What’s your opinion on the new Little Mermaid movie?

[kenaij]

This one was lovely though. No political stuff anywhere in the film. It was just a shy, lovable mermaid who falls in love with a human. That's all.

I think that a lot of people are so used to a movie or series being woke, political or something along those lines when race or sex/gender is involved. Especially if it comes from Disney. They automatically asume a new project will also have all these things because of main character casting. The casting of Ursula did not help either since that actress seems to play in mostly woke movies the last couple of years. Personally I would have prefered a girl with very pale skin. Because I think it fits the theme better. However casting was not the reason I was not interested in the movie. Personally I did not really like the look of the scenes shown in the trailer. It did just not appeal to me. But I think it does appeal to young children when you look at the colors and other aspects.
I think people are generally tired of political and woke movies and series. And I think the trailer made them assume this movie would contain a lot of that aswell. I`m happy to hear it didn`t. And will certainly give it a try when I can watch it at home.

 

[Judge]

In as much as the work of both Walt and Roy Disney projected deep sense of wholesomeness and memorable quality in whatever they created, they did so in times of intense racial prejudice when it was the law of the land.

I just wish we knew the true intention of this present horizontal conglomerate that acquired the Disney name. Whether they are attempting to be instrumental in progressive social change, and creatively keep an old story "fresh" or simply exploiting it as yet another marketing gimmick to deliver quarterly profits to shareholders. Of course it would be understandably pragmatic if both were deliberately intended.

However I find it alarming that some would be so taken back with reassigning the race of fictional animated characters. Since they never existed, why should anyone object to old characters being of new colors? Personally I find that sort of prejudice difficult to defend. If one is so stuck on the characters of an original production, why not watch it again rather than anticipate remakes reflecting identical plots and characters?

That all said, I have no objection to inputting current social values into films, as long as they are in fact films done in the present rather than remakes of those from the past. A more benevolent and creative way of reflecting values of the present without disrupting artistry of the past through inevitably inferior remakes.

Force the industry to get its creativity back. Make going to the movies something worthwhile again with new plots and characters of all colors rather than recycled plots most of us already know.

 

[Tom]

I haven't seen the original or remake so can't say. All I saw was a huge ammount of tie-in merchandise for the original at stores and then garage sales for years and years.

 

[Judge]

I haven't seen the original or remake so can't say. All I saw was a huge amount of tie-in m erchandise for the original at stores and then garage sales for years and years.

Would be amusing to hear in a boardroom of someone going on an on about box office receipts and then to hear someone say, "It was never about the damn movie! We have more important marketing considerations in play."

But then studio films were always a business- never actually an artform.

 

[Judge]

It's not really about color, it's about messing with the classics. Why do they not just make something new? The little mermaid is an old story, it was first published in 1837. So that story is a well known classic, the cararcters and everything is what makes that story. If they want a different mermaid story they could just make something new. I wonder what's next, re-painting the Mona Lisa maybe, using different colors. To me it doesn't make sense to remake a classic and change it. Maybe especially when they change the skin color in it because the people in the original is white. Just make something new instead.

Well, we don't really know how much behind closed doors color plays a part of the film in terms of its production. I doubt any studio is going to spend much time commenting on such an issue for good reason. The sort of thing that likely doesn't leave the boardroom unless it becomes necessary. Kind of like asking producer/writer Chuck Lorre about his characters and autism. To my knowledge he'd just dance around the question like any politician.

Unfortunately remakes are not about creativity, but rather fiscal reasoning that a known quantity can bring in predictable (not necessarily optimal) box office receipts. Bean-counter rationalization that sadly goes very far in a boardroom rather than a closed set or a theater test audience.

Bottom line being just that- the bottom line of a balance sheet and how shareholders will respond accordingly.

New and fresh creatively speaking is risky and expensive in the eyes of those same bean-counters. Can't do that if you want to deliver modest, but predictable quarterly profits to shareholders. So we continue to get recycled old plots and characters in a market that likes to believe they are what the public wants simply because they continue to pay to see them. (For some going to the movies is just a way of killing time.)

 

[Forest Cat]

Well, we don't really know how much color plays a part of the film in terms of its production. I doubt any studio is going to spend much time commenting on such an issue for good reason. The sort of thing that likely doesn't leave the boardroom unless it becomes necessary.

