Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Ben » November 13th, 2019, 4:19 am

No, Dusty. There were black people literally all over the world, absolutely EVERYwhere, except Spain. :roll:



As for the special, I have to say how impressed I was at what a logistical nightmare it must have been and that they pulled it all off so well. Seriously, there is a LOT of a LOT going on all through that, and to get timing, camera moves, choreography, the wire work, not to mention performances as good as they are in what I’ve sampled so far...this is an ambitious and impressive production. I didn’t mind Flounder, but he needed a little more weight on him (and Disney knew it: notice the title page at the end of each clip only has the animated Flounder along with the live cast!).

If anything, I kind of felt what people have found negative about it comes down to the song speed...all of them feel rushed. The tempo is a click up from the original film versions, lot really letting the emotion of the performances shine through, and only giving the performers time to just kind of run through them rather than feel them. Both Part Of Your World and Poor Unfortunate Souls were really good, but could have been great if they’d been given more time to breathe. I thought Latifah was amazing (how does she never age!?) but she was rushed through, and that's the big thing that’s missing here, is that heart.

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » November 13th, 2019, 12:36 pm

Quite so. Here's the non live version of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from the soundtrack:



Still a little rushed, overall I think an improvement. Latifah doesn't sound as theatrical, even has a few Carroll moments. Score still sounds a little subdued, but at least there's no cheering! ;)

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Dusterian » November 15th, 2019, 1:20 am

Ok Ben lol.

I like Queen Latifah as Ursula way more in the soundtrack! She's awesome!
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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Ben » November 15th, 2019, 6:00 am

That vastly superior recording of Poor Unfortunate Souls is going to be the poster-girl as to why Latifah should have been Ursula in the live-action movie. I don’t like that McCarthy woman at the best of times, but there’s now no-way she’s going to beat the energy, tone and performance of this version (as teeny bit too fast as it is). But Latifah great here, and sounds perfect, as both of them do in fact. Had this been held back and been in the film, I believe our socks would have well and truly been blown off! I hope this becomes a CD, I’d have to pick that up!

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » November 15th, 2019, 11:52 am

No CD yet, but you can buy or stream the soundtrack here. Since seeing the special and the rebroadcast on Freeform the songs have been stuck in my head! "Poor Unfortunate Souls" being the main one, it's just so fun! Really makes you wish Disney would change their minds and keep her on...

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » November 22nd, 2019, 12:41 pm

Meant to post this sooner... Jonah Hauer-King has officially been cast as Prince Eric. Finally! Here's what I wrote earlier:
Daniel wrote:
September 25th, 2019, 3:01 pm
Of the two, I would probably lean more towards Jonah Hauer-King. I liked him in the recent Little Women BBC miniseries.
So yes, I'm pleased. Though it does feel a little anticlimactic.

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by James » November 22nd, 2019, 11:54 pm

The TV musical is coming to Disney+ on November 27th

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Randall » November 23rd, 2019, 8:46 am

James wrote:
November 22nd, 2019, 11:54 pm
The TV musical is coming to Disney+ on November 27th
I was hoping it would!

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » December 5th, 2019, 2:49 pm

Of course they would include the special since it was essentially used as marketing push for the service. ;)

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by James » December 8th, 2019, 8:01 pm

René Auberjonois, who sang Les Poissons in The Little Mermaid, dead at 79.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wi ... l_card_hed

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » December 11th, 2019, 3:06 pm

How sad. Eerie it happens in the same year as the films anniversary. RIP.

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » December 29th, 2019, 3:24 pm

From TheDisInsider:
Skyler Shuler wrote:Has anything changed regarding Ariel's sisters for the movie? Are they in it or still no?

Where did this rumor come from? They weren't confirmed to appear to begin with. I know a lot about this film and the sisters aren't in it as far as I've heard.
Well, that would certainly differentiate itself! Going to be sad and weird if true. If anything they could've fleshed them out more and given them their own plot. Guess we'll see...

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » January 17th, 2020, 1:29 pm

Halle Bailey interview:
JustJaredJr wrote:The 19-year-old singer and actress will be taking on the role of Ariel and shared her excitement about the music.

Halle said that there will be classic songs like “Part of Your World”, but there will also be some new ones written by composer Alan Menken that aren’t in the original movie.

“I’ve been a fan of The Little Mermaid since I was 5, so those new songs are very exciting to me, as well as the old,” Halle told Popsugar. “That’s probably like, ding, ding, ding! My number one.”

She also opened up about taking on the iconic role and what she hopes to bring to the character.

“It’s so overwhelming, and beautiful, and breathtaking. I’m like, ‘Wow, am I really doing this?’” she said, hoping to bring “freshness.”

“Just being authentically me. It’s amazing that the directors have been so forward in asking me to show my true self,” Halle continued. “That’s been a really fun growing experience.”
I'm liking her positive outlook.

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Randall » January 18th, 2020, 10:50 am

Sounds good to me. I hope the kid knocks it out of the park. And that the new Menken songs fit in well.

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Re: Disney's The Little Mermaid (Live-Action)

Post by Daniel » February 1st, 2020, 3:54 pm

Ariel's sisters will be in the remake:
TheDisInsider wrote:We have been told by our source that the studio is casting for Ariel’s sisters, Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista and Andrina. We have also been told that they are casting women of color for these roles.

Another tidbit I’ve heard but can not confirm is that Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beauty and the Beast) is being considered for the role of Athena, Ariel’s mother. However, that is and should be considered a rumor at this time.
Glad about the sisters.

With Ariel's mom, I'm indifferent. I was actually for it for the cartoon prequel, Ariel's Beginning, but at the time I was hoping for something more and to maybe connect to Ursula. Pretty unmemorable looking back. As for a live action comparison, Belle's mom was shoehorned in Beauty and the Beast and that pretty much amounted to nothing...

If there's good reason by all means, if not, some things are probably best left unknown.

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