DHS Disney plans to reboot Voyage of the Little Mermaid stage show at Disney's Hollywood Studios

[WorldExplorer]

Probably the over-reliance of it. Though I am curious to know.

I still say animation-wise they should nix Triton and sisters. Their designs are over the uncanny valley but still ugly as heck. I think the story would work just as well without them. Or rework it so the mermaid sisters are in silhouette with an actual actor for Triton.

They should just (word used loosely) 2D animate them, like they are in the movie. The ugly, plastic 3D stuff doesn't look anymore fitting with the real actors and actresses than 2D would. It's easier to make cheap 2D look not hideous than it is to make cheap 3D look not hideous.

(It shouldn't BE cheap animation, but apparently that's all they're willing to go for.)

Not having been at the park since it debuted... is this a case of trying to make LLMP look more valuable at DHS than it actually is?

OR

Does Mermaid actually fill up and not always have space for everyone in the queue?

For what it's worth, it's the only time I've ever approached a show and been told they were out of wheelchair spots and the group had to come back (we got our name on a list to go in the LL).

I don't know how many spots there are in each show or if that's a regular occurrence, though.

 

[seabreezept813]

Also recently saw this and thought it was great. Funny though my husband said Disney is getting cheap and too many effects were visible. Loved leaving it and seeing characters playing with kids in Animation Courtyard.

 

[Disone]

I recently saw this and thought it was definitely an upgrade from the prior version. While I do miss the lasers and the mist effects, the animation did not bother me. I guess I need to go back and look at it a second time because apparently it's horrible animation but I honestly didn't notice. Overall I found the show to be much more compelling than the original.

I would have had Ariel sing a quick reprise of part of your world as the finale but I overall did not have a whole lot of qualms about the show.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Other than the embarrassingly bad animation - what was a downgrade?

The removal of extra technological elements like the waterfall curtain, laser effects, and the mist/laser ceiling, I think was a loss. I believe they should have kept those elements and ADDED the elements they DID add to the show.

...But yes, the embarrassingly bad animation is 2/3rds of the problem, because it is such a critical asset to the show. They need to fix that.

 

[WondersOfLife]

The frozen sing along has Lightning Lane and was never full.

I'll actually argue the latter and say the showing I saw was completely full.

(Not vouching for it, it's not my favorite thing. But it does fill up.)

 

[WondersOfLife]

Not having been at the park since it debuted... is this a case of trying to make LLMP look more valuable at DHS than it actually is?

OR

Does Mermaid actually fill up and not always have space for everyone in the queue?

Neither. They just need to add more LL experiences in Hollywood Studios to justify that moneyssssss.

 

[Ayla]

Raise your hand if you are the least bit surprised.

 

[discos]

I was wondering who had taken over for Pat Carroll voice for Ursula since she had passed? Whomever it is thier voice doesn't sound too bad but, it's off a little bit and not much of her amazing laugh she did when she use to play her.

So based off the behind the scenes motion cap pic Disney shared, to my ears it sounds like the actor in the photo is the singing and speaking voice of Ursula in the show. This specific CM did a bunch of equity roles on property, most recently as one of the hosts in the Encanto sing along show at Epcot. If you hear a clip of her normal voice you can hear her in Ursula. Even Jafar and Hades in the Villains show at DHS are current WDW Equity CMs.

 

[LittleBuford]

I was able to see this twice last week. Unlike most people here, I adored the old version, so this reboot had a lot to live up to. I thought, overall, it was a worthy successor, with some real enhancements, especially Ariel’s swimming effect and the montage when Eric is confronting Ursula. But the animated Triton and sisters are just unbelievably bad—shoddier even than the animated Figment you see on the current version of Imagination. It made so sense to me given that the other animated figures, including Ursula (in those sequences where she is represented in two dimensions), looked fine and integrated really well with the puppets and human actors. At least it’s a problem that can be easily fixed, should they choose to address it (which I hope they do).

 

[Disney Analyst]

I was able to see this twice last week. Unlike most people here, I adored the old version, so this reboot had a lot to live up to. I thought, overall, it was a worthy successor, with some real enhancements, especially Ariel’s swimming effect and the montage when Eric is confronting Ursula. But the animated Triton and sisters are just unbelievably bad—shoddier even than the animated Figment you see on the current version of Imagination. It made so sense to me given that the other animated figures, including Ursula (in those sequences where she is represented in two dimensions), looked fine and integrate really well with the puppets and human actors. At least it’s a problem that can be easily fixed, should they choose to address it (which I hope they do).

They should just do silhouettes or something.

 

[LittleBuford]

They should just do silhouettes or something.

I don’t think that would work well, as the animations interact with the human cast and puppets. They should use whatever technology they used for PhilharMagic.

 

[LittleBuford]

Perhaps the costume can vary with the person wearing it? Two females can wear the exact same top and one will be more "modest" than the other.

The old top was an independent “bra”; the current one is connected to the tail. Again, not a criticism, just a change I noted. Jasmine’s costume has also moved in this direction.

Having now seen the show (I didn’t watch any videos before my visit), I think I was wrong. The difference in the top seems to have something to do with the new swimming effect they’ve introduced—the tail needs to connect differently to the actress to make the effect possible.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I don’t think that would work well, as the animations interact with the human cast and puppets. They should use whatever technology they used for PhilharMagic.

I meant just in the opening number with the sisters. Kinda like they already do with Triton behind the curtain. Do it all behind the curtain in silhouette. Have the empty shell facing the audience rotate it around as the curtain opens to reveal the empty shell to the imaginary audience behind the curtain.

I don’t think there’s any puppets in the opening?

 

[LittleBuford]

I meant just in the opening number with the sisters. Kinda like they already do with Triton behind the curtain. Do it all behind the curtain in silhouette. Have the empty shell facing the audience rotate it around as the curtain opens to reveal the empty shell to the imaginary audience behind the curtain.

I don’t think there’s any puppets in the opening?

It would work in the intro (and look miles better), but Triton returns for the final scene to transform Ariel into a human. For that scene at least, he would have to be an animated figure, since he is shown interacting with both Ariel and Eric.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It would work in the intro (and look miles better), but Triton returns for the final scene to transform Ariel into a human. For that scene at least, he would have to be an animated figure, since he is shown interacting with both Ariel and Eric.

Bring on the King Triton face character with abs! Let's goooo!

 

[Comped]

This specific CM did a bunch of equity roles on property, most recently as one of the hosts in the Encanto sing along show at Epcot. If you hear a clip of her normal voice you can hear her in Ursula. Even Jafar and Hades in the Villains show at DHS are current WDW Equity CMs

I would guess it's likely for cost reasons, why many of these characters aren't getting their proper voice actors in the parks... Well, in Pat's case it's an open question if she even has a replacement cast yet, but others have no real excuse to be honest!