Disney's Live Action The Little Mermaid

[PrinceCharming617]

I lean in favor of native American, there is a lot of legend and lore there plus oneness with nature and the elements. Definitely different from European, middle East or far East.

Yes indeedy, that sounds really good. This way they can make up for Pocahontas in some people's eyes.

P.S. Plus she'd be great for a new Nature resort. If they ever do it.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

To play devil's advocate here, why does it need to be a major fairly tale? A quick Google search turned up a bunch of African American fairly tales and folklore. There was even a story about a girl and a mermaid. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the casting for this. Shouldn't we be holding Disneys feet to the fire for not exploring the content that is available? Personally I would much rather they explore new content. Even If they found an actress that looked 100% like the Ariel in the animated movie. Guess who's still not going to see this movie? This guy. Because it's lazy and cheap what they're doing with the remakes.

Criticizing the practice of remakes is perfectly fine. The live action movies have been more miss than hit. I liked Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, but the rest ranged from middling to awful (looking at you Pinocchio and Maleficent). The issue with Mermaid has been the extreme criticism directed it's way based solely on casting.

I'm optimistic Little Mermaid will be good because the original is such a masterpiece. The question is will it be different enough to justify it's existence. Aladdin worked for me, for example, because the Genie character lends himself to different interpretations and the Bollywood-esque musical numbers felt different. Lion King on the other hand was a just the same movie with a different animation style. It was fine, but lazy.

Disney, and Hollywood in general, absolutely should strive to tell original stories from diverse backgrounds. Part of the issue has been a lack of diversity behind the camera. If there were more black filmmakers being given more opportunities all along, maybe we'd already have had a black mermaid and wouldn't even be having this conversation.

 

[itsy bitsy spider]

Criticizing the practice of remakes is perfectly fine. The live action movies have been more miss than hit. I liked Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, but the rest ranged from middling to awful (looking at you Pinocchio and Maleficent). The issue with Mermaid has been the extreme criticism directed it's way based solely on casting.

Yep, I hate that they turned Sleeping Beauty into an Angelina Jolie movie. It has one of the best stories, villains and final battles of all the animated movies.

It's like when they made a Mummy movie with Tom Cruise. It was basically Mission Impossible with some sand.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Honestly, I never thought I would say something like this, but this thread should probably be locked until the film opens or at least until there is further news to report. There have been so many sickening posts this week, and it's all been unbelievable.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Honestly, I never thought I would say something like this, but this thread should probably be locked until the film opens or at least until there is further news to report. There have been so many sickening posts this week, and it's all been unbelievable.

I agree.

 

[Rickcat96]

I can't wait to see it, if I don't like it, my life will continue, and I just won't watch it again

 

[Jedijax719]

Well one thing is for sure. This movie is already getting a LOT of attention. And despite what several may try to say, much of it is for positive reasons.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Remember: There's a difference between a remake and a retelling.

The live-action Aladdin, Jungle Book, Cinderella, etc... are remakes.​

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The Alice live-action movies and Maleficent and Cruella were retellings (as was Wicked compared to The Wizard of Oz).​

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Of course, a remake can sometimes veer off so far off the script of the original that it blurs the line between the two.

 

[GimpYancIent]

A quote from an analysis by FORBES; " There is much to criticize about nostalgia culture, but from Disney’s perspective, it makes a lot of sense to relive their glory years - ignoring a few duds, many of their live-action remakes have made a gargantuan amount of money at the box office. Never mind the fact that these films lack the vibrant energy, color and expressiveness of their animated originals - people will happily take their kids to see them in theatres, hoping to feel a fraction of that childhood magic."

 

[Brer Panther]

I'm kind of disappointed they didn't cast Colin Mocherie as Scuttle. I doubt he was even considered since he's not a flavor-of-the-month celebrity, but he would've been perfect.

 

[Jedijax719]

A quote from an analysis by FORBES; " There is much to criticize about nostalgia culture, but from Disney’s perspective, it makes a lot of sense to relive their glory years - ignoring a few duds, many of their live-action remakes have made a gargantuan amount of money at the box office. Never mind the fact that these films lack the vibrant energy, color and expressiveness of their animated originals - people will happily take their kids to see them in theatres, hoping to feel a fraction of that childhood magic."

That pretty much sums it up.

As far as complaining about remakes and wanting new stories and ideas
,

 

[Sir_Cliff]

809,000
2.1 million

One of the worst effects of the Internet has been the mainstreaming of trolling in which some people seem to revel as though it's something to be proud of.

I mean, really, celebrating 2.1 million downvotes for a short teaser trailer of The Little Mermaid remake as though it's some kind of victory?

 

[Prince-1]

That's true, but I'd love to see another Spanish or Black princess be introduced.

It's not a matter of if you see another black/Hispanic princess will but when.

 

[Goofy Ninja]

Well one thing is for sure. This movie is already getting a LOT of attention. And despite what several may try to say, much of it is for positive reasons.

926,000
2.3 million

 

[LittleBuford]

So even though she doesn't look anything like Ariel

More accurately, she doesn’t look like Ariel from the 1989 animated movie. Many fictional characters have been reinterpreted from portrayal to portrayal, and audiences have been fine with it. Your own namesake, Frankenstein’s monster, is a classic example.

 

[LittleBuford]

It is adapted from the Disney toon, not the book or any other version.

If it would have been about a new mermaid name Arella I'd understand. But if they did that they couldn't use an already established character, if that was the case.

It’s still an adaptation. Certain things will overlap, others will be different. As a huge fan of the 1989 version (it’s my favourite Disney animated movie), I’m bracing myself for disappointment, because the remakes are never as good as the originals, but I have zero issue with the fact that the new Ariel looks different from her cartoon counterpart. The latter is still there for me to watch whenever I want.

 

[itsy bitsy spider]

I read it as a video being trolled by bots

It has nothing to do with race.

Have you ever heard of Jesse Eisenberg? When he got cast as Lex Luthor he was brutally roasted, because he didn’t look like the character. Then he got roasted again when people saw his awful portrayal. He acted more like the Riddler from Batman than Lex Luthor.

 

[LSLS]

It has nothing to do with race.

Have you ever heard of Jesse Eisenberg? When he got cast as Lex Luthor he was brutally roasted, because he didn’t look like the character. Then he got roasted again when people saw his awful portrayal. He acted more like the Riddler from Batman than Lex Luthor.

I honestly don't know what it is. I mean, Aquaman wasn't roasted at all, was it? I do think there are some that it is 100% a racist thing. I'm not going to say the majority of people are racist because they have a preconceived notion of how Ariel should look based on their childhood. But, there is something strange with this when there are tons of other examples where characters have completely changed that nobody seems to care about. I'm not horribly upset by the change, simply because for the animated movies, to me, you either need to nail the look, or nail the voice for bringing it to live action. I much more just don't care about seeing the exact same story again. Penguin opened my eyes to the fact I hate the remakes, I like the retellings (just had never put it into those words before).

 

[King Panda 77]

It has nothing to do with race.

Have you ever heard of Jesse Eisenberg? When he got cast as Lex Luthor he was brutally roasted, because he didn’t look like the character. Then he got roasted again when people saw his awful portrayal. He acted more like the Riddler from Batman than Lex Luthor.

I never mentioned race . I would ask you not to put words into my mouth.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It has nothing to do with race.

Have you ever heard of Jesse Eisenberg? When he got cast as Lex Luthor he was brutally roasted, because he didn’t look like the character. Then he got roasted again when people saw his awful portrayal. He acted more like the Riddler from Batman than Lex Luthor.

How does Halle Bailey not look like Ariel to you?