The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Vlad · Post by **Vlad** » Sat May 06, 2023 3:00 pm

I went to an IMAX Screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and again they showed the trailer for The Little Mermaid. It looks so awesome on a huge screen.

Marce82 · Post by **Marce82** » Sat May 06, 2023 4:14 pm

I don't know if this has been discussed already...

But if in the new version, Ariel isn't aware (doesn't remember) that she has to get Eric to kiss her, then what is her mission to remain human?? Or does she think Ursula has turned her human forever?

It kinda removes all the tension from the second half of the film... she isn't trying to accomplish anything.

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Sat May 06, 2023 4:42 pm

*spoilers*
That's true, it does take some of the action away. Which doesn't help things since Ariel is already muted (literally) as it is in the second half. I guess initially I didn't mind it because Ursula's deal being impossible in a way that twists the knife is part of the point to me? Similar to how, in the original tale, every step on land is supposed to be as if the mermaid is walking on the edge of a knife--Ursula's deal in the Disney version makes sure there will be no real satisfaction. The Disney film's deal in particular makes me think of the deal as a metaphor for scams and other things--like credit cards--last resorts people turn to because they see no other way. Use me and all your dreams will come true, only the truth is you almost always end up on a hook from over-spending. Then you're practically the property of a company forevermore trying to pay off the bill when most everything you can come up with from month to month just barely covers the interest.

I suppose the way Ursula will put it is that if Eric and Ariel are really in love, it'll happen without effort. And it probably would, just not quick enough. Does Ariel even remember Ursula and how she ends up with legs in the first place here?

D82 · Post by **D82** » Sat May 06, 2023 8:20 pm

Disney Duster wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 11:20 pm Those trailers playing at the same time is hilarious! I wonder why we only heard The Little Mermaid's sound, in all of them, though?

I read in the comments of one of the videos that the mistake probably happened because that theater had a dual laser projection system and each projector played a different trailer. I guess that, unlike the projection system, the sound one just had one source and that's why only The Little Mermaid's sound was heard.

I've found yet another recording. I don't know if it's the same showing or not, but in all of the videos people have the same reaction. The trailers playing at the same time is indeed quite funny, especially how some things match like the logos appearing at the same time.

Disney Duster wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 11:20 pm D82, I'm sorry but I do not like the "no cheating" idea. In the original film, Ariel tries to tell Eric who she is by pantomime when she meets him on the rock, and Ursula never forbade that. It's just cleaner if Ursula is so clever she doesn't need to forbid anything, plus, her saying if Ariel cheats she automatically belongs to her makes the deal seem silly, to me, like "really?"

I agree Ursula forbidding Ariel to cheat is unnecessary. I only thought it would've been an easy way of fixing that "plot hole" if they really wanted to do that. She having a different alphabet or simply not knowing how to write doesn't totally solve it. After all, writing is not the only method she could use to communicate. There's also pantomime, which you mentioned, drawing, etc. Anyway, if she had been able to tell Eric the truth, would he have believed she was a mermaid and had exchanged her voice for legs? And if he did, wouldn't it be more difficult for him to fall in love with her and give her a true love's kiss with the pressure of knowing all that?

But what you said made me realize something I think I'd never thought about before. I've always been under the impression Ursula can know what Ariel is doing all the time, but can she really see what she's doing when she's on land? She always uses Flotsam and Jetsam to spy on her and they can't leave the ocean. When Ursula sees Ariel and Eric are about to kiss, it's because they're at sea on a boat. I guess she thinks what Ariel has to do to stay human forever is impossible to accomplish and she doesn't need to monitor her.

Marce82, that's something I've wondered too. I guess the only thing Ariel doesn't remember is the part of the deal about her having to be kissed by Eric. She probably does think Ursula has turned her human forever in exchange of her voice. Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle still know about the deal, though, as does the audience, so there'll still be some tension, but I think it could potentially reduce it. We'll see. I think it depends on how it's done.

That's a good metaphor for Ursula's deal, Disney's Divinity.

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Sat May 06, 2023 9:14 pm

True about Ursula. I guess the original movie generally gives you the feel that Ursula has eyes everywhere all the time that you never think about it. A lot of villains are given that kind of aura, both Disney and non-Disney, that they're everywhere, hearing and seeing everything. But it explains more of why she would go on land as Vanessa. With any other deal, she'd probably be confident enough to know the terms alone will ensure her victory, but since Ariel's case is so important to her, she would want to know what's happening at all times. Especially since the first view she sees of what's been happening since Ariel went out of her view was of her coming right to the point of kissing Eric in "Kiss the Girl," too.

