The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[Thumper_93]

Do you know what dolls were supposed to come out but never did?

One of the dolls came with the Pink dress, the tail and some accesories. I don't know if they were planning to release more dolls with different outfits.
This cancellation also means that the dolls that are available right now are not going to he made anymore so in a few months I'm sure that they are going to go to the sale sections

[carolinakid]

I’d be curious to know how the black Little Mermaid meet and greet at Hollywood Studios and Disneyland is doing and if it will be shut down before fall.

[PatchofBlue]

Surely it would be in their best interest if they kept her until after the movie hit Disney+?

I hope they keep her around for another few months at least. I might be making a stop at the parks soon, and I'd love to get to meet this version of Ariel before she goes.

[Thumper_93]

I think that they are going to keep her at the parks till september. After this month the movie is going to be forgotten. It doesn't have anything special and it's like the other's live action.

[Vlad]

Surely it would be in their best interest if they kept her until after the movie hit Disney+?

I hope they keep her around for another few months at least. I might be making a stop at the parks soon, and I'd love to get to meet this version of Ariel before she goes.

I went to Disneyland in Paris, and I met her. There were like 2-3 people over there, taking photos with her. She wasn't very popular.

[Thumper_93]

She doesn't catch your attention. Her gown is not stunning and you only know Who is she if you have watched the movie.
Disneyland Paris should bring more characters like Mulan, Pocahontas or Tiana instead of bringing this Ariel's versión.

[Disney's Divinity]

Yeah, I think if they'd given her one of Ariel's dresses from the animated film, people might know who the character's supposed to be and she would've got a little more traffic--for as long as live-action versions get at the parks anyway, I imagine.

Probably should correct myself from last page on that point, too. I do think the sea foam dress is the best of her average dresses. I do like Ariel's mermaid form and wedding dress more than it (the wedding one was always my favorite of her dresses), but I don't really think of the former as an outfit exactly and I always think of a wedding dress as being in a different class than something you could wear at any time, I guess.

[Thumper_93]

The problem that live action's Ariel has is that she doesn't have a princess gown. I understand that they tried to make her comfy but you can't make and adaptation of one of the princesses that more gowns has and only addapt one of them in the film. They should have made the Pink one and film a ball scene just like in the Fairy tale.
They choosed the easy way.

[Thumper_93]

There are some posts on Instagram whith videos and photos where Ariel wears a different tops. In earliest versions she wore like scales are over her chest.

[Disney's Divinity]

Possibly that top picture would've looked better than the wrap, but I imagine that was just an early idea. If they had went with it, they probably would've made a finished version more gaudy than that.

[PatchofBlue]

I mostly like the final look they went with, but I'm actually kind of here for more sparkles. She's a mermaid princess. Let her be a mermaid princess.

To that point ... I actually also wish they had let Ariel wear a proper ballgown at some point in this movie. That was one of the drawbacks of them cutting both the wedding and the dinner on that first night in the castle. Heck, maybe that's why they let her mermaid look be so frilly.

That said, I also really like her marketplace look. It fits perfectly into that middle space between gorgeous and casual, and I think the bright blue tone serves well both Ariel's oceanic roots and the general lightness of her personality. I just wish it wasn't her only human look. (Yeah, I know she has another outfit during the final scene, but it looks suitable for neither elegance nor adventure. She looks like she's cosplaying as Bo Peep.)

[Thumper_93]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJqupPRX/

[VanessaFan]

I miss the evil glares that the animated Vanessa gives, they're missing in this live-action version. I know she couldn't do it as she stood in front of Sir Grimsby and The Queen, but at the party as she walks towards Eric and looking at the sun, she could have had an evil look or an evil, twisted smile here. I wish they'd done that. Also, not a single character says her name in this version. I always thought The Queen said her name as the camera zoomed in on the necklace. I thought she said something like "Vanessa will get a room", but she says "Then let's begin preparations. Grimsby..."

[Disney's Divinity]

I was looking to see if perhaps they had the steelbook for the remake available for pre-order to see what the price might be, and found this listing. It's listed as a new steelbook for the original 1989 film, to be released 10/3/23 (a couple of weeks after the remake comes out). I wonder what the cover will be--just the silver 100th anniversary cover or something? Or maybe it's going to be a release that combines the original with the remake into a 2-pack version maybe?

