The Little Mermaid: check out incredible facts

The Little Mermaid: check out incredible facts

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After its release in cinemas, THE LITTLE MERMAID – the live-action version of the classic 1989 musical animation about Ariel, a mermaid with a spirit of adventure who dreams of discovering the world beyond the sea – is now available exclusively on Disney+.

Directed by Rob Marshall and starring Halle Bailey (Ariel), Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric), Daveed Diggs (Sebastian), Awkwafina (Knowledge) and Jacob Tremblay (Flounder), with Javier Bardem (King Triton) and Melissa McCarthy (Ursula), the film revisits the classic story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 short story, featuring an epic-scale production that combines stunning real and photorealistic sets, extraordinary musical numbers and incredible worlds on land and under the sea.

With the long-awaited debut of THE LITTLE MERMAID Exclusively on Disney+, below we share eight behind-the-scenes facts about the production.

Director and screenwriter discovered the timelessness of the classic story

Live-action scene from The Little Mermaid
Live-action scene from The Little Mermaid (Disclosure)

Written in 1837, brought to theaters in animated form in 1989, and revisited in live-action in 2023, Ariel’s story not only stands the test of time, but also remains especially relevant in today’s world. When they started developing the new film, the director Rob Marshallthe screenwriter David Magee and the producer John DeLuca found a rich source of inspiration in Hans Christian Andersen’s original short story. “It’s a very modern story about a girl who feels out of place and sees life differently than the people around her. With a lot of passion and courage, she embarks on an epic journey of self-discovery, breaking down walls and learning not to be afraid of the ‘other’, which, in her case, is the human world.”says Marshall, noting that the themes explored in THE LITTLE MERMAID they are an antidote to the divisions of the world and serve as a vital reminder that we are all one.

“The film addresses something that is very important in our world today, which is the way we perceive other people and other cultures, and that there are prejudices and preconceived ideas. THE LITTLE MERMAID treats these themes in a very beautiful way, through love, understanding and the fusion of cultures”concludes the executive producer Jeffrey Silver.

The lyrics of the new songs are by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Actress and singer Awkwafina, responsible for bringing Sabidão to life in the English version
Actress and singer Awkwafina, responsible for bringing Sabidão to life in the English version (Disclosure)

Created by the composer Alan Menken and the late lyricist Howard Ashmanthe soundtrack of THE LITTLE MERMAID won the Oscar® for Best Original Soundtrack in XXXX, while the song “Under the Sea” (with the Portuguese version “Aqui no Mar”) received the statuette for Best Original Song. In the new version, the soundtrack is made up of iconic songs such as “Part of Your World” (“Part of Your World”), “Under the Sea” (“Aqui no Mar”), “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (“Unfortunate Hearts” ”) and “Kiss the Girl” (“Kiss the Girl”), which are performed by the talented cast, with the addition of new songs.

This time, Menken joins forces with Lin-Manuel Mirandathree-time Tony®-winning producer and lyricist, great admirer of original animation and responsible for the lyrics of the new musical themes. “Of course, the idea of ​​continuing without the great Howard Ashman was disheartening, but we were fortunate enough to have my dear and brilliant friend Lin join the team as lyricist, having great respect and love for Howard and the original soundtrack.”comments Marshall.

Working on such an extraordinary and unforgettable title was a little daunting for Miranda. “I was very intimidating. I tried to convince myself not to be part of the project many times, mainly because I love the original film, but I’m very proud of what we did.”he confesses.

Rob Marshall felt like he was making three movies in one

Director Rob Marshall in action
Director Rob Marshall in action (Disclosure)

The scale of production of THE LITTLE MERMAID is extraordinary, mainly due to its unique combination. Marshall describes: “There are two different worlds in our story: the world above, which is the real world, and the underwater world, the magical world where mermaids exist, crabs sing and diving birds like Sabidão speak. The underwater world is completely digital and in the terrestrial world everything is real and constructed in the same way that period films are made. And because we were also making a musical, in many ways it felt like we were making three different films at the same time.”.