I suppose in theory though, Ursula could see her at all times from her lair if she went to the effort of transforming F&J somehow as necessary. That reminds me--I think someone had said in the past that Ursula makes F&J giant as well during the climax or something of that nature? If true, I kind of like the idea, only if it happens as Ursula is making herself giant (since I like Ariel and Eric's shock as Ursula rises out of the water, it wouldn't be that shocking if she had already enlarged F&J to capture Eric in the scene prior when she shoots them by accident.) At least, when I initially heard that, I assumed they might be giant at the same time she is, searching around the whirlpool underwater for Ariel and Eric as giant!Ursula searches above.

D82 · Post by **D82** » Sun May 07, 2023 8:37 am

The triptych has been released as individual posters on a Czech website.

As Disney Live-Actions Brasil points out, Ariel's pose seems inspired by one of the posters for the original film. It sounded very familiar to me; I don't know why I didn't notice it.

Also, some international versions of "Part of Your World" have been released. Maybe there are more, but these are the ones I've found:

Danish version
Norwegian version
Swedish version
Italian version
Spanish version
Japanese version

And a fan has created a "duet" of the song mixing Jodi Benson's and Halle Bailey's voices, which I thought could be interesting to share, as it's quite well done.

Disney's Divinity wrote: ↑Sat May 06, 2023 9:14 pm I suppose in theory though, Ursula could see her at all times from her lair if she went to the effort of transforming F&J somehow as necessary. That reminds me--I think someone had said in the past that Ursula makes F&J giant as well during the climax or something of that nature? If true, I kind of like the idea, only if it happens as Ursula is making herself giant (since I like Ariel and Eric's shock as Ursula rises out of the water, it wouldn't be that shocking if she had already enlarged F&J to capture Eric in the scene prior when she shoots them by accident.) At least, when I initially heard that, I assumed they might be giant at the same time she is, searching around the whirlpool underwater for Ariel and Eric as giant!Ursula searches above.

Yes, I guess she could've done something like that if she had wanted or transforming herself into a human earlier to follow her, for example. Regarding Flotsam and Jetsam becoming giant, I don't remember hearing anything about that, but maybe it was posted and I forgot about it. Anyway, I checked the novelization (the full book has leaked online. I downloaded it to be able to check things like these even though I don't plan to read it in full) and that doesn't happen there. They're killed by Ursula by mistake like in the original before she becomes giant, so I guess that rumor wasn't true.

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Sun May 07, 2023 12:27 pm

Little Mermaid Targets a Top Ten Memorial Day Opening Weekend Box Office Haul
https://www.cbr.com/little-mermaid-open ... orial-day/
Live-Action ‘The Little Mermaid’ Officially Outsells Original
https://insidethemagic.net/2023/05/the- ... tions-jc1/

According to the first article, the film projections put it behind Top Gun: Maverick, POTC: At World's End, and Aladdin 2019 in the same slot.

That second article--talk about damning with faint praise.

The remake is actually in the opposite position of the original film. The original didn't follow a string of hits, it began one and started out on a weaker foot for doing so. The remake on the other hand follows a string of successful remakes and looks like it may be doing worse than them considering expectations are for lower than Aladdin domestically and that film itself already did much less domestically than B&TB and TLK.

PatchofBlue · Post by **PatchofBlue** » Sun May 07, 2023 12:43 pm

That "duet" was really nice. There were moments where I actually couldn't tell whether I was listening to Halle or Jodi.

And Insidethemagic has generally low journalistic standards. It used to be one of my go-to's for Disney news specifically, but my how they have fallen from grace.

Lele · Post by **Lele** » Sun May 07, 2023 12:45 pm

I like the spanish version the most, I'd put it after the original version. If only she stayed closer to the original instead of imitating halle at the end it would have been perfect, but it was good other than that.

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Sun May 07, 2023 12:57 pm

Yeah, to me Bailey overenunciated the song to a large degree, which is why the versions don't sound good together since the other sounds more genuine (more acting than singing). Maybe if they spliced her with Boggess or Cravalho.

I can see how that one image of Ariel is supposed to be like that original poster...and the comparison sort of says it all really. The lack of vibrant red hair surprisingly ended up being the least of the problems here, the tail and the bra turned out much worse. The hair issue would be easier to ignore than those since one's an omission whereas the other two are eyesores you have to look at the whole time.

D82 · Post by **D82** » Sun May 07, 2023 7:40 pm

Clip from "Kiss the Girl". The clip from "Part Of Your World" has now been officially released as well.

Here are side-by-side comparison videos with the original scenes, for anyone interested:

Kiss the Girl
Part Of Your World

Now we know Eric wasn't crying in that scene, but he had been splashed with water by Flounder or one of the other fish. Also, this clip clearly shows Ariel is indeed under the memory spell, as she's the one who avoids being kissed at first instead of Eric. That was so strange to see.

