Take a vintage story tale from before the turn of last century, add some animation, then get on board one of the biggest names in music to spin it into a musical with a soundtrack that goes harder than anyone expected… it is a tale as old as time. Now Disney is spicing up the formula with revisiting some of it’s more iconic animated films to live action with Cinderella and the Jungle Book being only the opening salvo with teh house of mouse this week releasing the latest update – The Little Mermaid.
We may have skipped over a few films from updates there, with Cinderella and Jungle Book being the first and second live action adaptions of an animated film. Skipping Pete’s Dragon which wasn’t originally entirely animated but then going to Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, Christopher Robin with Ewan McGregor, before Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp and finally Mulan. All films originally with animated counterparts that either have a live action sequel or complete remake in live action.
This trend is not likely to stop any time soon with Peter Pan & Wendy just hitting Disney+, Lilo & Stitch in pre-production, Snow Whiite releasing next year and the Rock announcing he will be in a live action Moana.
Live action adaptions have fallen into one of 3 styles with the first being a live action sequel to the original works such as the case with Christopher Robin featuring a grown up Ewan McGregor reconnecting with Winnie the Pooh. The second type is a live action update to the original which we saw in the case of Mulan, where the film was remade but removing most to all of the catchy songs and removing all animal sidekicks which brings much dishonour to you and dishonour to your cow. The 3rd type is a live action adaption of the original film aiming to transpose as much of the animated film to live action as possible.
The third type we saw with Aladdin which while reducing the roles of Rug and Abu the comedic sidekicks did remain with changes to the film including a slight tweak to any problematic lyrics or story beats and maybe the occasional addition of a song here or there. The latest adaption The Little Mermaid falls squarely into that third camp.
Adapting the 1989 animated film that in turn was already an adaption of the 1837 story by Hans Christian Andersen (who also wrote the Ugly Duckling just in case you were wondering). The film stays pretty close to the 1989 story beats with only some new songs as additions.
So, is this going to ruin your childhood? Well no, the film is actually really well made overall but remains a fairly simple Disney fairy-tale involving a princess and a prince (but does update Ariels age from the problematic age of 16 in the animated to 18 in the live action). The music largely remains the same but updated with a much larger budget and Lin-Manuel Miranda helping the score.
The updates to the visual are very noticeable with Under the Sea getting a big musical number involving colourful ocean life but we have to mention the most subtle of special effects being the most effective with the first half of the film taking place underwater but not feeling like there is a blue hue over the entire screen like we saw in Aquaman. The characters and their hair do seem to float and objects they ‘drop’ underwater definitely show a different type of physics that is subtle enough to add to the immersion.
So should you go see it? While this is a remake this is definitely aimed to bring new audiences who may not have been alive when the first animated film came out. If you are a mega Disney fan who loves their old animated classics you will probably get a lot out of this one with it being the closest ‘adaption’ of the original to date but the film really wants to bring along someone new to watch it for the first time. In the meantime we will be waiting for our Treasure Planet and Atlantis live action updates.
The Little Mermaid is in cinemas across Australia from today
