It seems that every classic Disney animated feature is going to get a live action treatment at some point, so we might as well get used to it. And while they can’t all be winners (that wasn’t Disney’s Pinocchio getting lauded at the Oscars recently), the next cab off the rank is certainly intriguing, with The Little Mermaid hitting cinemas on May 25.
A remake of the 1989 classic that launched the Disney Renaissance, and was inspired by the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid tells that tale of Ariel (Halle Bailey), an amphibious hybrid who becomes obsessed with the noble Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). When her supernatural familiars Sebastian the crab (Daveed Diggs), Scuttle the seagull (Awkwafina) and Flounder the fish (Jacob Tremblay) fail to help her win his heart, she employs the dark magics of Ursula the sea witch (Melissa McCarthy) to reshape her body, allowing her to infiltrate Eric’s kingdom and bring her plans to fruition.
Or something like that.
Now it is, of course, a family friendly romantic musical in the grand old Disney style. This one comes to us from director Rob Marshall, who certainly knows a thing or two about musicals—he scored the Best Director Academy Award for Chicago back in 2002. Excitingly, original composer Alan Menken is on board, and has penned some new songs in collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda, another man who’s spent no small amount of time in the musical theatre trenches.
Disney are certainly pulling out all the stops with this one. The trailer debut at this year’s Oscars reportedly cost a lazy $10 million, and that’s just one element of the publicity juggernaut that’s currently revving up. They shouldn’t be worried, though; with this much talent both in front of and behind the camera, it should all go swimmingly. (sorry)
