Review - The Little Mermaid Live
Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's hard to believe that Disney's animated classic, The Little Mermaid, is thirty years old. I remember watching the movie on VHS as a kid, and I also picked it up on Blu-ray earlier this year. However, this evening as part of The Wonderful World of Disney on ABC, Disney produced a special event titled The Little Mermaid Live, and I'm here to talk about it.
In the past few years, TV networks like NBC and FOX have been producing live televised versions of popular stage musicals (The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Grease, Rent, etc.). So, for ABC to produce one is not a surprise. However, what ABC and Disney did differently is that it primarily showed footage from the original animated film, cutting to live performances with the selected actors for the event for the musical numbers (Fathoms Below, Under the Sea, Part of Your World, etc.). In addition, during the live performances, there are also puppets of sea creatures along with the costumed performers. The combination of the live performances with the animated film footage delivered a truly unique experience that only Disney could provide.
While it was great hearing the original voice cast during the animated segments, I definitely have to give praise to the five actors chosen for the live musical segments. First of all, Auli'i Cravalho, who is best known for voicing the title character in Disney's Moana, was absolutely terrific here as Ariel, and her rendition of "Part of Your World was absolutely fantastic. I also really enjoyed Queen Latifah as the sea witch Ursula, with her rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" being a real highlight. Reggae singer Shaggy was great as Sebastian, and he did a terrific job singing both "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl." John Stamos, who I'm sure most of you will recognize from his role as Uncle Jesse on both Full House and Fuller House, was hysterical as Chef Louis, and was a lot of fun to watch here. Finally, Graham Phillips, who has most recently appeared on the CW show Riverdale as Nick St. Clair, was surprisingly terrific as Prince Eric. Not only that, his singing was very good. Now, I'm aware that Eric's songs were from the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid, but this was the first time I heard the songs myself, and that includes Eric's singing parts in the song "Fathoms Below."
All in all, I found what Disney and ABC did here was truly innovative of a concept that has been regaining popularity in recent years. This begs the question if Disney and ABC might do something similar next year with another one of their animated films that also was made into a Broadway musical, such as Beauty and the Beast. Only time will tell if we see something like that happen in the years to come.
In conclusion, I enjoyed watching The Little Mermaid Live, and I definitely give it a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you Guys next time.
In the past few years, TV networks like NBC and FOX have been producing live televised versions of popular stage musicals (The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Grease, Rent, etc.). So, for ABC to produce one is not a surprise. However, what ABC and Disney did differently is that it primarily showed footage from the original animated film, cutting to live performances with the selected actors for the event for the musical numbers (Fathoms Below, Under the Sea, Part of Your World, etc.). In addition, during the live performances, there are also puppets of sea creatures along with the costumed performers. The combination of the live performances with the animated film footage delivered a truly unique experience that only Disney could provide.
While it was great hearing the original voice cast during the animated segments, I definitely have to give praise to the five actors chosen for the live musical segments. First of all, Auli'i Cravalho, who is best known for voicing the title character in Disney's Moana, was absolutely terrific here as Ariel, and her rendition of "Part of Your World was absolutely fantastic. I also really enjoyed Queen Latifah as the sea witch Ursula, with her rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" being a real highlight. Reggae singer Shaggy was great as Sebastian, and he did a terrific job singing both "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl." John Stamos, who I'm sure most of you will recognize from his role as Uncle Jesse on both Full House and Fuller House, was hysterical as Chef Louis, and was a lot of fun to watch here. Finally, Graham Phillips, who has most recently appeared on the CW show Riverdale as Nick St. Clair, was surprisingly terrific as Prince Eric. Not only that, his singing was very good. Now, I'm aware that Eric's songs were from the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid, but this was the first time I heard the songs myself, and that includes Eric's singing parts in the song "Fathoms Below."
All in all, I found what Disney and ABC did here was truly innovative of a concept that has been regaining popularity in recent years. This begs the question if Disney and ABC might do something similar next year with another one of their animated films that also was made into a Broadway musical, such as Beauty and the Beast. Only time will tell if we see something like that happen in the years to come.
In conclusion, I enjoyed watching The Little Mermaid Live, and I definitely give it a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you Guys next time.
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