There is a reason why they changed it and why it happened now. There's a lot of politics in it. But Hollywood is Hollywood.

 

[Judge]

There is a reason why they changed it and why it happened now. There's a lot of politics in it.

It's obvious as to where Disney allegedly stands politically on that issue. Made abundantly clear in the news over the last several months. However what really counts is why they are doing it. That's a more complex question, IMO.

Have they officially taken a stance of social justice for the sake of social justice, or is there another more powerful motivation in play? Keeping in mind that this is a publicly-owned corporation who is well-known for not being averse to the most ruthless private-sector litigation on the planet.

Leaving me just a bit skeptical of their foray into social justice issues. But if it plays well for their intended target audience, it's likely more rooted in marketing than morality.

 

[Forest Cat]

Have they officially taken a stance of social justice for the sake of social justice, or is there another more powerful motivation in play?

I think we can say it with the words of ABBA; Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man's world.

I doubt that billion dollar corporation cares much about anything besides the mighty dollar.

 

[Judge]

I doubt that billion dollar corporation cares much about anything besides the mighty dollar.

That depends on their shareholders. On occasion to the chagrin of many, they have their own sense of morality. I know, I've seen it as a shareholder myself. Just look up the name Ray Irani, late of Occidental Petroleum.

In a nutshell, it's almost always a very bad idea when a board member crosses the shareholders. Though even for shareholders, equity remains the most common denominator.

 

[Hypnalis]

FWIW:

Not a review, because I'll never watch this movie, but my favorite Youtube film critic hated The Little Mermaid.
He has some harsh words for the "woke Hollywood writers", but his major criticism is that it's a slow, boring, visually unimpressive movie, and compares unfavorably in all of those respects with the cartoon original.

A major issue he mentioned with the "woke" scriptwriting style is the use of a "Mary Sue" heroine, and making the male lead into a "mouse": no charisma, psychologically weak, and generally incapable and incompetent.
Not much of a love interest for the heroine, who's "practically perfect in every way" /lol.

A low point in that respect is that the story was changed so the prince's big moment of heroism in the cartoon version - taking over the ship and using it to steer that sharp end of it into the villain (the evil sea witch) - is given to the mermaid, who has no experience with ships or sailing at all, so couldn't reasonably be expected to do such a thing.

This is a typical 2020's "woke" change - make the female lead invincible from the start (so there's no possibility of character development for the lead), and make all the males stupid and useless.

So none of the focus characters are interesting, there's no character development, and as a consequence the storyline are boring. Especially when it's done to a remake, where character development was an important part of the original story.

He liked Melissa McCarthy's performance as the villain. But it's a concern in itself when a character actor puts in the best performance in a big-budget film.

 

[LadyS]

Still planning to watch it. I've seen all the live-action remakes so far (but haven't been able to finish Lion King - that one was the worst imo). I still prefer the original classics .. but did like the Jungle Book the best. I don't mind Ariel being black but kinda wish she at least somewhat resembled Ariel as they've done with all the other live-action actors. At least they kept her signature red hair -- that was a must.)

They just announced live-action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the cast seemed pretty spot on (Especially Sacha Baron Cohen as Clopin - perfectly casted). Curious to see how they handle this adult themed movie though.

 

[dyl]

Thanks for all the replies so far, I’m glad people have their own opinions on this.

 

[Tom]

I'd like Disney to produce more art-deco movies, like it used to.

 

[kenaij]

How is the media in your country, and in Europe, more broadly? It's there the same emphasis and turmoil?

In the Netherlands (europe) we don`t seem to care too much. We in general have been pretty progressive in our thoughts, but we are also very down to earth. Now that the less logical ideas are arising I see a shift in openmindedness around me. People are starting to see the downside of being all inclusive and all accepting. But still. We seem to be way less fearful of so called woke media and a plan by minorities to take over the world.

 

[Hypnalis]

It's very much made for children.

The cartoon version was made for children.

This one though:
It's far too long (new: 135 minutes, old: 83 minutes).
Most of the scenes are much too dark, with washed out colors
The secondary characters (crab, fish, bird) don't have simulated human expressions

Bright colors, easily read expressions, compact stories, and short running times are child-friendly.
The reverse indicates something I'd never have expected from Disney - they've forgotten the basics of making children's films.

