Why The Little Mermaid Opens With That Quote Revealed

Disney released their live-action The Little Mermaid remake last weekend, and it received some pretty glowing reviews. The Little Mermaid made a big splash at the box office and might be the most successful Disney remake since Beauty and the Beast. The film features Halle Bailey as Ariel, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, as well as some other surprises to make things different from the original film. One of the things that The Little Mermaid does differently from the original is begin the film with a quote from Christian Andersen, the author of the original story. In a new interview with Deadline, director Rob Marshall and producer John DeLuca revealed why the film opens with Andersen's quote.

"The quote for me has such depth to it," Marshall said. "It says, 'Look what she's going to go through to get [to her end goal].' You know what I mean? That she has to struggle to find her way. That's really what this film's about. You don't ever give up. And the fact that a mermaid has no tears is why they feel so much more. To me, it sets the table for the whole piece. There's much more emotion, depth and stakes to what she's trying to achieve. And at the end, when she becomes a full human, she sheds a tear and can finally feel what humans feel. That was very profound for us. And we found this depth to this film and this story directly from Hans Christian Anderson. But there was so much more to bring to a live-action film than a 2D animated film, which is so beloved and wonderful. But in this genre, we get to do something deeper." 

How The Little Mermaid Handles Underwater Singing

According to a recent interview with The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall, the answer was actually pretty straightforward.

"How do you begin creating an underwater musical?" Marshall explained in a recent interview with Empire. "It's never been done before. That fear ignited something in me."

"We introduce the singing underwater," Marshall continued. "It's very delicate, how you introduce song. It's in this surreal world. We open the film above water, and then we go into this other world, and you accept those things immediately. You have to create the rules of how it works."

What is The Little Mermaid remake about?

The Little Mermaid will follow Ariel (Halle Bailey), the youngest daughter of the kingdom Atlantica's ruler King Triton, who is fascinated with the human world but mermaids are forbidden to explore it. After saving Prince Eric from a shipwreck and falling in love with, she becomes determined to be with him in the world above water. These actions lead to a confrontation with her father and an encounter with the conniving sea witch Ursula, making a deal with her to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress Eric. However, this ultimately places her life (and her father's crown) in jeopardy.

The film will be directed by Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns), with a script from David Magee and Jane Goldman. The cast also includes Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy. The film is expected to feature original songs from the 1989 animated blockbuster, as well as new tracks composed by Alan Menken and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The Little Mermaid is set to be released in theaters on May 26th. 

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