The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[UmbrellaFish]

More merch! May not all be new, but some of it is new to me: https://wdwnt.com/2023/04/photos-new-me ... ney-world/

Has this been the most heavily merchandised remake? It seems like it to me, but that might just be because I pay more attention to TLM.

[DisneyFan09]

The Little Mermaid Main Titles Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B5KX7S1R-8

It reminds me a little bit of Finding Nemo .

[Disney's Divinity]

You never run out of stuff to complain about, do you?!

When it's true, nope.

@DisneyFan09: Yeah, all the sea turtles.

[lord-of-sith]

Ursula's earrings? For real?

[Disney's Divinity]

You know, you could make your own posts about those things that excite you, but clearly you're struggling to find any as much as I am if I'm the only thing you can find to talk about.

[Disney's Divinity]

Melissa McCarthy Says She 'Begged' Director to Portray Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid' (Exclusive)
https://people.com/movies/melissa-mccar ... e-mermaid/

‘Little Mermaid’ Star Under Fire for Posing at Zoo Notorious for Abusing Apes
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88xga3/ ... -with-apes

The Little Mermaid's Flounder and Sebastian Posters lampooned by film fans
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ente ... 28603.html

[Sotiris]

The zoo backlash is unfair. How was Halle supposed to know that beforehand? I know I didn't. The other article where people mock the posters of Flounder and Sebastian is deserved, but the caricatured designs from the original wouldn't fit either in live-action. What they should have done was turn those characters into mermen. Of course, that would require some creativity and risk and we know these remakes aren't capable of that. I recall people having the same negative reactions to the character posters of The Lion King remake.

The more I think about it the less Ariel plunging the ship's bowsprit into Ursula makes sense. Not only it requires skill and experience to steer a ship, it's not as simple as people may think, but it requires quite the upper body strength as well, especially during a storm. Ariel standing on her tail doesn't just look ludicrous, it's not believable either given it's raining and her tail would be slippery and unable to maintain a position. They should have found a different way for Ariel to defeat Ursula, perhaps by employing Ariel's newfound knowledge of the human world. Maybe they could have Ariel use a mirror or a reflective surface to reflect the trident's beam back at Ursula, for example. In any case, at least I hope that during Ariel's guided tour of the kingdom by Eric, we are shown him teaching her how to steer a ship to make all this a bit less ridiculous.

[lord-of-sith]

You know, you could make your own posts about those things that excite you, but clearly you're struggling to find any as much as I am if I'm the only thing you can find to talk about.

Okay, how about this: I think Melissa McCarthy is going to be fantastic and a scene-stealer as Ursula. Any apprehension about her casting in the first place seems to have been proven wrong. Her look is cool, and Flotsam and Jetsam look very scary. Her earrings have exactly zero bearing on her performance.

I also think Halle Bailey is going to come away from this movie as a star, as long as the racist backlash doesn't overpower the narrative too much to affect her future roles.

[Disney's Divinity]

Oh, I agree, McCarthy does look to be the best thing about this, even if I think she's a middling cast for this character. For me, the earrings are worth taking note of because the change likely only happened to make room for that hideous collar that nobody wanted. Getting rid of something good to make room for something bad nobody asked for is always worth criticizing. Tell the Disney overlords in the live-action division to do better if they don't want to read it.

I imagine Bailey would be fine whatever happens to this film. If she doesn't go on to any other roles afterwards, she wasn't going to anyway, not because of anything to do with TLM's remake. McCarthy came out unscathed from Ghostbusters (2016) despite the misogynist swirl around that film (same with Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon), but that's because she's a good actress and funny.* I'm skeptical Bailey is that good of an actress, she seems pretty bland just like the actors for Aurora, Cinderella, and Alice in those films, although she should definitely have plenty of music success in her future. Maybe not on Broadway, but on the radio / charts. But you know, personally, unlike many here, I'm not attached to actors, directors, designers, etc. The Little Mermaid is the thing I'm attached to, not any of them, so them being criticized doesn't bother me in the slightest. They are a footnote.

* I believe the Ghostbusters fandom also benefited from that film going down in flames because they got a more faithful remake (or was it a sequel?) a year or two back from what I read. I don't expect the TLM fandom to be so lucky though, unfortunately.

The zoo backlash is unfair. How was Halle supposed to know that beforehand? I know I didn't. The other article where people mock the posters of Flounder and Sebastian is deserved, but the caricatured designs from the original wouldn't fit either in live-action. What they should have done was turn those characters into mermen. Of course, that would require some creativity and risk and we know these remakes aren't capable of that. I recall people having the same negative reactions to the character posters of The Lion King remake.

Yeah, it is unfair. The world is crazy these days, but I don't feel sorry for Disney considering the drama they've stirred up with these remakes. They can take it if they want to dish it.

