The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[Disney's Divinity]

I feel of all the princesses, Aurora may be the least feminist of them all.

I agree. Aurora might as well be a blow-up doll.

[Disney Duster]

Thanks, Duster, that was an interesting read. I liked what they said about Cinderella and Jasmine, though I feel Tiana maybe should've been given more points. I was also a little confused by their statement regarding her, as if they couldn't really get to a point whether Tiana was feminist or not (So it's impossible to have both a career and a partner? I'm not sure what they were trying to tell there).

Yes I agree about Cinderella and Jasmine. For Tiana it sounded to me like she had a problem with Tiana accidentally finding love instead of working toward it. That because she was always working toward her restaurant, she shouldn't have found love so easily. I guess she thought that just can't happen in real life, plus she had all those reactive choices instead of active.

I feel of all the princesses, Aurora may be the least feminist of them all. The movie doesn't really allow her to make her own choices and instead she's just moved around as a chess piece by the other characters. I feel if you attempted to replace her with a piece of furniture, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Aurora is still a character in having a sweet and innocent personality. But she doesn't really do anything particularly good or make more than one choice so unfortunately your humorous comparison is kinda right, lol. Aurora is the least feminist. Even Snow White made more active choices and helped herself more than her.

The difference with Aurora and the other princesses is that she's not really a main character. In addition, Sleeping Beauty is probably accidentally one of the most feminist films that was made by Disney.

Well if you ask me Aurora is the main character that was just heavily overshadowed by the villain, prince, and secondary characters, because no where was it ever said the creators made the fairies the main characters, but a lot of people do see the fairies as the main characters anyway and you have every right to that belief. And yes, Sleeping Beauty ended up strangely kind of feminist because three older women who make strong choices became the uninteneded main characters and helped a man defeat the villain and saved a man just as a man saves a young woman. However, Aurora still probably should have been more feminist and the fairies still leave it up to a man's strength to throw that sword...

[Sotiris]

Zendaya is Ariel?!

We have heard from someone close to the studio that ex-Disney Channel star Zendaya has been offered the leading role of Ariel. Disney and reps for Zendaya declined to comment. This news would likely mean that the role of King Triton would also go to an actor of color.

Source: http://thathashtagshow.com/2018/08/rumo ... e-mermaid/

[Raf]

Cool with me . I wanted Keke Palmer, but Zendaya's not bad. I'm glad they stick to the idea of young, POC cast for Ariel and Eric.

[DisneyFan09]

Oh God, I hope not. I find Zendaya to be conceited and unlikable and therefore not a perfect fit for Ariel.

[Disney's Divinity]

Oh God, I hope not. I find Zendaya to be conceited and unlikable and therefore not a perfect fit for Ariel.

And a horrible actress.

The one good thing is it'll blow up any interest I have in this immediately. And then Miranda can take a dump all over it for all I care.

[DisneyFan09]

And a horrible actress.

Well, to be fair, I haven't since her in anything than Shake it Up, but her acting was horrible on that show.

[Sotiris]

I'm pretty sure it's due to LMM's role as exec. producer that we're getting a race-bend Ariel. Yes, Disney had a "diverse" cast in most of their live-action remakes but they hadn't changed the race of the lead (Alice, Maleficent, Pete, Christopher Robin, Clara) or of the main romantic couple (Aurora & Philip, Cinderella & Kit, Belle & Prince) before.

[Disney's Divinity]

I've been rooting for Miranda to follow Lasseter out the door for a while now. The Lopezes are better anyway, imo.

[D82]

I'm pretty sure it's due to LMM's role as exec. producer that we're getting a race-bend Ariel. Yes, Disney had a "diverse" cast in most of their live-action remakes but they hadn't changed the race of the lead (Alice, Maleficent, Pete, Christopher Robin, Clara) or of the main romantic couple (Aurora & Philip, Cinderella & Kit, Belle & Prince) before.

It could be because of Lin-Manuel Miranda's influence, but Disney is also increasingly giving more prominent roles to non-white actors lately, so I think they also have something to do with this decision (if it turns out to be true). In The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, the Nutcracker is probably going to be black, and he and Clara are maybe a couple. Chiwetel Ejiofor is rumored to be Maleficent's love interest in the sequel. Also Lady, in the Lady and the Tramp remake, will be voiced by a black actress. And The Lion King is also the same case. Though, I know these last two examples are not the same as The Little Mermaid, because in these two movies the protagonists are animals and the actors only lend their voices to the characters. I agree that the casting of Ariel will be the biggest change yet, but aside from the remakes, Disney recently changed the race of the main character in A Wrinkle in Time, so it's not the first time they do that. They have also an upcoming fairytale movie with a black lead (Sadé).

