Nearly two centuries later, 'The Little Mermaid' still thrills

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The touching story of a mermaid's sacrifice for love, whether dark or happy ending depending on the versions, contains many layers of human meaning.

The latest version of The Little Mermaid produced by Walt Disney is scheduled to be shown on May 26, conveying many new, modern messages about this character.

Live-action 'The Little Mermaid' 2023

Walt Disney was the first Hollywood studio to bring The Little Mermaid to the big screen in the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid, which was a huge hit for the studio. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements; the score was composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The film won two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. At the box office, the film also did well, grossing $211.3 million worldwide. What's more remarkable is that in this animated film, the filmmakers gave it a happy ending: the mermaid Ariel marries Prince Eric instead of throwing herself into the sea and dissolving into foam like in the original story.

After its release in 1989, The Little Mermaid became a money-making franchise for Disney. In 2000 and 2008, Disney continued to release the films The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning to expand the storyline of the underwater world and Ariel's life, but both of these works were criticized for their quality and could not escape the huge shadow of the first film. Before that, in 1992, Disney released a TV series of the same name about the events that took place before the original film.

Don't leave the ocean just for a guy

When the remake of the old hand-drawn animated film into a live-action film created a good effect, especially after billion-dollar films like Beauty and the Beast (2017), The Lion King (2019) or Aladdin (2019), Disney took advantage of the success and renewed The Little Mermaid.

In the latest version of the film, once again, the image of Ariel is renewed. This film is directed by Rob Marshall, Alan Menken continues to return to take on the music and the role of Ariel is played by black actress Halle Bailey. This surprised fans and some viewers made malicious comments. The director affirmed that the reason Halle Bailey was chosen to play the mermaid is because she has proven her acting ability as well as her strong singing voice in the American entertainment industry.

Bailey's journey to reach the pinnacle of glory intersects with Ariel's journey to live life to the fullest. On The Pink News , Halle Bailey shared about the role: "I was really surprised because in this version of the film, the filmmakers changed the perspective of the mermaid, she didn't just want to leave the ocean for a guy, but for something bigger: for herself, for her purpose and freedom, for the life she wanted."

After a special early screening by director Rob Marshall and his gay partner John DeLuca for close friends, including actors like the couple Emily Blunt - John Krasinski or actor Matt Damon, these artists gave many compliments to the work and said that Halle Bailey's performance was "amazing". However, the film is still considered to have not escaped the shadow of the old animated film, although the special effects, music , effects... have been invested much more.

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