The ending of the song is much more spectacular in the original, but I found this clip quite charming too, and the actors seem to have chemistry, at least in this scene.

Marce82 · Post by **Marce82** » Mon May 08, 2023 12:04 am

Bahahahaha.... the POYW comparison... kinda sad when a stack of drawings have more creative and compelling acting than Halle Bailey.

Mixed feelings about KTG. Song doesn't sound bad... them falling out of the boat looked super fake. The use of glowing fish/tentacles seems a little excessive. Aren't glowing creatures super rare??

So in this version, it is the animals who are trying to get them to kiss? Doesn't that make Ariel a more passive character than the original???

Vlad · Post by **Vlad** » Mon May 08, 2023 2:31 am

My thoughts exactly, Marce about Ariel being more passive here.

The "Kiss the Girl" scene looks nice, but it was awkward seeing Ariel avoid his kiss. And them falling in the water at the song's end seemed rushed, not at all dramatic.

"Part of your World" looks really nice. But I agree with Marce again, the original drawings emote better than Halle does.

Lele · Post by **Lele** » Mon May 08, 2023 7:49 am

I like the way they performed kiss the girl song more than the original, though I never like that song much

About the scene itself... I think the setting itself looks nice and I don't mind it being dark in this scene, even if a little bit more light wouldn't hurt. But it was unexpected seeing her avoid him, sometimes it felt like she didn't want to be here lol

Ariel, despite all her flaws about giving up her voice etc, was never acting shy or passive with Eric from what I remember, and that was interesting to see

she was never avoiding his gaze and she was puckering her lips first too and if anything it was Eric who was acting shy despite everyone pressuring him to kiss her

but looks like they changed the roles here with her being more shy and passive and him more active.

Farerb · Post by **Farerb** » Mon May 08, 2023 10:41 am

New Featurette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L1s_Oiv2cg

Farerb · Post by **Farerb** » Mon May 08, 2023 1:30 pm

Social media embargo lifts tomorrow at
07:30 am (EET).

D82 · Post by **D82** » Mon May 08, 2023 2:59 pm

Farerb wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 10:41 am New Featurette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L1s_Oiv2cg

Interesting that Triton has a living cape made up of a school of fish. On the one hand it's cool, but also a bit ridiculous. Thankfully, it seems he only wears it in one scene.

Here are a couple more promos. In the first one, we can hear Ariel sing in "Under the Sea".

https://twitter.com/LittleMermaid/statu ... 4967860231
https://twitter.com/LittleMermaid/statu ... 1698395141

Farerb wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 1:30 pm Social media embargo lifts tomorrow at
07:30 am (EET).

Thanks for the info. It would also be interesting to know when the review embargo lifts. I hope it's revealed soon.

Marce82 · Post by **Marce82** » Mon May 08, 2023 3:28 pm

Sooooo.... Ariel is singing along to UTS?? Isnt the point of the song for Sebastian to convince her NOT to go to the surface? If she is singing along, kinda implies she is agreeing with him.

Will Flounder not take her away midway through the song while Sebastian is distracted performing???

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Mon May 08, 2023 3:38 pm

It reminds me of how Jodi Benson sings along to "Under the Sea" in Kingdom Hearts 2. I think they only did that there because they had a poor Samuel Wright replacement..... I think they were trying to use Benson to lift it from being completely terrible.

TBH, even though it makes no story sense, I think I'd rather hear Halle Bailey sing it than Daveed Diggs. Naturally Samuel Wright will always be the best version as far as having both the acting and singing sides of the character nailed like Carroll and Benson, but Burgess did sing all of Sebastian's songs very well, too (I'd say he was the best of the musical by far). I don't know much about Diggs, but so far I'd be surprised if he ends up within range of Burgess much less Wright. He can surpass Shaggy from the Live! show though, sure to God, he was awful (no offense to the guy, he seemed nice, just--no).

D82 · Post by **D82** » Mon May 08, 2023 6:13 pm

The premiere will be livestreamed on the HSN/QVC website at 5:30 pm PT/8:30 pm ET. I think you'll have to enter your email to watch it. Here are more details on how to watch the event:

How to Watch the HSN Live Stream Red Carpet Premiere of Disney’s The Little Mermaid:

To watch the HSN+ red carpet premiere and HSN two-hour on-air special either live or on demand, viewers can search ‘HSN’ on their favorite Smart TV and streaming devices (including Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Samsung and more), download the free HSN+ app or visit Plus.HSN.com to watch free now.

The live stream will be available afterward on Demand on HSN+ starting May 9th.

On May 23rd, HSN will host a two-hour on-air special featuring products from The Little Mermaid that will include collectible dolls, toys, apparel, mugs, cups, posters, and more.

Source: https://twitter.com/SweetnShy13/status/ ... 4839691264

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