As I said before, I have no problem with Ariel being of a different race, but I understand some might be upset because this is actually quite a big change from the fairytale or the original film after all. If Disney wants to avoid backlash, I think they should make more brand new films with POC leads instead of changing the race of characters of pre-existing stories.

[thedisneyspirit]

I still say it's a missed opportunity to not make Lady and the Tramp their interracial white woman / Hispanic man romance. Maybe even go further and change the story a little bit by turning them into humans.

[JeanGreyForever]

Zendaya isn't the worst actress ever but she isn't a great one either. Admittedly, I'll lose much interest in this as well if this is true. LMM's involvement certainly didn't increase my anticipation either.

[Disney Duster]

As I said before, I have no problem with Ariel being of a different race, but I understand some might be upset because this is actually quite a big change from the fairytale or the original film after all. If Disney wants to avoid backlash, I think they should make more brand new films with POC leads instead of changing the race of characters of pre-existing stories.

Ya.

I still say it's a missed opportunity to not make Lady and the Tramp their interracial white woman / Hispanic man romance. Maybe even go further and change the story a little bit by turning them into humans.

No I want my live-actions very close to the originals!

I'm not happy with this casting if it's true. Changing races of characters I am just really not into. And Zendaya wasn't very great in The Greatest Showman. BUT...Ariel has such a huge, specific, unique, and known personality...can anyone really f*** it up that bad when playing her? We shall see...

[JeanGreyForever]

I'm not happy with this casting if it's true. Changing races of characters I am just really not into. And Zendaya wasn't very great in The Greatest Showman. BUT...Ariel has such a huge, specific, unique, and known personality...can anyone really f*** it up that bad when playing her? We shall see...

I mean Emma Watson was not able to pull off Belle imo so I don't have much hope for any actress that Disney hires for Ariel. Especially if they're just going for big names rather than amount of talent.

[thedisneyspirit]

Even if they kept the same race you just know Disney would sooner grab a well known celebrity over somebody who could be an actual good fit. If this remake had been done a decade earlier on you just know Disney would've grabbed Lindsay Lohan for Ariel.

[Atlantica]

I think she is such a generic and bland actress ( much as Emma Watson was as Belle ) that the role of Ariel won't translate at all to the screen. She will get lost in the CGI festival that it is sure to become. I think the only Princess live action so far where there heroine hasn't got lost is Cinderella, in my opinion.

Pair that with LMMs seemingly larger and larger involvement, my enthusiasm is waning for this project hugely.

I've said it before; I don't want Mermaid to be the film experimented on. Leave it well alone as it's classic as it is. Yes, there are faults a-plenty but as a whole, the film manages to overcome them. Can you think of many films where the lead loses her voice for more than half the movie, but still remains absolutely beloved by generation after generation ? This is what Mermaid does to people, and I don't want it to be bogged down by all this other stuff

[thedisneyspirit]

Also, most of those casting are only for black actors. Where's the Asian / Latino representation? Coco and Mulan ain't enough. Or what, a latina Belle or a Japanese Ariel is too much for people?

(Not that I'm saying this in a negative, but i feel often for some people / Hollywood think that non-white races outside from blacks can only exist in movies related to their specific cultures and can't be in fantasy movies like LATT or BATB. Like, have Coco and Mulan all you want, but an Asian Ariel or a Hispanic Flynn Rider played by Diego Luna is just too much)

[disneyprincess11]

I personally like Zendaya as Ariel. I think she proved herself worthy in the Greatest Showman. My concern is if they are completely changing the story if they are looking at Puerto Rico for a place to shoot. As Atlantis said, the original elements are perfectly fine. I don’t think Lin is to blame. I doubt he has that kind of power. He’s a producer/songwriter, not a executive. Heck, maybe that’s why they hired him.

[thedisneyspirit]

How about Sophia Llilys for Ariel? I saw this suggestion floating around other social websites and after seeing her in IT I thought she'd fit the role well. Of course, I don't know if she sings, but that doesn't matter much nowadays in the age of autotone.

[Atlantica]

Why not someone who isn't a screen / TV star, but from Broadway ? Like Samantha Barks for the Les Mis movie.