The latest rage in movies is to take old familiar fairy tales and give them a fresh, dark twist. We have three Snow White movies, two Oz remakes,and a villainous Peter Pan adaptation on the horizon to go along with Red Riding Hood which limped out of theaters earlier this year.
100000438577662 said...
I mean the Little Mermaid is a pretty dark tale to begin with...
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alexzandriah said...
OK, so stop talking about Twilight and other movies that are totally unrelated to the topic at hand. This is about The Little Mermaid and it is nothing like Twilight, If anything Twilight is like The Little Mermaid. It was made way before Twilight so just stop hating on everything. Anyway if I had to pick who would be Ariel (it is Ariel right?) and Erick it would have to be... Alexis Bledel and Ben Barnes
659425430 said...
Does ANYONE know how to write original stories anymore? Apparently not.
Sinsmelody said...
Change the name first!
EmilyGracey said...
*difficult to follow*
Hmmm...there is already a pretty dark Czech version that's pretty amazing. I guess we're getting back into the fairy tale trend that the 80s had. There are some amazing fairy tale movies from that era that I think are going to be extremely difficult. Example: Red Riding Hood vs. Company of Wolves. These films have a lot to live up to and I hope that they can. If we keep getting Kristen Stewart, or Twilight based versions of fairy tales, or updated fairy tales that star Disney pop princesses than I can't imagine that it actually will.
movieaddict101 said...
I would like to see the girl from "victorious" Elizabeth Gillies to play it she plays a pretty good dark role on nick and would be perfect for this role!!!!!
rlstein said...
just hope its like this: [BLOCKED WEBSITE]
545459465 said...
ill probably go ahead and watch it as LONG AS the tweelight actors ARE NOT in it....i never read these stories but im intrigued now...to at least get my hands on it and read it
166400270 said...
I know its cool to bash Disney and their adaptations of these stories. While I will probably catch these darker versions at some point....I get the feeling dark and twisty is the rage right now because of the success of movies such as The Dark KnIght and other like dark movies. Personally, I still enjoy Disney's movies to this day
graples05 said...
The internet today in a nutshell - spent 2 minutes on the article - half an hour reading the jaded, witty and ultimately more entertaining comments...way to go uhhhh commenters!
100000238749068 said...
Most movies-based-on-fairy-tales were given the "Disney treatment" over the years.. it is good to see people interested in movies "hopely" based closer to the source material.
Dov_Spunt said...
The original story IS fairly dark and I agree that an adaptation should honor that. The point of the story is not marrying the prince but rather about how to deal with it when you DON'T marry the prince. It's about how she is able, ultimately, to earn her own soul through her own efforts rather than by her marriage. And it will be a long time before I forgive Disney for rewriting it! I'd like to see a newcomer play the Mermaid, someone whose face we haven't already seen everywhere. Someone with a dance background.
Good lord, the movie was made for kids....I don't care what anyone says, I don't want to spend 10 bucks to go see an animated movie with a depressing ending. And I sure as hell don't expect a kid to go in seeing such a movie and enjoying it, no matter what life lessons it teaches. Real life can teach my kids those lessons. I want them to go to a movie, have fun, maybe shed a tear or two, but ultimately come out with a smile on their face
529105304 said...
Well, considering the original story by Hans Christian Andersen has the Little Mermaid losing the prince and being swallowed into the sea as sea foam, I have to say that it's about time someone made a movie close the story. Take a look at Grimm's Fairy Tales. Cinderella was a lot more gruesome. These stories did not have happy endings.
1268584022 said...
Glad to see Andersen's tale and message isn't lost. Actions have consequences and sometimes our choices stink! that's life, but it can be beautiful!
1848665750 said...
I wish they would do Cinderella but like the original where the sisters cut off their heals and stuff. I agree the originals were already all very dark stories. For the mermaid I would cast somebody like Rachael McAdams. Shes sooo pretty and she can be sweet and dark. Somebody classy.
29409318 said...
"dissolving “in the water like the foam on a wave" is how the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson ends. So it's not so much a remake as an accurate adaptation
scott_presnall said...
Bryce Dallas Howard!
100000231440477 said...
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grapeful said...
Actually, most fairy tales were rather dark. Many were cautionary morality tales, but some were horror. Few of the heros and heroines were really nice. In at least one early version of Sleeping Beauty, the prince was a married king who stumbled upon the sleeping princess and raped her. She only awoke after she gave birth to twins, and one of the suckled the splinter from her finger. When the king returned (want to guess why?), he found her awake. Then he went and killed his first wife and kids so he could marry her.
GoodDayToAll said...
I think the mermaid should use an enchantment that she researches to turn the princess into a mermaid in her place and that would allow her to become permanently human -- which would work out for the best because the prince is in love with the mermaid and the princess is spoiled and mean. As the princess becomes a mermaid, she learns humility, and the other merpeople accept her lovingly into their underwater community and she learns to be much nicer as she gets the love she never got from her stern and unavailable father. Oh. I guess that's sounding like a Disney movie again. Well, I like Disney movies...
1210466412 said...
I think it should stay basically the same... The Little Mermaid is one of my all time favorite movies, and I would hate to see it ruined in the wrong hands! The title sucks for one! Plus, all the other remade Disney Classics aren't dark... Stick to the original story, and it will make bank! :)
627107536 said...
The Hans Christian Ancerson story was actually quite a dark experience, as are many stories in the Brothers Grimm and other folklore based collections. DIsney was the ultimate revisionist, which I do not criticize but merely note.
"Welcome to the party, pal."
"I am serious... and don't call me Shirley."
"When am I gonna learn how to punch?"
"These go to eleven."
"Benjamin, have you ever been severely beaten about the face & neck?"
"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
"Jessica's got cable."
"Squirrel!"