“This story carries a very important lesson about what love is” – GENTE Online

The little Mermaid, the story of the creature that dreams of discovering the world beyond the sea is coming to Latin American theaters this Thursday, May 25. The live action, which resumes the children’s classic 34 years after its premiere, invites you to rediscover the story of Ariel (halle bailey), a young and passionate mermaid who follows her heart and ends up relating to humans –something forbidden in her underwater world–.

This is how he makes a pact with the iconic and wicked sea witch, Úrsula (Melissa McCarthy), a deal that jeopardizes his future and that of the kingdom led under the sea by his father, King Tryphon (Javier Bardem).

Halle Bailey: “The little mermaid taught me a lot”

halle bailey (23), the actress who brought joy, vivacity, intelligence and vulnerability to the character that thousands of people around the globe treasure, confessed that her mythical character helped her intimately: “I feel that Ariel opened the doors for me to find myself and this version of the young woman that I am today, because I have been in this project for five years now: from the age of eighteen until now that I am twenty-three“.

And I add. “It was a time of intense transformation and I feel like the themes of the film and the things that she goes through, with her passions and with her willingness to find her own voice and follow it despite how scary it may be… Well, all of those things , I adopted them for Halle. So she taught me a lot. I have no doubts about it.”

I remember watching The Little Mermaid over and over again imagining it was her and singing the songs, but I never thought I was going to interpret it.

halle bailey

“Prince Eric and Princess Ariel are kindred spirits and they teach each other”

“It is a great privilege and honor to bring Prince Eric to life,” he says. Jonah Hauer King (27) and reflects: “But being a Disney prince is strange, isn’t it? Yes, it’s a bit strange. More when the whole story, the filming process and the themes that were touched on in the film felt so connected to the real world… ”.

interrupting his thoughts, Melissa McCarthy (52), the hilarious actress who plays Úrsula, the “sea witch”, adds: “You treated these cartoons as real people, with problems and worries, and you gave them humanity”.

Delving into the psychology of these beloved characters, Jonah continues: “It’s just that we thought of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel as kindred spirits who were feeling a bit uneasy, sensing that they were behind the four walls of their respective castles watching much outwards and not inwards. AND their relationship is serious because they both perceive that they are teaching each other things. They feel excitement and fascination with each other’s world. And it’s charming, because it gives a good message about what it’s like to be in love and what it means for a relationship to be tied to a friendship.”

Javier Bardem details how he prepared to play King Triton in The little Mermaid

Javier Bardemwho gives life to King Triton (father of The Little Mermaid), explained how he devised his character: “My job as an actor was to bring to life a man who, as a father, is deeply in love with his daughterbut that he is wrong and confuses his fears and insecurities with love, because he, Ariel, is taking away the possibility of being free…”.

Reflective, the Spaniard who has been acting since he was eleven years old, continues his train of thought: “I think that one of the most beautiful things about this story is that the adults, in this case, the mother (Queen Selina/Noma Dumezweni) and Ariel’s father, learn from the young. It carries a very important lesson about what love is, because they thought they knew what it was, but no, They won’t have a clue what true love is until they see their children leave.. That’s when they understand that love is respecting that everyone has their own way.”

Ariel’s friends

With his follies, songs and observations, Sebastián (daveed diggs41), Scuttle (Awkwafina34) and Flounder (Jacob Trembley16) are the adorable beings that accompany the little mermaid since his days at the bottom of the sea. Chatting with the actors who voiced them, we found out that the new Scuttle had a tremendous success in advance and was hyper-applauded by the audience.

In addition, the artists revealed to us how the elaboration of their characters was. “We came to feel like we were a family, because we were in England recording together for a long time. We got to know each other so much that it helped our vocal work”, formally tells Jacob, the youngest of the cast and who had not yet been born when the animated film that we all know came out.

“We felt like we were building a world in our heads, in our imaginations, but now we see the huge posters and the movie that is amazing and we can’t believe it,” admits Diggs.

For her part, Awkwafina brings an unexpected reflection: “I admit that I feel a little identified with Scuttle… In other words, we have in common that we are both a bit neurotic. Yes, I’m like Scuttle, without a doubt.”

Melissa McCarthy’s charisma and looks are ideal for Ursula. She is an incredible actress who brings extraordinary depth, intensity and humor to the role.

Rob Marshall, director of The Little Mermaid

Three behind-the-scenes looks at The Little Mermaid

Rob Marshallthe director of famous Disney films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Sailing Mysterious Waters and The return of Mary Poppinsand iconic movies like Chicago and Memories of a Geishais the man behind this adaptation of the book by Hans Christian Andersen from 1837.

Regarding the choice of Halle for the character of The little Mermaidcommented: “She was the first actress we saw for the role, and the first thing she did was close her eyes and sing part of your world… We couldn’t believe our ears. It was so emotional. So beautiful. And I thought: ‘Oh my God, We’ve been casting for five minutes, and we’ve already found our Ariel?‘, and we had. Only that we saw hundreds of more interpreters to confirm it. It’s that you expect an actor to come and take a role, say ‘this role is mine’, and that’s exactly what Halle did.

Allan Menkenthe original composer of the legendary animated film soundtrack – featuring timeless hits like Under the sea and part of your world–, also of Beauty and the Beast, aladdin, Pocahontas, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and tangledHe said that, surprisingly, there are new songs. One of them? “It belongs to Prince Eric, and it’s a love song to Ariel, to the sea and its uncharted waters,” Menken confided.

For his part, John DeLucacreative partner of the director and producer of the film, spoke of the choice to shoot in Sardinia, Italy: “We were visiting many islands and we ended up falling in love with a small beach in Sardinia with beautiful waters and stones – something very important in Andersen’s story. – who helped us tell the story and give it the Caribbean flavor that songs like kiss her and Under the sea they needed. Something the whole cast remembers? That we ate a lot of pasta with lobster!”

Photos: Courtesy Disney

Art and design: Gustavo Ramírez

We thank Agustina Vanella.