The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[WarriorDreamer]

And don't forget Lizzo.

[Disney's Divinity]

I still don't know if I could ever accept a black Ariel. I could accept a black Esmeralda, a black/ethnic Moana, a black Tiana, but not Ariel. It's not going to look right with red hair at all.
...
The only interesting/exciting thing for me about this movie will be seeing how they will do the underwater scenes. I hate to be the one complaining because I'm one of Disneys biggest fans ever, but I can just see where they are going wrong at times.

I agree, red hair on Bailey will look really dumb. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the hair isn’t going to move as wonderfully as in the animated film anyway (as you mentioned with the underwater scenes probably not going to turn out very well—same for me), so in that case I hope they just let Bailey keep her hair her normal color instead of giving her a red wig that she'll just look ridiculous in. I’ll still always consider it pretty stupid to cast an Ariel who doesn’t have red hair, but Disney does many stupid things these days. Hopefully she can pull the songs / role off at least.

Also sad about no Harry Styles for Eric. He probably could have made the character at least memorable. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Halle is a pretty flat actress from what I hear.

He was so adorable on SNL recently, now I really wish he’d been cast. What little I saw of Bailey on that teen show she's on, she's mostly in the background. All I know so far is that she has a pretty voice. Hopefully she'll be able to pull it off, but if she really is a flat actress, maybe she would've been better as a Snow White or Cinderella or Aurora--those Walt princesses are mostly devoid of personality anyway.

[JeanGreyForever]

I forgot about Kathleen Turner. I really like her a lot. There are so many great choices for Ursula actually between Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Queen Latifah, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, and Kathleen Turner.

And don't forget Lizzo.

I still to this day have no idea who Lizzo is except that I've heard one of her songs on the radio and on TV commericals.

[Disney Duster]

Snow White and Cinderella are full of personality.

[D82]

Halle Bailey talks a bit about the film in a new interview:

The 19-year-old singer and actress will be taking on the role of Ariel and shared her excitement about the music.

Halle said that there will be classic songs like “Part of Your World”, but there will also be some new ones written by composer Alan Menken that aren’t in the original movie.

“I’ve been a fan of The Little Mermaid since I was 5, so those new songs are very exciting to me, as well as the old,” Halle told Popsugar. “That’s probably like, ding, ding, ding! My number one.”

She also opened up about taking on the iconic role and what she hopes to bring to the character.

“It’s so overwhelming, and beautiful, and breathtaking. I’m like, ‘Wow, am I really doing this?’” she said, hoping to bring “freshness.”

“Just being authentically me. It’s amazing that the directors have been so forward in asking me to show my true self,” Halle continued. “That’s been a really fun growing experience.”

Source: http://www.justjaredjr.com/2020/01/15/h ... e-mermaid/

[Disney's Divinity]

She seems sweet.

[DisneyJedi]

Given that there was a little rap in Queen Latifah’s take on “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, I’m wondering if we might see that in the live action movie.

[JeanGreyForever]

Lin-Manuel Miranda likes rap so I can see that being implemented in some of the songs.

[DisneyJedi]

I particularly want to see the PUS mini-rap implemented into the song from the Live musical into the live action movie. Unless that was made solely for the production.

[DisneyFan97]

I am STILL waiting for Ursula to be officially cast and for any casting news about the voices of Flotsam and Jetsam !

Getting a bit impatient !

What is taking so LONG !

[Sotiris]

Sigh. What fresh hell are we in for?

Q: How amazing is it for kids now when they see this new Little Mermaid?

Daveed Diggs: It's different. It's great. Some of the updates that they've done to the story I think are really important in terms of giving some more power back to Ariel. It's fun to work on something that's so intentional in the idea that if we're going to make this now, we're not going to leave this alone as a time capsule. Like let's make it for now.

Source: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1219043682793357312

[Disney's Divinity]

As I've said in the past, I'm down with some changes to the climax to give Ariel more agency, but I wouldn't be surprised if the way in which they go about giving Ariel more to do ends up being a mess. Disney doesn't exactly employ the best writers in the world... I personally liked Belle having some inventor knowledge* learned from Maurice and being hated by the village for being an educated woman / trying to educate other women, as well as Jasmine becoming Sultana, but that's just me.

* While not being an improvement to a female character, I thought Mowgli being an inventor in TJB fit, too, because it exhibited mankind's potential / dominance over the animal world which is part of why Shere Khan wants to kill him. But you all have been right in that they've used the inventor thing too often to add dimension to female cahracters at this point considering there's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, too. I definitely don't think that will fit with Ariel; she's an explorer and treasure hunter.

[Sotiris]

I'm not sure how reliable this is. Casting announcements get their own splashy coverage and aren't mentioned casually as a footnote.

Diggs is starring in the film with Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Megan Fox as Ursula’s human form and Idris Elba as King Triton.

Source: https://people.com/movies/the-little-me ... on-remake/

[nomad2010]

I'm not sure how reliable this is. Casting announcements get their own splashy coverage and aren't mentioned casually as a footnote.

Diggs is starring in the film with Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Megan Fox as Ursula’s human form and Idris Elba as King Triton.

Source: https://people.com/movies/the-little-me ... on-remake/

Well that’s People, which is as reliable as it gets, but it seems odd this pops up in there. So either this got released under the radar or someone messed up. I’d lean towards it being true simply because it’s People though.