In addition, there's a dark aspect to the use of Mary-Sue protagonists in films that want young audiences.
Old-school children's films frequently had a clear "personal development" arc for their young protagonists: start with potential, learn from a mentor, practice hard, become capable enough to begin to realize your potential ...

... then face a truly difficult challenge, and become a hero by overcoming significant difficulties with a combination of skill, determination, and courage.

Compared to "normal" and YA films, this has to be abbreviated for children's films, but either way it's a positive message for anyone, especially children: work hard to be the best person you can be.

Mary-Sue's get it all from the start, and the message is "all you need is confidence, and you'll be able to tap into your innate capabilities, and then you can do anything".

Along with making for boring movies, this is a terrible message for children. If they're already perfect, why bother to learn; why bother to work on new skills?

 

[kenaij]

The cartoon version was made for children.

This one though:
It's far too long (new: 135 minutes, old: 83 minutes).
Most of the scenes are much too dark, with washed out colors
The secondary characters (crab, fish, bird) don't have simulated human expressions

Bright colors, easily read expressions, compact stories, and short running times are child-friendly.
The reverse indicates something I'd never have expected from Disney - they've forgotten the basics of making children's films.

In addition, there's a dark aspect to the use of Mary-Sue protagonists in films that want young audiences.
Old-school children's films frequently had a clear "personal development" arc for their young protagonists: start with potential, learn from a mentor, practice hard, become capable enough to begin to realize your potential ...

... then face a truly difficult challenge, and become a hero by overcoming significant difficulties with a combination of skill, determination, and courage.

Compared to "normal" and YA films, this has to be abbreviated for children's films, but either way it's a positive message for anyone, especially children: work hard to be the best person you can be.

Mary-Sue's get it all from the start, and the message is "all you need is confidence, and you'll be able to tap into your innate capabilities, and then you can do anything".

Along with making for boring movies, this is a terrible message for children. If they're already perfect, why bother to learn; why bother to work on new skills?

You have basically summed up current parenting and young people who were born after the 00's.
I work in a school and this development in character in young people if frightning.

 

[foliodoe]

The movie had zero and I mean zero political or social stuff in it.

This is the part that I don't understand. Why aren't producers of these films actually finding ways to make those themes present in the media they're selling? They're making diversity part of the meta-narrative of the film without actually addressing those topics in the work itself. It's got nothing to do with being "woke" or having an "agenda," but it seems like lazy writing and cowardice to me. E

specially because the themes of race, class division, etc WERE present in the original animated version. What's a more blatant allegory for racism than a mermaid and a human being told their love is forbidden? It's a straightforward allegory for all kinds of social realities.

 

[Hypnalis]

You have basically summed up current parenting and young people who were born after the 00's.
I work in a school and this development in character in young people is frightening.

Fortunately for me, my kids are too old to have been affected by this. I'm concerned about their kids though.

IMO there's a literal epidemic of "learned narcissism", which means more or less all kids have the potential for irrational anti-social behavior.

Of course, being past the parenting stage, I'm now in that part of the population that get to say "the world is changing for the worse (and it's definitely not my fault)" /lol.

 

[kenaij]

Fortunately for me, my kids are too old to have been affected by this. I'm concerned about their kids though.

IMO there's a literal epidemic of "learned narcissism", which means more or less all kids have the potential for irrational anti-social behavior.

Of course, being past the parenting stage, I'm now in that part of the population that get to say "the world is changing for the worse (and it's definitely not my fault)" /lol.

Well I`m right in the middle of it with kids that are 8 and 5 years old. I often get commented that I have a very old school approach in the way I raise my kids. Often times it is meant negatively, but I take pride when told. The idea you have to work for something you want and you won`t automatically be the best by just believing in it. I do also have some more modern ways in how I raise my children. Especially with my son who I think might be autistic. Some 'old-school' approaches of one size fits all does not work. But current parenting, if there even is any since a lot of children are in daycare all the time, is degrading by the minute.

 

[Forest Cat]

How is the media in your country, and in Europe, more broadly? It's there the same emphasis and turmoil?

Right now everyone in Norway seems to be so busy with the Russia/Ukraine-thing, the climate, terror attacks and inflation/crappy economy that everything else is on the backburner.