The Little Mermaid 4K UHD (1989) (30th Anniversary Edition)

[Monterey Jack]

The diversity shit is only a smokescreen to obscure the fact that Disney has been cannibalizing their back catalogue for far too long, and with visually ugly, joyless new versions.

[Rayjg]

Wait, so she ain't a ginger no more?

[Wes_k089]

I'm holding my tongue till i see the new film. Reviews I've seen say that its an inventive and spectacular retelling.

None of the live-action remakes have been carbon copies of the animated movies (except Lion King), so I don't get why people are so angry about the changes they've made to this one. If you're racist, dont watch it.

[trespoochies]

I have never seen the casting stuff as a bad thing. The bad thing is that they are the same stories being regurgitated. Sure some changes, but if they were different enough, they wouldn't be the same story. Disney is making very direct efforts to just recycle the same stuff. Disney originality (save for Pixar) is 99% dead.

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by Wes_k089

I'm holding my tongue till i see the new film. Reviews I've seen say that its an inventive and spectacular retelling.

None of the live-action remakes have been carbon copies of the animated movies (except Lion King), so I don't get why people are so angry about the changes they've made to this one. If you're racist, dont watch it.

That's kind of a cop out, sure some people don't want her to be black because they're probably racists, but it's not fair to lump in people who just want it to be like the source material. Disney is remaking their version of TLM, changing decades of iconography like it's nothing. Everybody's always like it's equality! but Disney could easily develop things to be more inclusive without making it seem like the only way they can cast non-white actors is to change a white character. I'll still watch it to see how good or bad it is, but honestly I've only enjoyed B&TB and Cinderella. I think I liked Alice in Wonderland but it's been forever.

[emailking]

No matter who they cast there would be ways she wouldn't look like Ariel from the cartoon.

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by emailking

No matter who they cast there would be ways she wouldn't look like Ariel from the cartoon.

They could find somebody if they wanted, Joanna Garcia Swisher looked pretty good as Ariel on Once Upon a Time.

[rexcrk]

Originally Posted by kevin87

That's kind of a cop out, sure some people don't want her to be black because they're probably racists, but it's not fair to lump in people who just want it to be like the source material. Disney is remaking their version of TLM, changing decades of iconography like it's nothing. Everybody's always like it's equality! but Disney could easily develop things to be more inclusive without making it seem like the only way they can cast non-white actors is to change a white character. I'll still watch it to see how good or bad it is, but honestly I've only enjoyed B&TB and Cinderella. I think I liked Alice in Wonderland but it's been forever.

This is what annoys me about the whole thing too. I’m sure the actress in the new live action Little Mermaid is a great performer and singer, but it just comes off as so disingenuous to me that they cast her. Like as if Disney did it just to be like “see? See? We’re diverse! Look at us, we’re so good!”

They’d never in a million years do a “white Princess and the Frog” if it’s supposed to be a remake of the 2009 movie.

[Farerb]

Anyway...
I tried to check if the Hebrew audio from the Diamond Edition DVD is synchronized to the 4K UHD video and it does not.

[Matt89]

Originally Posted by kevin87

That's kind of a cop out, sure some people don't want her to be black because they're probably racists, but it's not fair to lump in people who just want it to be like the source material. Disney is remaking their version of TLM, changing decades of iconography like it's nothing. Everybody's always like it's equality! but Disney could easily develop things to be more inclusive without making it seem like the only way they can cast non-white actors is to change a white character. I'll still watch it to see how good or bad it is, but honestly I've only enjoyed B&TB and Cinderella. I think I liked Alice in Wonderland but it's been forever.

No, THIS is a cop out lol. Sorry, but it is.

You wanna talk about source material? The "source material" for The Little Mermaid is not the 1989 Disney version. It existed as a children's book for 152 years before Disney made their film adaptation 34 years ago. Hell, Disney's version wasn't even the first adaptation anyway! It's been adapted into various stage productions, other films, books, anime, opera, ballet, etc. And Disney's version differs quite a bit from the original story to begin with, the original story not being a musical, for one thing. And Disney is "changing decades of iconography like it's nothing"? Are they really though? Because we still have the 1989 film to go back and watch anytime we want, it's the version most people think of when they hear The Little Mermaid and it's not like it's being pulled from circulation and yanked from Disney+.

I don't get what the big deal is. This is simply the nature of adaptation. Who cares if she's not white? She's a bloody FICTIONAL CHARACTER. She's a goddamn MERMAID. Disney's version itself differed greatly from the source material anyway, so who really cares if their live-action version differs from their OWN animated film?

And the 1989 The Little Mermaid is one of my favourite films of all-time. Really looking forward to the live-action version.

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by Matt89

No, THIS is a cop out lol. Sorry, but it is.

You wanna talk about source material? The "source material" for The Little Mermaid is not the 1989 Disney version. It existed as a children's book for 152 years before Disney made their film adaptation 34 years ago. Hell, Disney's version wasn't even the first adaptation anyway! It's been adapted into various stage productions, other films, books, anime, opera, ballet, etc. And Disney's version differs quite a bit from the original story to begin with, the original story not being a musical, for one thing. And Disney is "changing decades of iconography like it's nothing"? Are they really though? Because we still have the 1989 film to go back and watch anytime we want, it's the version most people think of when they hear The Little Mermaid and it's not like it's being pulled from circulation and yanked from Disney+.

I don't get what the big deal is. This is simply the nature of adaptation. Who cares if she's not white? She's a bloody FICTIONAL CHARACTER. She's a goddamn MERMAID. Disney's version itself differed greatly from the source material anyway, so who really cares if their live-action version differs from their OWN animated film?