It's funny, I actually am not bothered about Flounder and Sebastian looking realistic, although I wish they were more vibrant and that Flounder was a little bigger. Different people focus on different things. I don't think I'd have wanted them to be mermen, although Jacob Tremblay as a child following Ariel around like Urchin would be cute. In the early development of the original film--when Ariel had way too many sidekicks--wasn't there some kind of Aquaman-esque character that was one of her friends (different from Harold, a merman she was going to know that was in Ursula's garden). I know there was also a dolphin friend.

[Farerb]

Halle Bailey's ‘The Little Mermaid’ Doll Is Already a Bestseller
https://www.etonline.com/halle-baileys- ... urs-200836

[PatchofBlue]

I think there must have been a way for them to keep the sidekicks as sea critters but animate them in such a way that they didn't feel like taxidermied animals. It's just that in this genre of hyper-sensational fantasy musicals, the Disney remakes have for some reason elected to keep their aesthetics grounded and realistic, which I don't think is the only way they could have approached this.

I remember when The Lion King remake came out, a lot of people pointed to Aslan from the Narnia films as an example of a CG lion who could still believably emote. Disney just seemed to think that it lent more legitimacy to have "realistic" animals. One could argue there's an extra threshold to pass when animating fish and crabs compared to something more mammalian, but I also don't think that threshold is unreachable. The only character I could maybe see them having trouble with is Sebastian. (Though ironically, his is the design I have the least trouble with here.)

[TomPilcher]

Does anyone know if the Poor Unfortunate Souls reprise is in the live action?

[D82]

Does anyone know if the Poor Unfortunate Souls reprise is in the live action?

It's not included in the soundtrack tracklist that's on Apple Music, at least not for now (that tracklist seems incomplete), but it might still be in the movie. Wasn't the original reprise also absent from the soundtrack?

"Part of Your World" before "Fathoms Below" though? So they'll be singing when Ariel finds the ship. I'm guessing the first few scenes of this film is going to suck trying to do what the original does moving up to POYW without any music.

I thought maybe they had put it first on that website because it's the only song available for now, but there's actually a score track before it, so perhaps you're right "Fathoms Below" won't be the opening number. That's surprising. If it's indeed sung after "Part of Your World", I agree the scene when Ariel finds the ship is the most logical option. I guess it could also work there, but it's true there won't be much music at the beginning of the movie if that's the case.

[PatchofBlue]

I had personally assumed that the soundtrack just placed Part of Your World first because that was the sort of centerpiece of the film regardless of when it appears in the movie, and "Alan Menken Track 1" was just an overture, similar to the soundtrack for LA BatB. But I could also imagine them reworking the song to play during, say, Ariel's first sighting of Eric and the ship or something.

[D82]

I had personally assumed that the soundtrack just placed Part of Your World first because that was the sort of centerpiece of the film regardless of when it appears in the movie, and "Alan Menken Track 1" was just an overture, similar to the soundtrack for LA BatB. But I could also imagine them reworking the song to play during, say, Ariel's first sighting of Eric and the ship or something.

Well, songs are not always in the order in which they appear in the film on the soundtrack. Sometimes the end credit songs come first, for example, or things like that. So, it's still possible they haven't changed the order of those two songs. And I meant that scene too, but maybe I didn't explain it well.

The CGI looks great, but I keep wondering where in the movie will that scene of Ariel and the jellyfish take place. I can't really tell.

I think it's during "Under the Sea".

The Little Mermaid Main Titles Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B5KX7S1R-8

It reminds me a little bit of Finding Nemo .

I think that's fan made. Well, not the footage, which is from the teaser trailer, but I think they've added the music and the logo. However, that shot might actually be from the beginning of the movie. I read on that Twitter spoiler community that in this version the transition from the ship to the ocean is not made by following the fish, but Eric's spyglass, which falls into the sea. And in that clip we can see it falling.

In this poster, I think Ariel is naked and human above the water, and just has her tail below the water!:

I think that's such a cool idea!

Good observation, Disney Duster! I think you're right, because she doesn't seem to be wearing her "bra" here but some other piece of clothing. It's an interesting poster. Actually, all the new posters were better than the previous ones, in my opinion, with the exception of the RealD 3D one.

I thought it could be interesting to post all of them in a picture, so it's easier to compare them:


Source: https://twitter.com/kingpoIIo/status/16 ... 9689564161

By the way, I found this on Twitter. Apparently, the 4DX poster was inspired by one of the original illustrations of Andersen's book:


Source: https://twitter.com/casey_corner/status ... 1499009026

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't remember Disney films ever putting the songs in a different order than in the film? Usually they have the songs in order, then the score in order, then deleted content / demos.

The spyglass probably falls to the bottom then gets picked up by Ariel and immediately cue the sunken ship scene. I think that's jumping into things a bit too quickly, but that's what I expect. It makes sense with there being no palace, they really have nothing to show off for the crescendo of "Main Titles" now, so they'll probably have Ariel's appearance in that spot instead.

