THE LITTLE MERMAID, A MAGICAL FAIRY TALE FROM DISNEY
Cinema Writer/Film Critic Efe TEKSOY; wrote the fantastic, family and adventure film “THE LITTLE MERMAID”, for America’s Los Angeles-based Internet Newspaper @alaturkanews.
A MUSICAL ANIMATION CLASSIC
Premiered at The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on May 8, 2023, The Little Mermaid is a live-action adaptation of Walt Disney Animation Studios‘ 1989 film of the same name and is based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Directed by Oscar-nominated American theater and film director Rob Marshall, the film has a massive $250 million budget, significantly higher than any of Disney’s other live-action remakes of animation classics. Filming; It was held at Pinewood Studios in England and on the Italian island of Sardinia. Also, the human world was designed by a large production team to look like “1830s meet Caribbean world”. The soundtrack of the film is signed by legendary composer Alan Menken, who won 8 Oscars and Academy Awards with his compositions for Walt Disney Animation Studios films. Alan Menken, who worked on the soundtrack for the original film, composed the music with Lin-Manuel Miranda and wrote the new songs. Designing the most organic and realistic underwater lighting method to date, production designer John Myhre and the art department spent countless hours researching and examining marine footage, documentaries and stills of real underwater worlds. King Triton‘s underwater kingdom was created with a jewel-tone-like color palette inspired by real corals and anemones, and designed to resemble a busy city in a nod to the 1930s Manhattan skyline. To digitally render the underwater scenes in post-production, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke pre-mapped each one, and executive producer and unit production manager Jeffrey Silver spent hours animating each shot pre-sight calculating, designing and creating the entire way the scenes would play out. To help support the dry-to-wet approach, cinematographer Dion Beebe worked with the SFX team for months to mix the water and create the scorching lighting in the scenes below the ocean surface, designing complex lighting effects that look like they’re underwater.
THE LITTLE MERMAID ARIEL AND DISNEY MAGIC
Disney in a symbolic sense; means magic, fun and adventure. It represents a special kind of imagination behind all emotions and art. From the very beginning, Walt Disney wanted his name to represent quality and a different kind of entertainment with a distinctive appeal. For over 100 years, Disney and the bearers of its creative legacy have made this name symbolize a kind of magic beyond entertainment. Ariel the Little Mermaid; Unlike the other princesses of Disney, she draws a legendary profile and acts as a symbol of the partnership between land and sea life. The brave character of Ariel, who dreams of transforming herself into a human being and leaving her life behind, also emphasizes the importance of being able to turn dreams into reality (for the younger generation) by following her dreams. With this bold side, Ariel the Mermaid paves the way for a new age of princesses who take her courage from herself as she risks everything to determine her own life. In the subtext of the story, we see that it has the characteristics of the Fable genre, which aims to teach in literature, and gives positive messages that will guide the young audience to the right path by emphasizing the importance of friendship and amity. J.R.R. Tolkien, Rawlinson and Bosworth Anglo-Saxon Professor at Oxford University, author of fantastic works such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, His work, On Fairy Stories, is cited as one of his most influential scientific works. Written for a lecture titled “Fairy Stories” for the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Tolkien; “Animal fables, of course, have a connection with fairy tales. In real fairy tales, animals, birds, and other creatures often talk like humans.” He states that this miracle stems from people’s passion for sharing with other living creatures. We see that the character of Ariel in the movie has a very high passion for communication and has a love for all living things, and in this sense, we can see that she takes on the role of a symbol of love.
TOPIC OF THE FILM
Ariel, the youngest and bravest of King Triton’s daughters, wants to learn more about the world beyond the sea and falls in love with the handsome Prince Eric during his visit to the surface. Although mermaids are forbidden to communicate with humans, Ariel follows her own heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula, which gives Ariel a chance to live on land. However, this deal will endanger his life and his father’s throne.
Stars; Halle Bailey, Noma Dumezweni, Daveed Diggs, Art Malik, Awkwafina, Jonah Hauer-King, Jessica Alexander, Awkwafina (voice), Martina Laird, Daveed Diggs (voice), Lorena Andrea, Simone Ashley, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy.
BEHIND THE SCENES
–Melissa McCarthy had no idea she could actually sing before production of this film. She was coached by vocal coach Eric Vetro to prepare for her role as Ursula, and did all of her own singing in the film.
-According to costume designer Colleen Atwood, every merpeople accessory “had to be from the sea. For King Triton, we [were] trying to figure out how to make his crown look like a crown but not like it was a crown from above the sea. I saw these really giant shark teeth in a magazine, and I was like ‘Oh my god, we should make his crown out of shark teeth’.”
-Exterior shots took place in Italy.
–Lin-Manuel Miranda has written lyrics for four additional songs for the film. The music of the new songs is written by Alan Menken.
THE LITTLE MERMAID
Bringing the audience together with the magic world of Disney, The Little Mermaid is a fascinating production that will take you to the extraordinary world of adventure and fun.
EFE TEKSOY
References
- R. R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories/ Peri Masalları Üzerine, Serap Erincin, translate, İstanbul. Altıkırkbeş yayın press, 1999
Jim Fanning, The Disney Book/Disney Kitabı, Cansu Peköz, translate, İstanbul: Beta Basım Yayım Dağıtım press, 2016
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/
