Oh, what a week! What
a week!
And it’s all stuff that involves the Mouse.
First we had the announcement that Halle Bailey has been
cast as Ariel in the live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Now,
this caused quite a stir among a certain part of the internet. This is because, in case you didn’t notice
from the picture I’m posting, Halle Bailey is African-American. The arguments posted against her casting were filled
with disjointed reasoning (usually involving the argument that Ariel’s hair should
be red), false equivalences, and nonsensical calls for literary, historical and
scientific accuracy.
Our new Ariel |
Personally, I’m all for it.
I haven’t seen any of her performance yet. I have heard a little bit of her singing
though, which is good. There’s a certain
principle I want to support, though. And
I’m all for more opportunities opening up for actors and actresses of color.
Another thing is that Cameron Boyce, the actor who played
Carlos DeVil in Disney’s Descendants
movies was found dead as a result of an ongoing medical condition he had. I really don’t have much to say about this
except to offer my condolences to his friends, family and coworkers. I may have described the Descendants movies as “stupid but harmless”, but I bore no ill will
to the actors who put so much work into them.
R.I.P. |
The last thing that happened is the first teaser for Disney’s
Mulan remake dropped (I was actually in Wal-Mart looking for a serrated peeler
for a folk tale related baking project when I found out. I stopped on the spot to watch it on my
phone). Take a look:
Now, you may not know, but the legend of Mulan holds a
special place in our hearts here at Fairy Tale Fandom. It was one of the more unique legends I
commented on back when I was doing my 12-part legend project and sparked some
of the most enlightened dialogue.
So, what do I think of this teaser? Well, it looks good to me. We see some stunning locations and sets. We see Mulan’s family talking about her being
matched by the matchmaker. We see some
military action scenes (which is good for what’s essentially a war story). Liu Yifei appears to bring a sort of quiet strength
to the role of Mulan.
There are some interesting changes from the 1998 animated
Mulan film. For one, her problem with
the matchmaker doesn’t seem to be that she can’t be matched, it’s that she
already has been. There are also no
signs of any wisecracking Disney sidekicks.
No dragons or crickets or ancestor ghosts. I know some diehard Disney fans will
disagree, but I actually see that as a good sign. We also see more scenes of Mulan fighting out
of disguise than I expected.
I also noticed in the description under the video on YouTube
that instead of Fa Mulan which was her name in the 1998 movie, they use the
more accepted and common name Hua Mulan.
Also, I noticed there were some more complex Chinese names among the
characters compared to in the 1998 movie.
The animated film tended to keep things as simple as they could,
especially in terms of names that were easier for Westerners to pronounce. This time, it doesn’t feel like they’re going
to hold our hand as much, which I appreciate.
I don’t know if it really means anything, though.
Mulan comes out in 2020 and that means that we’ve all got
plenty of time to research the legendary figure of Hua Mulan before the movie
comes out. I suggest starting off with
my blog post about what I think makes Mulan the stuff of legends.
I’m also going to recommend this book that I read before
writing that post. The Amazon link is HERE, but don't forget to check your local library or library system.
Also, I’ll suggest this movie for a more grown-up take on a
cinematic Mulan. It’s on Amazon Prime
Video, but it’s only available ala cart so there is a fee.
I’m going to say, I never expected to spend so much time
playing up the Disney brand. However, as
long as the other studios in Hollywood have trouble making movies of older
stories that are not either boring, dismal or miss the point of the story
entirely (the exception being Fox’s King Arthur riff The Kid Who Would be King), Disney seems to be the only game in
town.
Oh, well. Until next
time!
While I am strongly against these live action remake from Disney, but I adore the diverse settings in folktales and mythology. However, Once on This Island is a much better interoperation to The Little Mermaid.
ReplyDeleteIs that what Once on This Island is? I had heard the name but didn't quite know what it was.
DeleteIt's kinda of like The Little Mermaid only it has a much stronger female lead, a better theme of segregation and prejudice, and follows the story a little faithful. I would recommend you check it out on YouTube.
DeleteThanks for writing such a good article, I stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your style of writing...
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