Disney is experimenting with live adaptations of fandom’s favorite animated movies including ‘Tangled‘, ‘Moana’ and Princess Ariel’s ‘Little Mermaid‘ which is also added to the list now. The movie was revolutionary because instead of a fair-skinned Ariel, the makers envisioned Ariel as a dark-skinned mermaid.
But Disney icon John Musker has some problems regarding the live adaptation of the movie. He feels the new take on the animated movie was a bit off than the original story and the acting skills were also below average.
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The Live Adaptation Of The Movie Lost The Plot A Bit
John Musker has a long list of movies including ‘Hercules‘, ‘Little Mermaid’, ‘Aladdin‘ ‘Moana‘ and more. The director feels that the ‘Little Mermaid‘ live adaption had problems in it. The director said, “I think there was a question even with The Little Mermaid,” he told Spanish outlet El Pais.“
According to the actual storyline, they didn’t add the father-daughter story. Musker continued, “They didn’t play up the father-daughter story, and that was the heart of the movie, in a way.”
Moreover, he found the acting in the movie to be below average and wanting. He added, “The crab — you could look at live animals in a zoo and they have more expression, like with The Lion King, That’s one of the basic things about Disney, is the appeal. That’s what animation does best.”
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Disney Never Focused On Morals, But Character Development
John Musker also raised the issues which most of the companies fear to take. He continued, “Companies are always like, ‘How do we reduce our risk?’ They like this, right? We’ll just do it again and sell it to them in a different form.’ Or they think, ‘Well, we could make it better.“
He also revealed that after the success of ‘Toy Story’, Disney entered the business of digital animation. Makers focus more on moral-driven stories rather than the characters and storylines. While doing this they forget the actual essence of the story.
He added, “We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism. The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it.” He continued, “You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling.”
He urged the makers of the movie to make stories with more engaging characters, rather than moral driven. He added in the last, “I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters.”
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