Turned out to be a silver re-package, as I thought it most likely would be. I do like it better than some of the silver covers I've seen for other films this year, but still, pass. Hopefully it will get a restoration akin to the new ones for Cinderella and Snow White someday, and then they use the original poster of them around the palace for it.

I guess with Barbie being another huge success like Mario, that's another sign this film would've been more successful if it had been more faithful in its designs, character looks, and locales.

[PatchofBlue]

Featurette on Jodi Benson's cameo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr7IbedZkJA

Jodi's cameo is honestly one of the most tasteful cameos I've seen in a film. The only note I'd give is I would have rather they had found a way for her to not react to Ariel's misuse of the dinglehopper so awkwardly. Maybe just a sort of polite amusement. In-universe it would have been an odd thing for a bystander to see, yes, but it would have made for a sweeter interaction for Ariel Prime to turn this moment of embarrassment into something Ariel didn't have to feel self-conscious about.

[UmbrellaFish]

A doll reviewer I follow has apologized for spreading misinformation regarding 2023 Ariel merch sales. This comes after the new Fashion Adventure Ariel has been spotted at Target this week— that was the last doll we knew of and were waiting to be released, it’s the one Thumper_93 describes in an earlier post. I am excited for this release because it is the only Mattel Ariel that comes with a cloth tail. There’s also been a slew of back to school merchandise (backpacks, stationery, etc.) hitting the shelves recently, too. The truth is nobody knows what Disney and Mattel has made from 2023 TLM, except Disney and Mattel, and you really shouldn’t believe anyone who tries and tells you that they do know.

I don’t know how popular the 2023 Ariel meet and greet is (frustratingly the parks apps do not report wait times for meet and greet experiences). My favorite Disney parks YouTuber (Molly of the Mammoth Club) did a video in Hollywood Studios last month and she mentioned off-handedly that the 2023 Ariel had an hour long wait time, so take of that what you will. I don’t think the choice of costume would really change any guest demand, at least in Orlando, since she meets behind closed doors. I will say I was disappointed she didn’t meet as a mermaid! But I understand her current run at the parks is limited to promote the new movie and they probably didn’t want to invest the time and money in making an elaborate mermaid costume for a limited time meet and greet. If she comes back for a permanent meet and greet, I hope she meets in her mermaid tail!

The last thing I’ll mention, earlier in this thread (or another TLM thread) I spoke about the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which until the pandemic, was a short stage show that retold the story of TLM at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Recently, parks guests have been receiving surveys that ask questions about this experience (https://wdwnt.com/2023/07/update-disney ... d-studios/). It’s just interesting that Disney is surveying guests about this experience, 3 years after it closed…

[Disney's Divinity]

Misinformation feels like a very politicized word to use. I don't think the people who posted the info (was it Thumper?) were intentionally trying to spread false info, which is more of what I think of as "misinformation." More likely the information just ended up being incorrect, not intentionally false?

Being in her mermaid tail would at least let people know who she is, I suppose. Personally, I hope they do bring Voyage of TLM back. I was thinking of actually going to the parks one time only (maybe the last time or at least not again for another decade or two, lol) once the Splash Mountain renovation is done. It would be nice if they could bring that TLM ride back, so it's there, too, if/whenever I go a year or two from now. I don't remember it being this great ride or anything, but it would take me back.

VanessaFan, I also love that shot. I actually once used a .GIF avatar years ago that involved the very last drawing in that picture you posted (the one where her eyebrow is at the highest point). I believe that Ariel website, Daring to Dream, had some avatar that was something along the lines of "Ye Shall Fear the Eyebrow" or something like that.

[UmbrellaFish]

I was referring to the specific doll reviewer (Doll Daddy) and misinformation was the word he used.

[Thumper_93]

As UmbrellaFish said the information came from a doll reviewer from Instagram. I only said what i read however this happened with all the live actions dolls. They release the dolls when the movie is released and after that they don't make more dolls because people are not intereseted on them. I think that they are going to release merchandise this whole year and after that they Will stop. They have to earn as much money as they can

[Disney's Divinity]

I only said what i read however this happened with all the live actions dolls.

That's what I assumed. My guess is when the information came out (true or not), Disney probably reached into the situation for PR reasons.