Sebastião, Sabidão and Flounder’s animation movements are inspired by Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay

Movements by Sebastião, Sabidão and Linguado were based on their flesh and blood interpreters
Movements by Sebastião, Sabidão and Linguado were based on their flesh-and-blood interpreters (Disclosure)

Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay bring Ariel’s inseparable trio to life. The actors not only lent their English voices to Sebastião, Sabidão and Linguado, respectively, but were also present on set, where their movements were captured by the animation team that would bring the characters to life in photorealistic versions in post-production. Six cameras recorded the actors’ performances and then the same artists who captured the performances for THE LION KING (2019), worked with the images in post-production.

The underwater environments were created from various natural references

Underwater scene from "The Little Mermaid"
Underwater scene from “The Little Mermaid” (Disclosure)

The production designer John Myhre led the talented team responsible for creating the film’s worlds. In the case of the underwater world, which includes King Triton’s palace, Ariel’s grotto and Ursula’s lair, Myhre knew from the beginning that nature would be the inspiration. “We didn’t want it to look like something man-made or a futuristic kingdom, but we wanted it to feel very real. We wanted to keep it as natural as possible.”explains.

Some examples? King Triton’s palace is made up of beautiful gigantic pillars, anemones, reefs and other formations. Ariel’s cave has shapes that look like waves, spirals, sand and corals. In Ursula’s lair, a skeleton of a giant prehistoric whale creates the entrance and the interior is filled with jagged obsidian rocks that reflect heat, smoke and fire, creating distorted and sinister shapes and images.

The underwater scenes were filmed using a technique called dry-for-wet

Scene from "The Little Mermaid" with dry-for-wet technique
Scene from “The Little Mermaid” with dry-for-wet technique (Disclosure)

To face the great challenge of creating scenes under the sea, Marshall and his team turned to filming techniques dry-for-wet (dry to wet), which consists of the use of a blue screen on which the actors and actresses are supported through the use of high-tech supports, including cables, rockers and tuning forks, with a counterweight at the back that simulates movement from water. Through this technique, the actors appear to be floating. “To match and often counteract the movement of the cast, cameras were maneuvered by 50-foot telescopic cranes with panoramic remote heads.”says the director of photography Dion Beebeadding that a complex lighting system was also created to simulate the sensation of being underwater.

It was important that Ariel’s new look was ethnically correct.

Halle Bailey plays Ariel
Halle Bailey plays Ariel (Disclosure)

Bringing Ariel’s iconic look to live-action was a central challenge for the team behind the film. The trio responsible for this mission was formed by the award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwoodthe stylist and head of makeup Peter Swords King and Ariel’s hairdresser, Camille Friend.

Although the design of the iconic mermaid tail did not deviate from the look presented in the animation, Ariel’s hair was created with an innovative approach. Drawing on Halle Bailey’s African-American background, the team sought to give the character a unique and exclusive hairstyle, with a natural auburn color that would work in and out of the water, in shades of deep red, light red and copper, with some loose curls. “Camille Friend was very helpful. We knew we wanted something that felt ethereal and modern at the same time, and Camille was invaluable in understanding hair and its textures, and how to incorporate Halle’s own hair into the final look.”says DeLuca.

Melissa Mccarthy rehearsed for months to perform “Poor Unfortunate Souls”

Melissa Mccarthy in a scene from "The Little Mermaid" as Ursula
Melissa Mccarthy in a scene from “The Little Mermaid” as Ursula (Disclosure)

Performing a song like “Poor Unfortunate Souls” was a big responsibility for Melissa McCarthy. The actress says: “Being able to sing was a dream come true for me, and I was excited and terrified at the same time. I got to sing ‘Pour Unfortunate Souls’, which is one of the most incredible songs of all time. I practiced a lot and we rehearsed for months and months because we wanted to do justice to this song.”.

With her musical performance and her extraordinary impersonation of Ursula, McCarthy won over Marshall, the cast and all the behind-the-scenes teams. The director notes: “She is an extraordinary actress who brings incredible depth to the character, as well as vulnerability, intensity and humor.. It’s an impressive performance and something Melissa has never done before. The public will love it”.

THE LITTLE MERMAID is now available on Disney+

Source: Atrevida

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