The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

[carolinakid]

I hope Zegler’s Snow White is only a temporary intrusion into the DP line.

[Disney's Divinity]

Asha wouldn't be the first--Kida? Raya?

It's interesting how several posters seem to follow a similar line of promoting the racebend remakes by way of attacking Wish, it's almost like they're a group working together. Makes you wonder.

Anyway, I think the doll line thing is to go with the DisneyJunior show. It's not something that will be around longterm. All the controversy the past years is mostly because the DP line is not like Marvel or Barbie, but Disney tries to force all their IPs into the same mold these days regardless of whether they fit. Not surprised they have fan dissatisfaction from almost every group the past few years--WDAS, PIXAR, Marvel, Star Wars, etc. The IP blending has caused outrage from all the sections.

[PatchofBlue]

I'm fine with them continuing to promote LA Ariel, but it's so jarring seeing both animated and LA as part of one set. Like, why not go all the way and give us Sierra Boggess' Ariel too?

[Mooky]

I don't know, I feel like it's something that would have bothered me back in 2008 when I was an overzealous Disney/hand-drawn purist, but now it's just something I've gotten used to. If you think about it, there's nothing really organic or cohesive or constant about the Disney Princess franchise; they're (mostly) main characters from their respective movies and that's pretty much it. Unlike Mickey and the gang, or Winnie the Pooh, or Disney Fairies, or Avengers, or Star Wars characters, they've never starred in a movie/show together (RBTI or similar properties don't count) and they don't really interact. They've been plucked out from different time periods, different regions (they don't even inhabit the same Earth - hi, Raya!), different genres, and they don't share a common art style (angular Aurora vs soft Snow White vs realistic Pocahontas vs cartoony CG Rapunzel). The only reason they're marketed together is because someone wanted to sell more merchandise, and it's easier selling them to kids as a group rather than individually. And this is all before we get to Pixar's Merida being added to the line-up. I'm certain that the same group of people who have issues with LA Ariel wouldn't make a peep if Disney decided to add Bluth's Anastasia under the DP umbrella. So I don't really care if LA Ariel is there or not; she's different enough from the OG Ariel to cause any confusion. They might as well add the rest of the live-action princesses; the only one that could cause some bewilderment is Belle.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, Mooky, you are right that the Disney Princess line was only made to sell merchandise, it's just the main female characters of successful or popular enough films, and, I want to add, it's already kinda a mess anyway, so, I feel whatever. If the line helps me get my Cinderella merchandise, then yay.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm certain that the same group of people who have issues with LA Ariel wouldn't make a peep if Disney decided to add Bluth's Anastasia under the DP umbrella.

Uh... Yeah, you're absolutely right about that because it wouldn't be any different than Merida? Now, if they tried to put Princess Leia in there, on the other hand...

They might as well add the rest of the live-action princesses; the only one that could cause some bewilderment is Belle.

Not sure how Belle would be the confusing one here. At least LA Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella, etc. all look more or less like their animated counterparts. I'm guessing this is just more of the usual "attack B&tB when the remake I'm trying to prop up is being criticized" trolling tactics since Mooky, pokenonbinary, and UmbrellaFish work as a group. That's why I savor this film's poor performance.

[Sotiris]

It's rare for Menken to speak out on this sort of stuff, but I guess even he has had it with Disney's stupid, unnecessary changes.

But there’s one change to a live-action film he wasn’t the biggest fan of. In the 2023 “Little Mermaid” iteration with Halle Bailey, her crustacean pal Sebastian sings some updated lines by Lin-Manuel Miranda during “Kiss the Girl” to ensure audiences don’t feel Prince Eric is forcing himself on Ariel. “There is one way to ask her / It don’t take a word / Not a single word / Go on and kiss the girl,” are the original 1989 lyrics. Daveed Diggs’ new Sebastian, on the other hand, croons, “Use your words boy and ask her / If the time is right / And the time is tonight / Go on and kiss the girl.”

