Mermaid Magic - Previewing The Little Mermaid At D23

The D23 Expo is about to begin, providing Disney fans with a preview of their 2023 blockbusters. One of the most prominent Disney blockbusters being released next year is a live-action adaptation of their 1989 classic The Little Mermaid, which started Disney’s “Renaissance” period of the 1990s. The idea of a live-action take on The Little Mermaid was first announced in Summer 2016, after Beauty and the Beast had finished filming, but before the likes of Aladdin and The Lion King went into production.* After a few years stuck in development, the project truly captured mainstream attention when R&B Rising Star Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in July 2019, creating a “culture war” over the decision to cast an African-American performer as a traditionally white Disney Princess. (More positively, it led to commentators highlighting the history of African and Caribbean mermaids, providing Mermaid enthusiasts with even more fascinating stories). Over the second half of 2019, the rest of the cast was announced, with British actor Jonah Hauer-King playing Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton and Melissa McCartney getting to explore her mean side as the scheming Sea Witch Ursula. Hamilton star Daveed Diggs will voice Ariel’s iconic crab sidekick Sebastian, with Ariel’s other animal friends being voiced by performers who also had leading roles in recent Disney Animated hits - Jacob Tremblay (Luca) was cast as Flounder and Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon) signed on to voice a reworked version of the eccentric Scuttle. With most of Disney’s live-action remakes breaking box-office records, The Little Mermaid looked set to bring even more money for the company.

However, the plans for the live-action The Little Mermaid were disrupted when the COVID pandemic arrived just weeks before filming was due to start, leading to a long delay. The actors voicing Ariel’s animal sidekicks recorded their lines during Summer 2020, but there was a further wait before Halle and her co-stars eventually went in front of the cameras in early 2021, and filming was completed in the summer. Due to the pandemic, initial plans to shoot The Little Mermaid in exotic locations such as Puerto Rico and South Africa were scaled back, with most of the shoot taking place in Britain and Italy. The creative team then moved into the long and difficult process of Post-Production. Disney then announced The Little Mermaid would arrive in May 2023, occupying the same Memorial Day release date as other profitable live-action remakes such as Maleficent and Aladdin.

With less than ten months to go until it finally gets released, the public will finally get their first look at the movie when footage is debuted at Disney’s D23 Expo later this week. In preparation for this promotional drive, the film recently held its first test screenings. Non-Disclosure agreements mean that spoilers are strictly prohibited, but some Disney insiders have shared some titbits of information. The little we’ve heard about the film seems to be relatively positive, but it’s still early days. The CGI effects are still some way from being completed, and the first screening was pretty long, which could mean that some cuts will be made nearer to the time. However, it seems that it could be a pretty enjoyable summer blockbuster, bringing Ariel and her friends to life in a new and entertaining way. But can it be the film which salvages some much-needed respectability for the live-action division?

The Little Mermaid - Early Preview

Disney’s live-action remakes generally have been subject to substantial hostility from Disney purists. In theory, adapting Disney’s animated hits into a different medium of film is no different from adapting them to comic books, theatre, etc, but the dominance of live-action filmmaking (coupled with our hostility towards the overuse of CGI) means that the live-action movies have gained a reputation for being a cynical way of exploiting the old favorites, with some even accusing Disney of showing contempt for animation by trying to “replace” the traditionally animated classics with CGI heavy fantasy epics. There is certainly room for multiple versions of the same fairytale to exist, but Disney’s live-action remakes generally stick too close to the original template. Although they put plenty of effort into the cast, production designs and visuals, the live-action remakes often feel flat or overstuffed in comparison to the animated favourites, leaving the sense that fans would be better off rewatching the originals.

As a rule of thumb, live-action remakes of older Disney films (Cinderella, The Jungle Book) have received less hostility than the adaptations of newer ones (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King). The main reason for this is that the older films had slower stories and more simplistic characters, generating plenty of room for improvement. In contrast, Disney’s Renaissance hits featured far stronger screenplays, meaning that there is a lot less need to adapt them to modern sensibilities. The original The Little Mermaid was in between these two categories – it was the first Disney fairytale adaptation to truly bring depth and complexity to its leading characters, but it was also held back by a climax which turned Ariel into a relatively passive damsel and concluded all the character arcs in a rather rushed way. Considering that the story was the weakest aspect of the 1989 film, there is plenty of room to retell it in a stronger and more effective way.

