious about the changed lyrics. Better than I was expecting. I guess they write articles about this stuff to try and whip up a controversy and get more people talking about it? But I'd rather they focus on new things instead of trying to excite interest by talking about what they've changed... x) (hope that makes sense, I know what I mean but the words aren't coming to me!!)

[Leave a Whisper]

Hard pass. Disney went from having the Midas Touch to whatever the opposite of that is. They've been putting out soulless mediocre crap for over a decade. The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite Disney films of all time, and I refuse to watch them butcher it.

[Koudoawaia]

I remember when the original came out I was Little Mermaid obsessed. I wanted to see it in theaters so bad but never got to and when we moved I remember one of my biggest priorities was locating my Ariel Happy Meal toy from McDonald's. That one got donated or something years ago but I found another one at Good Will in recent years and she's on one of my bookshelves^^ Can't imagine this remake eliciting that kind of excitement from a little kid but who knows? Maybe there's one out there that will be that excited about it. But why are the remakes so dark and brown and boring looking compared to the animated originals?

[BlackCurtains]

Nah, there are plenty of children (and adults) who are super excited for this.

As far as it being dark and boring? Have you seen Ariel's sisters? Their designs are stunning. It's more realistic so of course it's not going to be as bright and colorful as a cell shaded cartoon.

[Ponyfan]

I listened to the movie version of "Fathoms Below."  I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that they are sticking to the short version and not the longer one we hear in the Broadway show.  I know that the new movie is based on the orginal movie and not the Broadway version, but I was hoping for a few tributes to the show and I like the additional lyrics especially the part about Triton's mood influencing the ocean.

Lyrics from the Broadway version:

"The king of the ocean gets angry.  And when he gets angry, beware. 
I'm telling you, lad, when King Triton is mad, how the waves will buck, rock to and fro!
Hold on good luck as down you go!"



Ponyfan

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Disney has spent so much time and effort finding ways to re-imagine Classic Fairy Tales and Other Pre-Existing IP (heeeeeeeeeeey Star Wars) that it is almost impossible for them to push out original content any longer.

Animated movies, 2-3 direct to video sequels, Disney on Ice, Theme Park Meet & Greets, Broadway musicals...

I mean, I am sitting here drinking from my Most Cherished Mug - a Little Mermaid mug my family bought for me at the Disney Store in 1989.  I love the Little Mermaid as much as any fan could.  I am super excited for Black Mermaids, squeeeeee!  But I have just one teensy, weensy, complaint.  Why do we need to re-tell Ariel's story?  In the animated series, it was made clear that Triton has a territory and we meet many many many mermaids from Distant Oceans including Black Mermaids!  I am certain that the plotline of "I actually LOVE this Human! I don't want to kill/eat/sing him to his death!" is fairly common as a theme in Mermaid Culture.  Why can't Halle Bailey's character just be herself and NOT be Ariel?   I would have been far too overly excited to squee all over this production if she was her own Original Character in the LM universe!

[ooooh I hope I have not offended anyone...]

[Carrehz]

No no I totally agree LBS, I'd have much preferred to meet a new mermaid rather than rehashing Ariel's story. It's definitely a rich enough world that you could do more with it without "having" to just stick to the pre-established characters :/ I like the new designs for Ariel's sisters, but I wish they were entirely new characters instead of a new take on pre-existing ones!

I've noticed that a lot of the live-action remakes feel dull and dark compared to the originals, too. I mean of course you don't expect the same sort of brightness you get from a cartoon, but it's totally possible to have a brighter colour palette in a live action film too. :s I'm just not a fan of the "Real is Brown" thing.

[BlackCurtains]

I think it is colorful though? Ursula has glowing blue suckers on her tentacles

I also agree with LBS.

My favorite Disney movie is The Fox and the Hound followed by The Lion King. I didn't see TLK remake but I would to. If they do Fox and the Hound (and stick to their version) I think I'd want to see it. But maybe it's because the main characters are animals and not humans. I mean, I like The Little Mermaid just fine, it's one of my favorites, but I'm not as "in depth" a fan as some of you. (get it? in-depth?)

[Taffeta]

It probably should be a whole lot darker, given the story it's based on. I've seen the mermaid in Copenhagen, kind of puts the whole Disney happy ending into relief

...I was never too fussed about the original LM, I enjoyed it fine - played some of the songs from it on my clarinet at school for a festival we did when I was fourteen or fifteen. I think under the sea was the one we did on stage...can't remember now!