And the 1989 The Little Mermaid is one of my favourite films of all-time. Really looking forward to the live-action version.

The 1989 version is the source material in this case, I didn't bring up the book it's adapted from. Disney's remaking their version, so the animated movie is the source material. And even so, I would very much doubt the book would've been anything but a white girl, being from Denmark in the mid-1800s.

They can say it's color blind casting, but there's no way it'd work in reverse. Yet they think it's better to change a existing characters than to create something new to actually be diverse and inclusive.

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by Matt89

And Disney is "changing decades of iconography like it's nothing"? Are they really though?

I'm really sick and tired of idiots spouting that kind of nonsense.

"No! You can't do another Lord Of The Rings, you'll erase Peter Jackson's vision and world with a new adaption!! Leave us with the one version only!"

BRUH JRR TOLKIEN CREATED MIDDLE EARTH WHILE JACKSON'S FATHER WAS IN DIAPERS YOU MORON. That and Jackson got quite a few things wrong with his versions too, why not try and give us something different than Alan Lee or more closer to the novel?

[Amiibro121]

Finally got around to this 4k and it isn't that bad? The hdr felt very tasteful, made the colors still look like a 80s movie in a good way while making bright highlights stand out great. My major complaint is wishing it was more filmic, this movie looked quite soft and felt like it could look a lot better. 2d animation can looks amazing on the format shown by heavy metal. At least it's the best looking 4k out of all the renaissance movies on the format to me.

[Farerb]

‘Little Mermaid’ Composer Alan Menken Explains Why One Original Film Song Isn’t in the Live-Action Remake
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ng-1235487466/

[mdhaus]

Originally Posted by kevin87

That's kind of a cop out, sure some people don't want her to be black because they're probably racists, but it's not fair to lump in people who just want it to be like the source material. Disney is remaking their version of TLM, changing decades of iconography like it's nothing. Everybody's always like it's equality! but Disney could easily develop things to be more inclusive without making it seem like the only way they can cast non-white actors is to change a white character. I'll still watch it to see how good or bad it is, but honestly I've only enjoyed B&TB and Cinderella. I think I liked Alice in Wonderland but it's been forever.

I think the point Disney is trying to make is that she isn't ultimately a "white character." Her race has nothing to do with the story that they are telling.

[mdhaus]

Originally Posted by rexcrk

This is what annoys me about the whole thing too. I’m sure the actress in the new live action Little Mermaid is a great performer and singer, but it just comes off as so disingenuous to me that they cast her. Like as if Disney did it just to be like “see? See? We’re diverse! Look at us, we’re so good!”

They’d never in a million years do a “white Princess and the Frog” if it’s supposed to be a remake of the 2009 movie.

...OR...The point Disney is trying to make is that the race of the characters has nothing to do with the story they are trying to tell.

Personally, I am totally fine with this...and I don't understand why people are so bothered by it. If the film is well-made and entertaining, who cares??

[mdhaus]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

-The Little Mermaid (1989): 10/10



Watched the 4K of the original (aka "real") Little Mermaid this morning, and mourned the Disney of the late-80s/early 90s "Renaissance Period" that used to push forward with bold, original ideas, instead of wanly rehashing their past triumphs using "inclusionary" casting gimmicks as a smokescreen to disguise how creatively and morally bankrupt they've become over the last decade. The animated film remains one of the crown jewels in their animated filmography, a joyous and delightful fairy tale brimming with shimmering, colorful animation (which you can actually SEE, instead of the desaturated murk of the new version), enthusiastic vocal performances and an Alan Menken/Howard Ashman score that contains some of the greatest songs in any Disney production. From the aching wistfulness of "Part Of Your World" to the infectious Caribbean groove of "Under The Sea" to the amorous bounce of "Kiss The Girl" (one of the sweetest, most romantic scenes in the Disney canon, and it's baffling why it's now considering "Rapey" by today's hysterical social media outrage standards), it's all effortlessly entertaining for young and old. The fact that the horrible-looking new version will likely gross over a billion worldwide this summer out of misplaced "nostalgia" when fans who grew up on the original can just, I dunno WATCH THE ORIGINAL AGAIN is actively depressing. And it's even sadder to know that a new generation of kids are getting force-fed the moldy leftovers from what their parents grew up on, instead of being allowed to have their own original films they can hold dear to their hearts and grow up with as formative classics. but why have that, when we can have a joyless, ugly retread that exists to punch diversity buttons and appease a tiny subset of Twitter users who are appeased that the new version "fixes all of the problems" of the previous version instead of the millions of families worldwide who used to hold Disney to the highest standards of quality imaginable? Just stay home, watch the original on D+ (or, preferably, on the sparkling 4K disc), and consign this new version to the trash heap of the dreariest, most brand-damaging era in Disney's history since the days of those direct-to-video "Cheapquels".

That's a lot of words to say, "I'm gonna act like a bigot."

[By_His_Strypes]

Originally Posted by Brian81

Damn, that's a lot of words to gripe about diversity/inclusion stuff in Disney's newer films.

Isn't this a bit of a naive retort? it's seemingly what many like to hide behind these days. Diversity/Inclusion... yeah, except one slight problem; it's anything but when at the same time it's excluding others...

[By_His_Strypes]

Originally Posted by mdhaus

That's a lot of words to say, "I'm gonna act like a bigot."

wow, just because one disagrees w/ something a bigot it does not make. But, it does make clear the apparent ignorance that does actually exist.

[stvn1974]

Has anyone polled actual mermaids to get their opinions on the live action version of The Little Mermaid?