“Let’s not sanitize ourselves out of any kind of passion. That’s not the way we’re built as people,” he says, rolling his eyes. “We recognize what’s right and wrong. But at the same time, passions are not constructed out of correctness.” He’s not losing sleep over it, though. “Everybody compromises on their stances. We have to be one society somehow,” he says. “The basic underlying emotions and intentions and desires are exactly the same.”

Source: https://variety.com/2024/film/features/ ... 236255835/

[UmbrellaFish]

I agree Disney was overly sensitive with several of the lyrics changes and also the conceit of Ursula making Ariel forget the conditions of her spell.

[Disney's Divinity]

The KtG lyric changes were very stupid, but personally, it's changing "Poor Unfortunate Souls" that was the height of stupid for me. Not only did they wipe the funniest moment in the movie and the best part of that song, it was to sanitize the *villain*'s song, the villain whose whole character is built around lying and manipulation. Did they think the audience would take her words that seriously?

[PatchofBlue]

I also really liked him standing up for his Disney heroines here.

“Look at Ariel. Look at Belle. Look at Jasmine. I’m trying to think of if any of our characters have been anything but empowered,” he says. “These female protagonists are very contemporary, very powerful. Ariel is fully three-dimensional and relatable. Belle is bright and curious and passionate and strong-willed. Jasmine breaks free and is her own person. Pocahontas is Pocahontas. My perspective is that our job is to create a story that has the right dimension and the right structure in it. Within that, you want characters that are relatable, that grow. There are times where you might have a character that doesn’t meet all your standards of what they should be, but that’s part of telling the story.”

[Thumper_93]

Even Alan is talking about how weird and stupid it was. Let's hope that they at least have learnt something from all the things that they did wrong with this movie.

[Lavendergolden]

I also really liked him standing up for his Disney heroines here.

“Look at Ariel. Look at Belle. Look at Jasmine. I’m trying to think of if any of our characters have been anything but empowered,” he says. “These female protagonists are very contemporary, very powerful. Ariel is fully three-dimensional and relatable. Belle is bright and curious and passionate and strong-willed. Jasmine breaks free and is her own person. Pocahontas is Pocahontas. My perspective is that our job is to create a story that has the right dimension and the right structure in it. Within that, you want characters that are relatable, that grow. There are times where you might have a character that doesn’t meet all your standards of what they should be, but that’s part of telling the story.”

thanks for sharing. I'm so proud to see Alan standing up for his classic Disney princesses Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. I swear men understand these women better than the Jennifer Lee-type women who ruin traditional princesses.

[Thumper_93]

This is the shelf from the toy section of one of the most important deparment stores company in Spain. Thre's a lot of units of JP dolls and the movie is almost two years old. It's going to be hard for them to get rid of all these dolls.



There's also lots of products from the Disney Junior show and it's weird because the rest of the shop is almost empty. It seems that it's not selling so well as they expected.

[Disney Duster]

Seeing the wedding dress on the toddler doll is creepy.

[Thumper_93]

Seeing the wedding dress on the toddler doll is creepy.

Tottally agree. I never understood the fact of making toddler dolls with wedding gowns. They did the same with the LA Belle doll. Yes, I know that both gowns are not technically wedding gowns but we all know the truth...

[Disney Duster]

I did not know they did that to other toddler dolls!

[Thumper_93]

I did not know they did that to other toddler dolls!

Yes, they did Belle and a version of Cinderella

[Disney Duster]

I meant I did not know they put wedding dresses on other dolls. I actually do not consider Belle's white dress a wedding dress, as I heard it isn't.

[Thumper_93]

I meant I did not know they put wedding dresses on other dolls. I actually do not consider Belle's white dress a wedding dress, as I heard it isn't.

I honestly think that Belle's celebration dress is a wedding dress. They didn't say it because Emma was all the time trying to convince people that Belle is not an usual princess and that she doesn't get married at the end.

[Disney Duster]

I messed up what I meant to say again! I meant I didn't know they put wedding dresses on other toddler dolls. You may be right, maybe they wanted a wedding, and wedding dress, in the end, and Emma said no, so they just pretended it wasn't.