Poll: Should the little mermaid ride and/or actors be updated to reflect the new movie?

[cinnaminny]

Not me! I loved the live action BatB. And Beauty is my favorite fairy tale! I really like Emma Watson and thought she did a fine job. Many times in the animated movies one actor does the speaking voice and another does the singing. So using autotuned just didn't seem like a big deal to me.

I liked her too!

 

[Moliphino]

Not me! I loved the live action BatB. And Beauty is my favorite fairy tale! I really like Emma Watson and thought she did a fine job. Many times in the animated movies one actor does the speaking voice and another does the singing. So using autotuned just didn't seem like a big deal to me.

They could've dubbed in someone else singing in the live action, too (like in My Fair Lady). That would've been better than autotune.

 

[L&Lfan]

Too bad Marni Nixon is deceased!

 

[Colleen27]

I have no idea what happened to the other thread after I commented there but Ariel was a big deal to redheads everywhere. As a girl I was bullied for my red hair and pale skin. There are still awful sayings about redheads. Ariel was so empowering to me. She made pale redheads beautiful. As a little girl there were no redheaded dolls to play with and I never had any doll anywhere near as pale as me. My little girl is dealing with the same bullying now and it’s heartbreaking. I want the live action movie to remain true to the animated version. I want a pale redhead to look like she walked out of the cartoon and came to life. For me it’s very much about the look of the animated Ariel but also staying true to the look of iconic characters. There’s a reason that Sonic the movie went back to be fixed because the audience didn’t like how they represented the character, even though he is still a blue hedgehog. People want iconic characters to look how they have always looked. That is NOT racist.

I don't think ALL of the objection to the casting is racist. Some is just people who don't like change (and I'm one of them, to a certain extent - I was annoyed when the folks running the DC universe cast Jason Momoa as Aquaman too, because he doesn't fit the long-established comic book image of the character. I still ended up enjoying the movie, though). I'm the mom of a redhead who fell in love with Ariel on her first trip to the parks, even before she'd seen the movie, because they "bonded" over having the same color hair during a meet & greet at the Grotto. I don't love that the character is changing for the live action adaptation because I know it will take away from DD's enjoyment of the movie. I'm not signing any petitions demanding Disney bow to my set-in-my-ways views and if I don't go see it in the theater, it'll be because I hate this whole "remake every animated classic as a live-action film" trend, not because of the casting. But there is a part of me that does wish they'd have cast such an iconic character more in keeping with her established image.

People really disliked Emma as Belle, huh? I never realized this until I started watching Disney message boards. (and fb groups)

I didn't dislike her, exactly. She certainly looked the part, and I am generally a fan. But she didn't do the singing justice. It seems like Disney should have been able to find someone who looked like Belle and could also sing! And even though I wish Ariel was staying a redhead (and she might - there's nothing that says an actress will use her natural hair color in every role!), I'd rather they cast someone who can really sing than cast someone who will look good but deliver a ho-hum performance in one of Disney's great musical stories.

 

[cinnaminny]

- I was annoyed when the folks running the DC universe cast Jason Momoa as Aquaman too, because he doesn't fit the long-established comic book image of the character.

There is a meme out there that says no one complained about that change up...I guess someone did have an issue with it. LOL (I had no issue with it lol)

 

[DatDudeSG]

I think they should leave the ride the way it is, however it would be a great opportunity to update the attraction at HS. They should completely update that play with the new characters, it would add something fresh to HS, along with SWGE and TSL.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I don't like remakes, and I really don't like live action remakes of animated films. So anything that recognizes or incorporates a remake, I'm against it.

 

[wvjules]

They never changed Cinderella or any of the other characters after that live action movie. They never changed Beauty and the Beast characters either. Why would they change Ariel?

Because they cast the best actresses for the roles, regardless of race?

 

[cabanafrau]

I don't see the need to change the rides. If a new one was opening I can see it featuring the new movie instead of the existing one. I could see that happening if it was a movie that's not featured as much in the parks already. I guess a lot of that will depend on how popular the movie is.

With the characters in the parks for the meet and greets it would allow for more variety, which I think a lot of the audience for meet and greets really gets excited about. I think it's a thing to get pictures with characters in different costumes, etc., so I would guess it would be popular to get pictures with the new version of Ariel, etc. It will probably make casting trickier, just because I think anytime you're trying to cast someone to look incredibly similar to another person it's harder than casting someone to play an animated person.

 

[Moliphino]

Because they cast the best actresses for the roles, regardless of race?

I think they mean they never changed anything in the parks for the other live action movies, so why start with this one? Not that they were asking why they changed Ariel's appearance in the live action movie.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Change the ride? No.

There's no reason to do so IMO.

When The Mummy came out with Tom Cruise I was concerned that Universal would change the ride to be that (and they did heavily promote the new movie at the ride just not the actual ride itself). Thankfully, even as much as I had hoped I would like it, the new movie (and the Monsters thing itself) pretty much bombed. I didn't see the point there in changing it and I wouldn't see the point with Disney either.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

Because they cast the best actresses for the roles, regardless of race?

Did you read the subject line of this post? They asked if the ride and characters in the parks should be changed to match the live action film character. That is what I was referring to.

I think they mean they never changed anything in the parks for the other live action movies, so why start with this one? Not that they were asking why they changed Ariel's appearance in the live action movie.

Exactly this, thank you.

 

[cbatt1981]

I thought it was fun, to the point and pretty sharp at the end. View attachment 414955

I thought their response was unprofessional and a bit arrogant. They had to have know the kind of response that this would get, and for them to imply that anyone who doesn't agree with this decision is racist is not right.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Well, given that the other rides and characters whose films have had LA adaptations have not been changed to reflect the LA versions and instead remained as their animated selves, I honestly think The Little Mermaid rides and Ariel in the Parks should be left alone, even if there's the added dimension of this LA remake having an example of colourblind casting feeding into the piety of those who often call for more BAME representation in Hollywood.

 

[cinnaminny]

I thought their response was unprofessional and a bit arrogant. They had to have know the kind of response that this would get, and for them to imply that anyone who doesn't agree with this decision is racist is not right.

Interesting that your very first post is a response to this thread that is not even the main question.

In the spirit of not getting this thread closed I’ll just say, if people have an issue with the live action Ariel’s skin color they should probably boycott the parks. really stick it to Disney.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Speaking of changing characters, how come Rapunzel's hair isn't short and brown in the park?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Interesting that your very first post is a response to this thread that is not even the main question.

Not actually their first post. They have a deleted thread about this topic.

 

[cinnaminny]

Not actually their first post. They have a deleted thread about this topic.

Oh I see, my apologies.

 

[cbatt1981]

Interesting that your very first post is a response to this thread that is not even the main question.

In the spirit of not getting this thread closed I’ll just say, if people have an issue with the live action Ariel’s skin color they should probably boycott the parks. really stick it to Disney.

I didn't in any way say I had an issue with her skin color. I said their response to this was inappropriate. Considering they've come under criticism for not allowing a father to use spider man on his son's grave, and the fight that recently happened in the parks, and they haven't issued a response to either, I don't think this was the way to go about responding.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Speaking of changing characters, how come Rapunzel's hair isn't short and brown in the park?

Because Rapunzel's long blonde hair is regarded as being an iconic part of her character, and in fact, the TV series sees the return of her long hair. The merchandise also portrays Rapunzel that way, so it makes sense to retain Rapunzel's long hair for the Parks character.