Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID live-action movie musical - News & Discussion Thread

Between director Rob Marshall and the casting of vocal powerhouse Halle Bailey, this movie might be the one Disney remake that I might actually watch instead of cringing in rage for how passionless and soulless a lot of the remakes are 100% of the time.

Musical Master said: "Between director Rob Marshall and the casting of vocal powerhouse Halle Bailey, this movie might be the one Disney remake that I mightactually watch instead of cringing in rage for how passionless and soulless a lot of the remakes are 100% of the time."

But Cinderella was soooooo good! 

degrassifan said: "But Cinderella was soooooo good!"

Eh. In comparison, the animated film is much better in several ways.

I know I'm in the minority, but CRUELLA remains my favorite live action adaptation of a Disney animated film. But then, it really isn't a remake, but a prequel. So I guess it falls in a different category. Lol
Honestly, I'm so on the fence with this film, but I'm very very curious to see how it turns out.

Updated On: 7/14/21 at 09:57 PM

I feel like that's been in production forever for some reason. Love to hear that news! 

GreatBroadwayFan said: "So a few days ago, Disney held early test screenings for "The Little Mermaid" (which doesn't come out until May 26, 2023) and while the VFX were still in progress, the general reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Halle Bailey's vocals are fairly similar to Jodi Benson's (the original Ariel), Halle and Jonah Hauer-King have great chemistry together and the sea creatures (Sebastian, Flounder, etc.) do not look hyper-realistic like The Lion King (2019) but little more cartoonish, which I think is good!

We will more than likely be getting our first official look during the D23 Expo which is happening September 9th-11th (whether that's set photos, a poster or even a teaser trailer remains to be seen)."

Any word on Melissa McCarthy's performance?

He wants that Oscar and won’t stop until he gets one 

WldKingdomHM said: "He wants that Oscar and won’t stop until he gets one"

He's making me actively hope he never gets one.

BCfitasafiddle said: "degrassifan said: "But Cinderella was soooooo good!"

I agree. It's my favorite of the live action remakes."

Same here. It's my favorite live-action movie (I love the Cinderella fairy tale, but no version beat The Wizard of Oz in my favorite live-action films till that one. And I know The Wizard of Oz is a better movie, but still).

NOWaWarning said: "I’d still be annoyed if it were anyone else, honestly, so it might as well be Lin. I just don’t love when they bring in new songwriters with completely different styles to add songs. They stick out from the rest of the score. Like Jasmine’s horrid, generic pop anthem Pasek & Paul were hired to shove into Menken’s Aladdin. But maybe Lin will surprise me and do a better job of blending in. It just seems especially silly when Menken already composed nearly a dozen new songs for the stage version, some of which are quite lovely."

Actually, that pop anthem of Jasmine's called "Speechless" was Alan Menken's work. He even went on so far as to call it his "baby" in an interview.

Updated On: 7/25/22 at 01:51 PM

MagicalMusical said: "Actually, that pop anthem of Jasmine's called "Speechless" was Alan Menken's work. He even went on so far as to call it his "baby" in an interview."

You know what? If I were making as much money as Menken and had to promote my subpar new song on a press tour, I'd call it "my baby" too.

I watched the trailer and I am really not a fan of the pop-style run she decided to do at the end, it took away all of the emotion for me. I feel the same way about Ariana in Wicked - I wish they’d stop casting pop stars in musical theatre roles. Will probably skip this one.

I'm one of those people who hasn't really been into Disney doing live action revamps of their animated properties. I haven't seen most of them, but from what I have seen (which would be Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Cruella), I just haven't been impressed by any of them. From what I've heard of the others, a number of people haven't been impressed by them either. The way I see it, there are two different types of live action revamps Disney has been doing. They've made carbon copies of their animated predecessors that added very little originality in them (as was the case with Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King). They've also gone in different directions to creatively justify their existence even if they don't necessarily stick the landing (as was the case with Dumbo and Mulan). So I clearly have no interest in seeing this.