The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[Atlantica]

That is some of the most pathetic rubbish I have ever read in my whole life !!!

People have lost the plot completely. The song is designed and sung by Sebastian, her guardian, to get her back her voice and break the magical deal she is held under. How relevant is ANY of that to modern day society ? And HOW is that applicable to the MeToo movement ?

I'm sorry, but this is just nonsense. Utterly.

[estefan]

What Atlantica said. In the movie, it's clear Ariel wants Prince Eric to kiss her, so it's completely consensual. Eric is even shown wondering whether it's the appropriate time or not. Way to take the song out of context and miss the entire point of it.

This is like when people think Ariel goes up on land just to be with Eric, despite the fact "Part of Your World" is sung before she even lays eyes on him and the lyrics don't make any references to meeting men.

[Tristy]

What have these last couple of months been? The months of making people feel guilty for having childhoods? I know people have looked for ways to be offended but this is just going too far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7vySQbgXI

[Disney's Divinity]

There’s no chance at all that the song will be omitted from the remake. This forum’s obsessed with being offended at other people being offended. There have been comments and/or jokes about “Kiss the Girl” for years. There’s a lot about TLM that is going to step into the crosshairs through re-examination from a modern audience because there are many questionable messages about gender in the film that aren't acceptable today--that haven't been acceptable for a long time now. That's life.

[thedisneyspirit]

Yeah, but Apu was omitted from The Simpsons. "Be Prepared" is cut from the Lion King because of Trump or something. If there's enough push from the media, it could happen.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't think it's been confirmed that "Be Prepared" is cut? Even if it was cut, that decision would have more to do with "I Wanna Be Like You" being poorly received in The Jungle Book (2016) than because of some Nazi imagery that would be more relevant to the world in 2019 and that they wouldn't even have to carry over into the live-action film if they didn't want to.

[Sotiris]

There’s no chance at all that the song will be omitted from the remake.

Disney has proved time and again they're willing to cave to every little criticism. I wouldn't put it past them to exclude the song or at the very least change some of the lyrics. It depends on the amount of press this story gets and whether this issue is brought up again when the film is close to production.

[JeanGreyForever]

I can definitely see that happening with the song revamped to be more "politically correct."

[Disney's Divinity]

I think it's more likely the film will be cancelled altogether than anything will happen to "Kiss the Girl."

[Disney Duster]

Oh, they are so making this film. But yes, I think they may change the lyrics and how they do the whole "Kiss the Girl" scene.

[thedisneyspirit]

I do like the irony of casting the Hamilton guy to work with the movie as to "improve" the message. Weren't the original founding fathers slavers, and Miranda just went and turned them all into hip black guys? The irony.

[Disney Duster]

Not every founding father owned slaves or wanted slavery. Some even wanted the Declaration of Indpendence to abolish slavery.

[Sotiris]

Q: What's going on with The Little Mermaid? Is that something that's going to happen for you?

Rob Marshall: It was really lovely that Disney approached me about that. It's a big title for them, obviously. Right now, myself and John DeLuca are in, what I would call, the exploratory process of looking at it and seeing if it could become a film. A live-action film. It's so different. There are a lot of challenges to that film. Singing underwater, staging underwater...We had an underwater sequence in [Mary Poppins Returns] and that was complicated.

Source: https://variety.com/2018/film/podcasts/ ... 203080070/

Q: One of my first films, for Disney at least, is The Little Mermaid, which you're obviously doing. So, I'm really excited about that. Where's the process on where we at with that?

Rob Marshall: For me, I'm just starting to explore it. Because it's very complicated to take that into a live action film. So, we are just, John DeLuca and I, have been asked to do this. We're very excited about it. There [is] also a producing partner, Marc Platt. We're just starting to literally, one step at a time, explore how that would work, and how we would do it, and make it work as a live action film.

Source: https://screenrant.com/mary-poppins-ret ... interview/

Q: I could not be more excited for a Little Mermaid live-action. And so I have to ask you where you at in that and what is like working or collaborating a little bit with Lin?

Rob Marshall: I haven't started that process yet with him because I'm actually just in the beginning-beginning exploration phase of 'how is this going to work?', 'can it it work?', 'how do you do it?'. It's a very complicated challenge because it's an underwater musical, basically. At least, half of it is. And it was an animated film so it has to work as a live-action film so how does that all work? So, it's something we're spending a lot of time just exploring right now.

