From May 25, the movie The Little Mermaid will be shown in domestic cinemas, which wants to conquer viewers as a live adaptation of the classic Disney cartoon. He does not have an easy job, and the reasons for this are revealed from the interesting facts collected in our article.
1
From the famous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the Disney studio made an even more famous cartoon in 1989, which is still considered one of the seminal works of the genre. Since Disney had been making live-action versions of their old classic cartoons in a row, The Little Mermaid was naturally going to be next.
2
According to director Rob Marshall, this is the first underwater musical of all time, and achieving it was the biggest challenge while making the film. In addition, he also rethought the character of the hero, in his interpretation Ariel is not afraid to be someone or something else, including the human world. In many ways, she is a modern woman who sees the world differently than the people around her and isn’t afraid to follow her dreams.
3
This is the fifth film directed by Rob Marshall for the Disney studio, and he previously directed such successful productions as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Wild Novel or Mary Poppins Returns.
4
Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel from the 1989 cartoon, also appears in the film in a one-scene cameo role: she gives the main character a thorn that actually played an important role in the original version.
5
There was a serious fan campaign online to get Gordon Ramsay to play Louis’ chef, but it ultimately didn’t happen.
6
So far, Halle Bailey, who played Ariel, has been mainly active as a singer, as a member of the duo Chloe x Halle, which she formed with her sister. The 23-year-old was noticed by Rob Marshall at prom, who then had to overcome several competitors during the selection process.
7
When it was revealed that the new Ariel would not be white-skinned and red-haired, a serious hate campaign was launched against the film. Many fans of the old film opposed any changes, and many used the topic to vent their racism.
8
In older cartoons, the character Ursula was inspired by a famous transvestite drag queen with the stage name Divine. There was also a possibility that he would play the character in the live-action version, but Rob Marshall chose popular comedian Melissa McCarthy instead.
9
The main male role was offered to Harry Styles, but he could not make the long filming due to his concert tour. The role was eventually given to a lesser-known English actor, Jonah Hauer King (The Burning World, A Dog Returns).
10
The famous melodies of the cartoon are heard in the new version, and not only: four new songs were created, and they were composed by Alan Menken in the same way as the old ones.
11
The film was originally scheduled to shoot in March 2020, but then had to postpone it due to the COVID pandemic. Filming finally began in January 2021 and continued through July 2021.
12
Filming took place in two main locations: Pinewood Studios in London and Sardinia. However, the footage was not recorded underwater in Sardinia, but in the studio’s large swimming pool, where Halle Bailey spent up to 13 hours underwater on some days.
13
One of the famous moments in the original cartoon is when Ariel rocks her wet crown while sitting on a rock. This one was much harder, and Halle Bailey nearly broke her neck trying to swing her giant, heavy wig with water.
14
The Hollywood premiere of “The Little Mermaid” took place on May 8th. It will be shown in US theaters on May 26, and in domestic theaters the day before.
15
Disney doesn’t stop making live-action adaptations even after The Little Mermaid. In the coming years we can expect new characters from Herkules, Cat Aristocrats and Hófehérké.
