I don’t see myself as a big fan of Disney and I don’t always root for this company, but - despite its flaws - I’m very mesmerized by The Little Mermaid. A live-action Disney movie I genuinely swoon over! A lot of people (at least on Twitter) are annoyed by the constant cartoon to live-action adaptations because they view it as no-brainer cash grab, and while I agree with the latter point, honestly I don’t mind adaptations. I love to see the visual explorations, how they bring it to life, the props, costumes and so on. I luv pretty things!
Halle Bailey as Ariel, fanart by me
As for The Little Mermaid - what captures my heart is however, the casting. I’m glad Halle Bailey got the role and I can’t think of a better contender. Jonah Hauer-King didn’t convince me at all at first because he looked so bland in still pictures (sorry Jonah!) but once I saw him in motion…I was lovestruck. And those two combined? The chemistry was legit, they worked so well together, very relieved what happened in Beauty and the Beast live-action didn’t repeat itself here. Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula was kind of meh to me, I much prefer Queen Latifah’s rendition in the musical. Javier Bardem was too stiff. The sidekicks were fine. Jessica Alexander as Vanessa was crazy good.
The costume department was a bit disappointing. I wish they would give this movie a campy-er direction because that way, I think they could play around more with Ariel’s costumes. This stunning art by Asayris depicting Halle as mermaid in her red carpet look is something I have in mind. Sad that Ariel’s seafoam dress didn’t make the cut as well. Merchandise-wise speaking, I find Ariel’s land version dolls very underwhelming because they made it too sensible in the movie. They are very beautifully made, but I just wish they added more fun (and accessories!!!) I really want the mermaid doll though.
I still consider Cinderella live-action as the best Princess adaptation because the costuming is just soooo good. It’s been eight years and the ballroom dress still haunts me to this day. The casting was great as well (Cate Blanchett!). Compared to Beauty and the Beast, I recently found out that CGI was required to make the dress look more plump because Emma Watson didn’t want to wear petticoat. How the yellow dress ended up looking also had something to do with her sustainable fashion and feminism agenda - which is FINE, but I don’t think she should get involved in the first place. Beauty and the Beast was very pleasing visually but the lack of chemistry, auto-tuned vocals and the bad acting….just ergh. Linking this and this for reference.
Sorry for the off-topic rant! Anyway, The Little Mermaid comes second after Cinderella in my heart. I’m sad that The Little Mermaid might be a box-office flop because it doesn’t perform so well in several regions. I’ll be even sadder if the potential sequel is scrapped - I really want Halle and Jonah to act together again and it’ll be very fun to see Melody. Actually, The Little Mermaid 2 was my very first Disney Princess movie because the movie came out when I finally had access to DVD player haha.