Source: http://collider.com/rob-marshall-interv ... s-returns/

Q: What’s on the cards next?

Rob Marshall: They came to me about The Little Mermaid. I’m just looking and exploring to see if it’s possible to make that work. I’m in the exploration phase.

Source: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2018/12/13/r ... ish-nanny/

Q: You have a great relationship with Disney. Now The Little Mermaid?

Rob Marshall: Well, you know what? We're talking about it. I've actually started some exploration to see if it could ever work as a live-action film. You know it's very complicated, it's underwater, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlSGAHs9b-c

Q: Is there anything that you can tell us about The Little Mermaid?

Rob Marshall: Well, only that Disney approached myself and John DeLuca and Marc Platt, our producing partner, to come on board and start to look at it. John and I have begun our work trying to explore it and figure it out. I mean, it's a very complicated movie to take from animation to live-action. Live-action's a whole other world so you have to be very careful about how that's done, but so we're starting the exploration phase.

Q: Do you have anybody in mind that you can talk about?

Rob Marshall: No, it's way too early. I always feel like what you have to do first is you have to kind of create the story and make it work. Then you go into the casting process.

Q: Are there any underwater films that you're looking at?

Rob Marshall: I haven't started looking at other films yet. I've actually just been thinking less about the making of it and more about the storytelling and how that can work as a live action film. It's just so different than animation.

Source: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/for-direc ... al-project

Next up for Marshall could be a live-action take on the 1989 animated version of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Disney came to him with the project, and he and De­Luca are “in the exploration phase, taking a peek into it”, he says, “to see if this is something we could make work. Can it make sense as a live-action musical? There was a wonderful animated film but this needs to be redefined as live action and re­imagined and built.”

Source: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/n ... 7966d3174a

[Disney Duster]

It's possible, Rob. Make it!

[Atlantica]

If anyone can do it, it's him. But if it's been stopped / started / stopped and started again on preproduction etc ... maybe it's a sign that it just isn't meant to work on screen ?

I think there is a lot of pressure on it to be brilliant as it's so iconic and beloved...that must put the fear of god into most directors who've come into contact with it.

[robster16]

If they can do Aquaman under water then The Little Mermaid can be done. They just need to be careful to honor powerful women yet not steer tooo far from the original fairytale and take the entire #metoo thing too far within this realm. I think sentiment is what makes most people afraid to touch the subject. Just look at the extreme focus was put on the roles of Belle and Jasmine in the live action adaptation and how they are even stronger women then they already were in the original animated classics!

[Disney Duster]

Why would there be the fear of God in people for this film but not Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King?

[Sotiris]

Then, once director Rob Marshall comes up for air from Mary Poppins Returns, the director will head underwater with Menken (and Sebastian superfan Lin-Manuel Miranda) for a live-action go at The Little Mermaid. “It’s about a woman finding her voice,” Marshall recently told EW. “A girl finding her voice, actually. And that immediately just felt like an interesting, timely piece that resonated with us.”

Source: https://ew.com/movies/2018/12/14/alan-m ... an-menken/

[Disney's Divinity]

I think Marshall will do an alright job. At the worst, the film will turn out a little bland. Of course the real, worst possibility that could come out of this is Miranda playing Sebastian. That wouldn't be as bad as the Zendaya/Gaga rumors, but I would still be disappointed.

I saw the Mamma Mia sequel today and it reminded me of how good Seyfriend would've been. She would be autotuned like most celebs are in these, but her songs in both films are really pretty.

[Sotiris]

Of course the real, worst possibility that could come out of this is Miranda playing Sebastian.

That's good as done. Do you honestly expect the guy who named his son after Sebastian and says he relates to him the most and is a producer on the remake to not cast himself in that role? He even reiterated how much he loves Sebastian in a new interview.

“As a child, the [character in The Little Mermaid] I related to the most was Sebastian the crab, and I think as an adult he’s still the one I relate to the most,” Miranda said in WIRED’s autocomplete interview. “He just wanted someone to sing in his concert, poor guy. He’s a frustrated musician! I relate.”

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/567647/l ... anda-facts

Since the success of Hamilton, my life has been about finding the balance between the things I always wanted to make and the opportunities that are so incredible I’d be angry if they opened and I wasn’t in them. So Mary Poppins and Little Mermaid definitely fall into that category.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/ ... -how-score