The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[Disney Duster]

If they did singing in her head, I would say a great spot for Ariel to sing would be the tour of the kingdom.

[Atlantica]

I've been watching loads of convention videos of Jodi Benson, and she has said that a couple of people involved in the production have expressed their interest in her being in the movie in some capacity ... so I really do hope that comes to pass !

[UmbrellaFish]

Rob Marshall has a history of inserting cameos in his films from the actors who originated principal roles in the source material— Andrea McArdle in Annie, Chita Rivera in Chicago, Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins Returns, etc. He clearly cares about this kind of fan service so I feel pretty confident that he will find a spot for Jodi in The Little Mermaid remake.

[Sotiris]

Disney’s live-action ‘The Little Mermaid’ is eyeing to begin filming in early 2020. The studio is currently eyeing to shoot the film in locations such as Puerto Rico and South Africa.

Source: https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/stat ... 2640627713

According to the latest Production Weekly, the anticipated film will be filming in Puerto Rico and South Africa, though we don't know when exactly it will be filming there.

Source: https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/04/04 ... locations/

The studio is also looking into the Cayman Islands.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/11 ... 9838779392

Q: The Little Mermaid: 2021 or 2022?

Skyler Shuler: The Little Mermaid will begin filming in early 2020. My guess, they'll want to get it out in late 2021.

Source: https://i.imgur.com/iTrLMHq.jpg

[Sotiris]

LMM and Menken have posted tweets indicating that production on Mermaid has begun.

https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1 ... 1741648898
https://twitter.com/AIMenken/status/1116112640512798727
https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/1 ... 7681102848

[disneyprincess11]

Plus, the third tweet confirmed a POC Ariel with a darker mermaid emoji. I'm expecting an actress to be announced at D23.

[Sotiris]

You're right. Thanks for pointing it out. The shade he used is the second-darkest available which probably means the actress of color will be light-skinned.

[JeanGreyForever]

That could certainly be Zendaya then with Keke Palmer looking unlikely. I wonder if we might get a Hispanic actress for the setting though.

[Sotiris]

Earlier this month we revealed that Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid had added visual effects supervisor Tim Burk (Fantastic Beasts) to oversee the VFX on this world under the sea. Now, we have a production update for you.

We have learned that production on the film is slated to begin next April, with the studio looking to wrap sometime in August. However, voice work on the film could begin as early as January 2020. As of now, the studio is currently looking at locations to film the project including the Cayman Islands, South Africa, as well as Maro, La Cala, Torre del Mar, Almayate, Chilches, Benajarafe, and Torrox.

Another interesting tidbit on the project we were able to dig up is that Scuttle will not be a seagull as he appeared in the animated classic, instead Scuttle will be a diving bird so he can be in the underwater scenes.

Source: https://hnentertainment.co/exclusive-di ... -revealed/

[JeanGreyForever]

Not sure how I feel about the change to Scuttle. At least they haven't scrapped him as I initially feared when I read that.

[Old Fish Tale]

I'm loving all these changes so far.

[Disney Duster]

I actually like that change to Scuttle. At least I think, without seeing how the idea works in the context of the final film.

[nomad2010]

I’ve always found Scuttle to be the most annoying part of the movie, so changing him to wear he will have more screen time isn’t exactly something I’m thrilled about. But I’m sure they’re going to really expand this one, and having him be part of the final action scenes will probably be necessary.

[tsom]

The change to Scuttle makes sense. I've always wondered how he knew what Ursula looked like if he'd never been under the sea before (in the scene were Vanessa was looking in the mirror).

[Disney Duster]

You're right! How did he know what Ursula looked like? I guess she could have surfaced sometimes...

[JeanGreyForever]

I think the audience is supposed to assume that even if Scuttle hasn't seen Ursula before, he's heard about her from Ariel and there's probably not many purple-skinned, obese octopuses swimming around under the sea.

[Disney Duster]

Omg you made me laugh out loud! Well, I did think he could have known her from a description from Ariel, so you're right, that could be it, too.

[blackcauldron85]

In the original, Triton knows Ariel's been to the surface because Flounder mentions they visited with a seagull. So Triton will have to find out another way in this movie...

[D82]

I wonder how the change about Scuttle is going to work. Are diving birds able to breathe (and talk in this case) underwater? I imagine they can't be there for a very long time, and I guess they can't dive too deep. If that's the case, making him a diving bird won't make a big difference.

[nomad2010]

Sounds like we can officially count those Zendaya rumors as dismissed. Her Met Gala ensemble resembling Cinderella was stated by the designer and her as “the last time people will identify her as a Disney Princess.” And she captioned the video of the gown with “... a fairy tale ending to my Disney days.”

I really can’t see her posting all this if she’d secretly accepted the role already and was just waiting for the D23 announcement.