We’re still a little while away from seeing anything from Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, but that hasn’t stopped the buzz train from chugging along with juicy tidbits on how the film will be different to the original animated movie.
The latest little nugget concerns Ariel and it sounds like Disney intends to tinker with the character a bit more than expected.
During a quick chat with Variety, Daveed Diggs, who will be voicing Sebastian in the live-action Little Mermaid, says that Disney plan to have this new take of Ariel to be a more “powerful” character than her animated counterpart.
“It’s different. It’s great. Some of the updates they have done to the story are really important in terms of giving some more power back to Ariel.
“It’s fun to work on something that is so intentional in the idea that, if we are going to make this now — if we are not going to leave this alone as a time capsule — let’s make it for now.”
It’s pretty vague stuff from Daveed, who has likely been told to keep a lid on anything related to The Little Mermaid, but the prospect of a more empowered Ariel is a good sign for the live-action remake.
The big issue with Ariel in the original animated film was how she was beautifully developed into a great character who is curious about the world and wants to forge her own path beyond being just a princess, only for all that development to be dumped when Prince Eric comes into the picture.
It would be incredibly gratifying to see Ariel keep hold of her identity and not have her story and personality be intrinsically tied to some white bloke’s story.
Of course that’s assuming that The Little Mermaid manages to pull off a more empowered Ariel because Disney’s attempts to update its classic films have yielded mixed results at best. If the filmmakers aren’t going to give Ariel the journey she deserves, then the live-action remake will feel like nothing more than a nostalgic cash grab tacked on with some stunt casting.
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