The first reactions are overall very positive! I hope it does super well despite the you-know-what backlash it got (and still gets, apparently). Sadly enough, some people on youtube seem to be going out of their way to cherry pick all the negative responses to support their claim (or hope) that it will bomb. Or maybe it's just for the sake of clicks and views.
EDIT (tiny spoiler about a song):
Spoiler
Les Poissons got cut. I can see why; even though it was a fun scene, it didn't really propel the story forward, and with an extended runtime something had to go.
I don't think that was necessary and I don't know how Daughters of Triton (if it's in the movie) will work with the new names when the old ones were just fine.
Spoiler:
Spoiler
That song has been cut
I'm curious to see how their mother fits into the story
Spoiler
I'm not surprised. I really didn't see how it would work without the original names.
Different tiny spoiler related to the sisters.
Spoiler
I think I read that Ariel is not the youngest anymore?
I forgot to say in my last post that I hope the Broadway show is incorporated in some way, whether it's in the score or a song. I'm really hoping "Her Voice" is included. It was written for the animated movie but was cut at some point during production. When the Broadway show was created, they used "Her Voice" as one of the songs.
Here's a Youtube clip of it. This version is from The Little Mermaid Live performance, but it's the same song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xyqsmEfcP4
Ponyfan
I listened to the new Kiss The Girl song for the lyrics change.
Here's what was changed (not even going to put this in spoilers, it's so small)
"it don't take a word go on and kiss the girl"
is replaced by
"use your words boy and ask her"
No reason for this to make headlines.
As for Poor Unfortunate Souls; I can't pinpoint an obvious change in lyrics.
Spoiler
What happened is that they cut a couple of lines; the ones about "men don't like a lot of blabber, they think a girl who gossips is a bore", and Ariel refuses to sign the contract, but is persuaded to do so by Ursula mentioning her father and the life that awaits her, rather than conjuring up an image of Prince Eric to get her to sign
...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.
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.
I saw it today. Overall it was really enjoyable. I went in to it not expecting it to be exactly like the animated film and I think that helped me enjoy it more.
I didn't like Prince Eric's song. Not sure if it was the song or his singing, but all I could think of during it was "he sounds terrible. I hope he doesn't sing again and "I wish they'd kept the Her Voice song instead."
Spoiler
I felt the fact that Ariel had to draw blood by pulling a scale off her tail to start Ursula's spell was a nod to the original fairy tale. In the original the sea witch cuts out the mermaid's tongue as part of the price she has to pay to become human.
I also liked that it's made very clear that Vanessa is using Ariel's voice that is trapped in the shell necklace. There's a scene where Ariel's voice is clearly coming from the necklace when Vanessa isn't wearing it.
Maybe I missed it but I felt like the Queen's lines about the human world and the merpeople world not interacting with each has some significance.
I love the original animated movie, but I thought it was interesting that in this version, Ariel's human dress remained on her after Ursula took her back in to the ocean until it got caught on a rock while Ariel was struggling with Ursula trying to get away from her. In the animated version, the dress disappears as soon as they hit the water.
Also, the stuff about the Coral Moon seemed to just be thrown in there for something to replace the opening concert with. I didn't really mind Disney changing it, but I felt like all of that was a little unnecessary and didn't really go anywhere. It only served for a reason to bring all of the other sisters back to Triton's kingdom.
No mentions about the statue of Eric being a birthday present from Grimsby. It just falls off the ship once it starts sinking and breaking apart. I noticed it when it fell, but someone who isn't familiar with the original might wonder what such a large statue was doing on the ship.
Ponyfan