Beyond the issues with the lack of creativity they represent, there are two main complaints about the live-action remakes. First is the fact that a lot of the changes they make barely affect the storyline at all, and merely end up adding padding and filler. We know that things will end happily for our leads, but there are still a lot of things that could create complications. Most of the changes additions made for Disney’s live-action remakes have been relatively minor (A few meta jokes here, a small subplot for a supporting character there), but there is room to provide substantial updates to The Little Mermaid, such as properly acknowledging the difficulties of life in the human world. The second concern is the fact that Disney’s live-action remakes have been accused of turning their female leads into “Mary Sues”, placing more focus on making them role models than making them interesting characters (Mulan was probably the worst offender in this regard). Given that the story of The Little Mermaid literally couldn’t happen without Ariel’s character flaws, trying to make her “perfect” would be an act of self-sabotage. However, Ariel’s reputation as a reckless idiot who “sold her voice for a man she didn’t know” is one of the most frequent complaints about the original, and Disney will be keen to change that. Disney could allow Ariel to remain relatable by emphasising the coming-of-age elements of her tale. Ariel’s sense of joy and wonder at the human world has the potential to feel pretty powerful in such a divided and cynical time, but she needs to learn to balance this with a greater level of maturity and responsibility. If this character arc is properly handled, then Ariel could really cement her status as one of Disney’s greatest leads.

The main selling point of live-action film is the opportunity to use cutting-edge CGI to depict fantasy worlds, and the live-action The Little Mermaid will need to deliver some impressive special effects in order to justify the vast amount of time and effort spent on retelling a Disney Classic. The Little Mermaid is not the first film to depict mermaids and underwater worlds with CGI, but it will need to provide something unique in order to stand out in the age of Aquaman and Avatar 2. Ariel’s non-human sidekicks represent a particular challenge. It seems likely that the animals will avoid either The Lion King style photorealism or more child-friendly anthropomorphism. Instead, the film is rumored to be using a “hybrid” approach similar to Beauty and the Beast. This could make fans pretty nervous, as the CGI reimaginings used in Beauty and the Beast were pretty hit-and-miss – Lumiere’s redesign allowed him to maintain his dynamic personality, but Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts felt like household objects with eyes attached, losing a lot of their charm as a result. The non-human characters tend to be pretty badly affected by the switch to live-action – the medium forces animators to adopt a more realistic and less expressive approach - but if the effects team are willing to think outside the box, they could be able to depict Sebastien, Flounder and Scuttle to capture the big personalities that made them fun to watch in the first place.

Bailey has the potential to be a true stand out as Ariel, and most of the other casting choices are safe and sensible (Though there are many who will be disappointed that Harry Styles turned down the role of Prince Eric, Jonah Hauer-King has the dreamy likeability required). However, there are three riskier casting choices that could either succeed or fail. McCartney’s often abrasive comic persona could be a good fit for a grotesque and uninhibited villain like Ursula, but she will need to bring a level of intrigue and threat. Awkwafina’s quirky fast-taking comedic style could allow her to capture Scuttle’s essence effectively, but she has faced a backlash recently due to her use of stereotypically African-American performance styles in her comedy routines – Even in the “colorblind” world Disney are aiming to offer, the more culturally appropriative elements of Awkwafina’s persona would be painful to watch if not kept under control. Javier Bardem as King Triton is another more unorthodox piece of casting, particularly given the fact that mainstream audiences know him best for his villain roles (No Country For Old Men, Skyfall and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazars Revenge). However, Bardem’s acting ability is not in doubt, and playing Triton could allow him to find a middle ground between those sinister fanatics and the more affable leading men he has played in smaller projects. It would be wrong to pre-judge the more unorthodox casting choices. After all, few people in 1989 really expected Kenneth Mars – previously best known for playing the deranged playwright Franz Liebkind in Mel Brooks’ classic comedy The Producers – to provide such as regal performance as King Triton in the original film.

However, the one thing that truly made The Little Mermaid iconic is the soundtrack from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, which contains four of the best songs in Disney history. Part of the appeal will be seeing the likes of Halle Bailey and Daveed Diggs put their own spin on classics like “Part Of Your World”, and “Under The Sea”, and these will certainly be impressive – they definitely have the charisma and vocal ability required to nail them. The standout songs from The Little Mermaid will likely survive the move to live-action, but the less iconic ones could be edited significantly – Can the deliciously cartoonish “Les Poissons” be adapted to live-action, or would it just be pointless filler? In order to update the soundtrack, Alan Menken is teaming up with another Disney icon, Moana and Encanto songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda – a keen The Little Mermaid fan who named his son after Sebastien - has been brought in to apply some of his signature style to the existing songs (including adding rap sections to Sebastien’s numbers). He has also promised five new songs. It seems unlikely that they will allow Miranda to get a long-awaited Oscar, but he certainly has the ability to make songs worthy of comparison to the original. The late, great Howard Ashman was one of the main creative forces behind the original Disney film, and Lin-Manuel Miranda could easily bring his own brand of magic to the story without ending up in direct competition.