[Sotiris]

As I've said in the past, I'm down with some changes to the climax to give Ariel more agency, but I wouldn't be surprised if the way in which they go about giving Ariel more to do ends up being a mess.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I'm all for Ariel getting to defeat Ursula as it's her story and there's a personal connection between the two but she's already a fairly pro-active character and too many changes could ruin her fundamental personality traits.

Disney doesn't exactly employ the best writers in the world... I personally liked Belle having some inventor knowledge* learned from Maurice and being hated by the village for being an educated woman / trying to educate other women, as well as Jasmine becoming Sultana, but that's just me.

I didn't mind too much the changes to Belle but I didn't like her being an inventor. While it's common in real life for children to be influenced by their parents' vocation/interests, I think it took away from Belle's individuality and uniqueness. It also made the statement that it's not enough for female characters to just be into the humanities; they also need to be into STEM to be considered progressive and deemed positive role models for young girls. It reinforces the belief that literature and art aren't as important as the hard sciences; a perception prevalent in part because of academic sexism. Once the fields of literature, history, philosophy etc. became female-dominated, they started losing their luster and status in the eyes of society.

Jasmine's changes were better handled and felt more organic even though showing her becoming Sultana by the end was a tad unearned. She should have been put on the path of taking over but working first on gaining some real-life experience in leadership and government.

I thought Mowgli being an inventor in TJB fit, too, because it exhibited mankind's potential/dominance over the animal world which is part of why Shere Khan wants to kill him.

Yes, that change made perfect sense.

[Disney's Divinity]

Fox and Elba are perfect for Vanessa and Triton! I hope those are true. Fox has those eyebrows, and both of them are hot hot hot, which suits both characters. And Elba's a great actor, he'll be able to pull off Triton's depth very well.

I think with that cast, I feel more positive than negative about this re-make right now. The reverse of the Mulan re-make (and the Cruella I don't feel anything but negative about). I guess that, while McCarthy isn't perfect, I trust her as an actress to hopefully not make it as bad as it could be... I already expect them to make the role more comic than the original. I'm accepting of the fact that Ursula's song was always going to be horrible since they almost always choose non-singers for live-action musicals, and that song takes more subtlety and control than most. Elba, Fox, and Awkwafina are all perfect. The rest (including McCarthy and Bailey) fall under 'fine.' Even if Halle Bailey turns out to be a flat actress as others suggested (I haven't seen much of her to say) and belt a little more than POTW should be (the way the Broadway and Live! shows have done), at least she does have a pretty voice and is gorgeous. So. I guess I'm happy? I'm going to choose not to get hung up on the might've-been's.

[disneyprincess11]

For God's sake....ARIEL WAS THE FIRST PROGRESSIVE DISNEY PRINCESS! SHE DOESN'T NEED CHANGING! Attitude with Dad, maybe. But God, we don't need a woke Ariel.

Can't wait for the live action versions of the Disney Revivals when they will find something to fix in Tiana, Moana, Rapunzel and Anna/Elsa.

Fox and Elba are perfect for Vanessa and Triton! I hope those are true.

My friend works for DisInsider. These are yet to be confirmed. But, fingers crossed!

[JeanGreyForever]

I didn't mind too much the changes to Belle but I didn't like her being an inventor. While it's common in real life for children to be influenced by their parents vocation/interests, I think it took away from Belle's individuality and uniqueness. It also made the statement that it's not enough for female characters to just be into the humanities; they also need to be into STEM to be considered progressive and deemed positive role models for young girls. It reinforces the belief that literature and art aren't as important as the hard sciences; a perception prevalent in part because of academic sexism. Once the fields of literature, history, philosophy etc. became female-dominated, they started losing their luster and status in the eyes of society.

Jasmine's changes were better handled and felt more organic even though showing her becoming Sultana by the end was a tad unearned. She should have been put on the path of taking over but working first on gaining some real-life experience in leadership and government.

Completely agree with all this. It's a shame how femininity is considered regressive to the point that more "female-dominated" fields (at least "female-dominated" nowadays) like art, history, the humanities, etc. aren't considered progressive or woke enough for a truly empowered woman.

I was afraid of these changes to Ariel's character because I knew they would heavily revamp her even more than Belle and Jasmine who were already pretty feminist. And if Ariel's character is getting so many radical changes, then I am even more worried for how they will treat Snow White in her new remake.

[Sotiris]

Well that’s People, which is as reliable as it gets, but it seems odd this pops up in there. So either this got released under the radar or someone messed up. I’d lean towards it being true simply because it’s People though.

The reference to Triton and Vanessa has since been removed so I guess it was a mistake.

Diggs is starring in the film with Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.

Source: https://people.com/movies/the-little-me ... on-remake/

I know you've all been asking, and I asked around and finally got told this isn't accurate. Idris Elba and Megan Fox have not joined The Little Mermaid. Bardem is playing Triton and it's still not known who's playing Vanessa.

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

[JeanGreyForever]

I didn't believe that report anyway because Megan Fox seemed like such an odd casting decision. I haven't seen or heard her do anything major in recent years so I couldn't see why Disney would be interested in hiring her.