[Sotiris]

It's not included in the soundtrack tracklist that's on Apple Music, at least not for now (that tracklist seems incomplete), but it might still be in the movie. Wasn't the original reprise also absent from the soundtrack?

I wonder if the Part of Your World choral reprise that's part of the finale will remain intact. I'm skeptical because they gave Ariel a second reprise close to the ending so they might have axed that one. It would be really disappointing if they did. And where is Triton's deleted song we were promised?

Actually, all the new posters were better than the previous ones, in my opinion, with the exception of the RealD 3D one.

I'm the opposite. I like the two teaser ones the best. While some of the others have an interesting concept, they fail in execution.

I read on that Twitter spoiler community that in this version the transition from the ship to the ocean is not made by following the fish, but Eric's spyglass, which falls into the sea. And in that clip we can see it falling.

Why is every change they made for the worse? Sigh.

[Sotiris]

Box Office Pro is projecting an opening weekend for the remake at $70-$90 million.

Social sentiment and trailer footprints haven’t been quite as encouraging as 2019’s Aladdin to date, and the absence of a major star name (like Will Smith in Aladdin‘s case, or Emma Watson and the ensemble of Beauty and the Beast) to headline the film may further limit general audience expansion.

Source: https://www.boxofficepro.com/long-range ... e-mermaid/

[PatchofBlue]

It's much more common for soundtracks that are mostly film score rather than musical numbers to organize their tracks non-sequentially, but I don't know if it's unprecedented for singing musicals to do the same. Just shooting the moon here.

I got what you meant, D82. I was just kind of responding generally. And props to assembling all those movie posters. They make a nice collection.

Box Office Pro's observation about Aladdin having a lot of social sentiment is weird to me given just how savaged that film was by the infamous Genie trailer. Commentators thought that reaction foretold box office disgrace, and then the film went on to do gangbusters.

The fact that this film has been widely celebrated (as well as attacked) by the public for a black Ariel is another point in its favor. If nothing else, the fact that so much of the internet has gone to war over this film and occupied so much brain space ought to mean that a lot of people are going to see it, even the people are just going to "laugh at how bad it is." Despite how badly we all want this remake phase to be over and done with, I don't think expect this film to perform any worse than the other remakes.

[D82]

I don't remember Disney films ever putting the songs in a different order than in the film? Usually they have the songs in order, then the score in order, then deleted content / demos.

Well, usually they're in the same order, but it rings a bell there have been cases where there have been some differences, but maybe I'm mistaken. Perhaps what I remember is just when the end credit songs come first, as it happens on The Princess and the Frog soundtrack, for example. There are sometimes score tracks in between the songs, but in those cases they also tend to follow the film order.

The spyglass probably falls to the bottom then gets picked up by Ariel and immediately cue the sunken ship scene. I think that's jumping into things a bit too quickly, but that's what I expect. It makes sense with there being no palace, they really have nothing to show off for the crescendo of "Main Titles" now, so they'll probably have Ariel's appearance in that spot instead.

I actually read the first two chapters or so of the novelization a couple of weeks ago. It was available as a preview on a Portuguese website. I wanted to post the translation, but there's been lots of new stuff lately, so I haven't done it yet. Ariel does pick up Eric's spyglass, but the order of events is actually like in the original film, with some little changes. The biggest difference is that Ariel doesn't miss the concert but a meeting of Triton and his daughters to prepare for the Coral Moon celebrations. The songs are not described in the text, though, so I don't know if "Fathoms Below" takes place at the very beginning or not.

And where is Triton's deleted song we were promised?

I don't think that's the complete tracklist. There'll probably be some end credit song as well, which hasn't been announced yet; whether it's Diane Warren's song or a cover of one of the songs from the movie.

I'm the opposite. I like the two teaser ones the best. While some of the others have an interesting concept, they fail in execution.

Well, to be completely honest, I wasn't too pleased with how I wrote that. I'm not totally sure if I like the new ones more than the others, but I do think they have more interesting concepts.

I got what you meant, D82. I was just kind of responding generally. And props to assembling all those movie posters. They make a nice collection.

Oh, OK. I thought maybe you had, but I wasn't totally sure. I didn't assemble the posters myself; I just found the image online. But yes, we got some good posters after all.

The fact that this film has been widely celebrated (as well as attacked) by the public for a black Ariel is another point in its favor. If nothing else, the fact that so much of the internet has gone to war over this film and occupied so much brain space ought to mean that a lot of people are going to see it, even the people are just going to "laugh at how bad it is." Despite how badly we all want this remake phase to be over and done with, I don't think expect this film to perform any worse than the other remakes.

Yes, controversy is free publicity. It not always works, but many times it does. I think the projected opening is actually not bad, but I'm pretty sure the film will surpass expectations.