The Little Mermaid Cast and Crew Reveal the Challenges of Underwater Scenes

Whether it’s performance or visual effects, there is a long history of underwater scenes being a pain the ass of filmmakers everywhere. On The Abyss and Titanic, filmmaker James Cameron ignored actors’ comfort and sometimes safety concerns in order to get the most compelling shots possible, and more recently, the Justice League movie infamously created an underwater air bubble so that Aquaman and Mera could talk without having to figure out the complexities of how their undersea communication would work. Disney’s live-action/CG hybrid The Little Mermaid is no different, with cast and crew saying that the hardest part of the whole experience was working underwater.

Saying that the most complicated part of the movie was “every scene,” filmmaker Rob Marshall brought his Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns expertise to the project, and gave audiences a big, bombastic musical. Even if he had to frequently stop shooting to make sure everyone was breathing and none of the underwater gear was being caught in the shot.

“Underwater was so complicated,” Marshall told Deadline. “But our goal was never to let you see the machinery behind it all because sometimes there would be… In “Part of Your World,” Halle would sing two lines, and we’d say, ‘Cut,’ and then she’d be back on another piece of equipment or apparatus. It was all choreographed in advance. But then it was so complicated to think, ‘How do we do an underwater musical, really?’ It’s never been done before. So that was the goal, to make sure the audience doesn’t see any of that.”

Inspired by Fantasia, the filmmakers worked with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, creating a guide for the undersea creatures in the “Under the Sea” musical number. It worked out, blending dancers who were trying to affect an aquatic look with CG animals created to ape the dances.

“Whenever I think of fun and hilarious, I think of all the tank work Jonah and I had to do together,” star Halle Bailey said. “We had to be very serious in the middle of a thunderstorm, but it was quite hard to be serious when we’re terrified in the middle of this water rainstorm that feels like you’re in the middle of the ocean, and then I had to lift Jonah up. And if anyone has seen us stand next to each other, he towers over me. So, we were laughing at that. It was just a really good moment.”

Co-star Joey Hauer-King added, “It was a great bonding experience. And also Rob, he’s a visionary and a perfectionist, so he knows what he wants. And we’d be in that tank for a long time. We’d be like, ‘So that take was pretty good, right? We could probably go now.’ And he’s like, ‘Do it again, get back in, we haven’t got it yet.’ It might have taken hours, weeks, months, years.”

Here’s the official synopsis, per Disney: The Little Mermaid, visionary filmmaker Rob Marshall’s live-action reimagining of the studio’s Oscar-winning animated musical classic, opens exclusively in theaters nationwide May 26, 2023. 

The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy. 

The film stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (grown-ish) as Ariel; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Snowpiercer) as the voice of Sebastian; Jacob Tremblay (Luca, Room) as the voice of Flounder; Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon) as the voice of Scuttle; Jonah Hauer-King (A Dog’s Way Home) as Prince Eric; Art Malik (Homeland) as Sir Grimsby; Noma Dumezweni (Mary Poppins Returns) as Queen Selina; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Bridesmaids) as Ursula.

The Little Mermaid is directed by Oscar® nominee Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Mary Poppins Returns”), and written by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (Life of Pi, Finding Neverland), with a live-action story adaptation by David Magee, Rob Marshall, and two-time Emmy winner John DeLuca (Tony Bennett: An American Classic), based on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen, and the Disney animated film by Ron Clements and John Musker. The film is produced by two-time Emmy® winner Marc Platt (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, Grease Live!), three-time Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights), Rob Marshall, and John DeLuca, with Jeffrey Silver (The Lion King) serving as executive producer. The score is by multiple Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), who won two Oscars® for the music in the animated version of The Little Mermaid, with music supervised and produced by Mike Higham (Mary Poppins Returns, Into the Woods). Music is by Alan Menken, lyrics are by Howard Ashman and new lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda.