The Little Mermaid live action re-make

Rob Marshall is usually a solid director so I'll give it a shot when it's released.

Disney remaking their animated films as live action isn't a recent thing, 101 Dalmatians was remade with Glenn Close in 1996 and in 1994 we had a live action take of The Jungle Book. This is the company that adapted stories and fairytales for its animated features way back in 1937 then did started doing DTV sequels in the 1990s, if something is successful, they will milk the concept for all its worth.

It is hard to term this a live action remake when so much of it is digital by necessity.

It is at most a hybrid piece. But that is harder from a marketing perspective

I must say that I was very excited for this movie, I liked the choices in production and casting they have made so far. I also love the teaser trailer in terms of darkness, music, overall look and semi-realistic approach.

I thought that Halle Bailey was well cast and I think her voice has a beautiful tone, essential for the role.

But I am very disappointed in her approach, pronunciation and riffs. She does not seem to articulate the words properly, like a lazy pop-singer. This is very important to get to the core of a song, word, feeling. Howard Ashman understood this very well. He knew the importance of keeping it truthful and therefore he was so strict about how every word should be sung. Then there is the completely misplaced riff. Whenever Jodi Benson started to go her own way, belting or riffing, she was immediately corrected because Ashman wrote those words for a reason. Especially that last "could be" should be silenced, numbed in stillness and disappointment. The song is not suitable for riffs at all, but that last moment is the least acceptable moment of all the lines in the song.

I have also seen the part before, "what's a fire AND why does it". The "AND" is a misplaced ad-lib in itself and is way too disconnected from the lyric and sound like a soul diva moment for no reason. Then there's the part where she sings "wouldn't I love", and she drags that note, the word (love) down, basically the word "love" is a downward ad-lib in itself, which is really a shame. Because the word love in that melody should embody some kind of longing, reaching, desire and have an upward intention. And after that there is the powerhouse soul diva riff on "explore the shore of abo-ho-hove", which also way too show-offish for Ariel in that moment and comes off as not sincere. And then it is topped off with the "be-eeeh-ieiieyeah" at the end. Shameful. Howard will be spinning in his grave.

Who on earth is allowing this and why do people not realize that this takes away from the sincerity of the moment? Do people really only stay awake or recognize emotions when there is insincerity involved? What has the world come to? 

I have a feeling that people like Alan Menken so desperately want to stay current, and that when someone comes with this idea, he automatically thinks that it is cool and that it would make him automatically cool too and he's too scared or ignorant to dare to say anything about it? Or scared to be seen as not inclusive if he won't let the material get trashed by screams, riffs, ad-libs and poor pronunciation?

Another problem with this is that the actual melody is not in the song anymore. Considering she did not sing 1 line as written of all the lines that were leaked online (basically the 2nd half of the song), it could very well be that kids from today will never know the melody.

Edit: I just heard her live performance of the whole song and she sings other melodies wrong too, "but who cares" for example, she really does not even understand the melody. That is not an ad-lib, just a mistake.

I’ll tell you what is just a little frustrating. People elsewhere on SM/YouTube comments are, very much like here, giving specific reasons why they are unsure about how this film will succeed artistically. Lots and lots of comments discussing Halle Bailey’s vocal performance, making critiques that - at the very least - are worthy of debate.

Regrettably, there are unquestionably some absolute morons who are frankly just being racist and “trolling”, and on the other side there are organised groups shutting down any and all criticism as being rooted in racism, regardless of the actual critique.

Bit of a mess, really.

The end of ‘Part of Your World’ lends itself to a bit of riffing so its ok by me, so long as the main body of the song is sung straight.

Yeah, I mean it’s not like I’d actually pay to go and see this anyway, but it’s interesting to follow how it comes out. Having watched/heard a leak on YouTube of the full “Part of Your World”, I am not impressed. I didn’t see Aladdin or The Lion King at the cinema either, and certainly didn’t regret it when I did see them, so it’s no biggie.

I really liked “The World Above” from the musical, and when I watched the original Disney movie a few years back it actually felt missing, which is credit to how well it fit into the show on stage.

I do wonder if “new” means newly written, or new compared to the original movie. I could see “The World Above”, “She’s in Love” or “I Want the Good Times Back” slotting in there nicely.

But I suspect it means brand new, especially if there is to be - *gulp* - rapping.

Oh, no issue, I’m just not a fan of rapping so it’s another turn off. Combined with the vocal styling of Ariel, it’s just not going to be my thing, but as a man in my mid 30’s I don’t expect it to be. Still allowed an opinion, though

LMM has done some great songs for Disney in Moana and Encanto so it's unfair to say these new songs will be like Hamilton. 

The reasons for the new songs is so they can be eligible for the Oscars, can't do that with existing songs. 

Very true. It still annoys me that IWTGTB got replaced, Daddy's Little Angel isn't anywhere near as good!

All of the original songs from the original film and some underscoring will appear in the new film. What will be interesting to see with not only the way they've been reinterpreted and which of the songs from the stage show (if any) make it to the new film.

Still not a fan of the riffs but the visuals do look promising