For all the references to Disney, as the single driving force behind the live-action The Little Mermaid, the individual voices and interests of the creative team need to be acknowledged to some degree as well. The live-action remake will be directed by Rob Marshall, who has been working with Disney his entire career. After finding some success as a Broadway choreographer, he first came to prominence working on Disney’s 1997 TV adaptation of Cinderella, which brought fresh life to the familiar Rogers and Hammerstein musical by providing a racially diverse cast (Like the live-action The Little Mermaid, the titular lead was played by a contemporary R&B diva, namely Brandy Norwood). More recently, he directed Disney’s live-action musicals Into The Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. Both of those films were affected by the same sense of “Safeness” that has held back most of their live-action musicals in general, but still managed to retain a degree of old-fashioned charm. More intriguing is the presence of Jane Goldman in the writing team. Goldman has balanced action-heavy blockbusters like X Men: First Class and Kingsmen with more fantastical fare such as Stardust and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiars. Over the long development process, Goldman’s script has been enhanced with additions by Mary Poppins Returns co-writer Dave Magee. However, Magee has a decent pedigree of his own, having written the screenplays for Finding Neverland and Life Of Pi. * The presence of Goldman and Magee suggests a lively summer blockbuster with a decent helping of fantasy and wonder.

Marshall’s experience working on the stage highlights an interesting trend that most Disney fans tend not to talk about too much – the similarities between the Live-action remakes and Disney’s smaller but still substantial line-up of stage adaptations. By the time the live-action remakes arrived, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King had established themselves as iconic Broadway mainstays. The constraints of the theatrical medium encouraged a more innovative approach that allowed stage versions were able to find their own distinct identity whilst staying true to the essence of the source material. However, casual audiences may be unfamiliar with the fact that The Little Mermaid also received a Broadway adaptation in 2008. Despite featuring Sierra Boggess as Ariel, Norm Lewis as King Triton and Titus Burgess as Sebastien (all three would go on to enjoy substantial success in theatre and TV), it closed after an underwhelming 18 months. A revised version premiered in 2012 and was quickly released to licensing, allowing amateur theatre companies and school groups to stage it. The licensed version has proven popular, but The Little Mermaid is still regarded as a relative failure for Disney Theatrical. Although it added some solid new songs and allowed Ariel, Eric and Triton to complete their character arcs, the fast-moving, action-heavy storyline wasn’t the best fit for the stage. At the very least, the live-action version has the potential to improve on the stage version by adding a greater sense of excitement and danger. The limits of the more theatrical approach were also highlighted by 2019’s The Little Mermaid Live, where live performances of the songs played between the dialogue and action scenes from the original movie. A more modest version of this format had previously used in a set of Hollywood Bowl concerts, but the special highlighted the limitations of this approach. Although the line-up of performers was generally pretty strong (Including Moana’s Auli’I Cravalho as Ariel and Queen Latifah as Ursula), the awkward switches between the performances and the original movie made the show feel relatively flat, with the live sections slowing things down and the use of the movie preventing the creative team from providing any meaningful updates or reimaginings. Overall, The Little Mermaid is probably better suited to a live-action format than a theatrical one, and hopefully Disney can take full advantage of this.

When discussing the live-action remakes, it’s best to keep expectations reasonably low. Given that the appeal of Disney’s original The Little Mermaid lies it its spontaneity and simplicity – two traits which remakes in general tend to be bad at replicating - the live-action version Is unlikely to match the magic of the animated film. However, it still has the potential to prove entertaining in the moment whilst finding some room to take a few risks of its own. The Little Mermaid remake represents something of a “Last chance” for Disney’s live-action division – If they can’t make it work, then the live-action production line will be forever defined by its creative failures rather than its financial success.

Notes

*- At the time Disney announced their live-action version, Universal Studios were trying to develop a rival retelling of The Little Mermaid based on Hans Christian Andersen’s sadder and more cynical original story, with veteran writers and directors Joe Wright, Sofia Coppola and Richard Curtis involved in the development at various points. Chloe Grace Moretz was attached to play the title character for most of 2016, but she later dropped out, leaving the idea of a major non-Disney version of The Little Mermaid stranded permanently in development hell.

**- Magee is about to follow in Goldman’s footsteps by adapting a Neil Gaiman novel, as he has been assigned to write the script for the long-gestating adaptation of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.