My sister really dislikes the live action B&B, but that's because she grew up with the original and it was seminal to her childhood (I watched it with her so many times I still know large amounts by heart, LOL). My favourite at that time was Aladdin, but aside one or two details they changed that seem awkward, I enjoyed the live actions of both...

(Sidenote :

Spoiler

I'm still not persuaded that Jafar's actor plays it evil enough early on, but he gets better. The awkward I'm thinking of is the getting out of the cave. They rewrote a bunch there that I don't think needed rewriting.

I love the dynamic between Jasmine and her lady in waiting, and the whole loop from start to finish is actually very clever.

I haven't seen the LK yet, but Naynie says that it's hard to watch because all the lions look the same. I was never that big on the original LK - I'm one of the heathens who likes LK2 better, LOL, sorry - so I haven't really bothered about it.

With the LM...I feel like...people get so political about stupid things that it washes the life out of the joy somehow. The way I see it, unless there's a very clear cultural need to make a character look a certain way, fictional characters are there to be reinvented and reimagined. I'm sort of curious to see what they added to LM because there's a lot more side depth integrated into B&B (eg Gaston's backstory, Lafou etc) and Aladdin (the latter is also probably a lot more PC). But I haven't been to a cinema since COVID and I'm not really confident going to one now, honestly - never been my favourite space.

[Ponyfan]

I've noticed a lot of the underwater scenes look dark.

For example, here's screenshots I took from Youtube from both the animated film and one of the trailers for the live action version.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login




visitors can't see pics , please register or login



I know the bottom one is more true to life if someone did fall off a boat and was drowning, but it's a little hard to see.  I saw the same trailer I took the screenshot from in the theater last week and even in dark I felt like it was hard to know what I was watching even though I love the animated version.

To be fair, there are brighter underwater scenes, so I'm assuming they're going for a realistic day vs night palette.


Ponyfan

[DreamvalleyMLP]

It probably should be a whole lot darker, given the story it's based on.

I think they actually reference the original tale's ending in a lighthearted manner in this version:

Scuttle: "Has Ariel killed the prince yet?"
Sebastian: "Kissed, you bird brain! No, not yet."

[alaskaallie]

Hmm well I donnn't like the overly realistic flounder and sebastian, but idk what else they would do.... I haven't watched a disney live action remake since cinderella but I'm actually kind of excited for this one  I like the mermaid designs and I have no expectations for the rest so it'll be fun!

[brightberry]

My thoughts are that the original isn't going anywhere.  But I am happy they cast someone who can actually sing and sound like Ariel.  It's the music that I always come back to and it's just... really important to me.

[DreamvalleyMLP]

Super quick review: it is gorgeous! Very very bright and colorful, nothing like those dark visuals we saw in the early teaser and trailer. They may have released the unfinished footage a bit too early.
I love the added story elements, and especially Eric's character gets fleshed out nicely.
The sisters didn't get a lot of screentime sadly enough.
I was apprehensive about Melissa McCarthy as Ursula when I first heard about that casting, but she really delivers.
Jessica Alexander's role as Vanessa may be small, but she owns it! Great performance!
Scuttle and Sebastian play well off each other, with some genuinely funny exchanges between them. Flounder isn't really around that much.

The shark chase in the beginning is really well done; amazing and captivating action there!

Great visuals on Under The Sea, but it does fall a little flat at the beginning when Sebastian is the only one carrying it. It picks up steam halfway through when all the other sea animals join in.

This one easily stands out among the live action remakes imo.

Definitely will be seeing it again!

Some tiny spoilers

Spoiler

Ariel's mother was killed by a human, and it is hinted at that Eric's father was killed by a sea creature.

Spoiler

Eric is adopted. The king and queen found him after a ship wrek and took him in.

Spoiler

Ursula altered the spell a bit, making Ariel forget that she and Eric have to share a kiss to seal the deal for good. This explains why she pulled away from him in the Kiss The Girl footage we saw in the trailer.

[Beldarna]

It was so gorgeous! It was a beautiful, colourful film that made me so happy. Totally worth the money to see it at the cinema. I liked the idea that all the sisters were representatives of each of the seven seas. They had mixed the order of some scenes so they came differently than in the cartoon and I'm not sure if it was good or bad so I guess it worked. Best part was Ursula as Vanessa. The actress had such a little role to play and she stole the entire movie, she was so good!

The downsides: Didn't like the actor who played Eric. He had a solo song and it sounded awful.. My ears crippled listening to him. Under the Sea felt a bit bland as only Sebastian was singing. It needed the choir!

Totally recommend a watch!