The Walt Disney Company’s live-action reimagining directed by Rob Marshall of the iconic and beloved animated musical classic The Little Mermaid, the 1989 box office smash which made $233 million internationally and won Oscars for Best Score and Best Song (“Under the Sea”) in 1990, will finally reach Italian cinemas on 24 May.
The story returns to the big screen, this time in flesh and blood, as spirited young mermaid Ariel, the daughter of King Triton, dares to explore the world beyond the sea, breaking her father’s rules, and begins a forbidden adventure where she falls in love with a prince, Eric, who is dashing but decidedly too human for a mermaid.
Ariel must follow her heart and makes a deal with the wicked witch of the sea Ursula who offers her the chance to live on dry land which endangers Ariel’s life and her father’s kingdom.
The screenplay of The Little Mermaid was written by Jane Goldman and David Magee; the film features three new songs in addition to those in the original animated version. The story is also slightly different.
See all the Italian locations in the film here.
Shot partly at Pinewood Studios, where Prince Eric’s enormous wooden ship was built in the outdoor tank, Sardinia was the setting for most of the film with the production working there from May to September 2021. Production of the Disney movie, inspired by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s story of 1837, was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed by the pandemic. Several places on the northern coast of Sardinia served as locations including the crystal-clear waters of Santa Teresa di Gallura, Golfo Aranci and Castelsardo.
While searching for a location for the isolated beach where Ariel rescues Eric and for the emotional, triumphant farewell finale, the directors needed to find a physical setting in Europe that could manage a large film crew and had a magical, epic atmosphere: “It was important to find a location that provided the epic drama of the story” explains Rob Marshall. "Sardinia had it all. Crystal-clear sea, dramatic coastline, steep cliffs, castles, wide beaches and country roads.”
They found all this, and much more besides, in Sardinia which is famous for its spectacular natural landscape, its mountain ranges, cliffs, beaches and exquisite water. The island’s rocky formation means that the water gently laps the beach, embracing the sand, while also offering the opportunity to shot scenes with massive waves breaking against the rocks.
Locations in Sardinia included the little beach of Cala Moresca, a dock and a fishing village on the north western side of the island which was used for the fishing village and scenes around the castle harbour. Rena Majore was chosen as Ariel’s beach, for the iconic scenes where the little mermaid saves Eric and comes out of the water to sit on her rock. The rock itself was tailor-made, brought to Sardinia and positioned in the water before the cast arrived. Scenes of Ariel and Eric in the carriage were shot on the jagged coastline of Rena di Matteu (Aglientu).
Shot in Sardinia, the final scene of the film required over 100 extras, half of whom were in the water with the other half on dry land, “which is always a challenge creatively and for safety protocols”, notes executive producerJeff Silver. There were also almost 100 crew members, most of whom were on boats, rafts and pontoon boats, working dollies and jibs over the water, very complicated technical aspects of a shoot. “We were euphoric when we got the scene in the can”, explained Silver. “One of the keys to managing water scenes is to have a good marine coordinator like Neil Andrea (Tenet), a marine coordinator based in Florida who came to Sardinia several weeks ahead to line up all the boats for filming, the security equipment and the diving teams that were always present to ensure our underwater safety.”
As the film is set in the 1930s in an imaginary Caribbean setting, the director created a harbour island kingdom with its own queen and multicultural populace. Eric’s castle was also partly inspired by Italy. “We had the pleasure of creating a Caribbean castle for the first time”, explains production designer John Myhre. “One of the first things we considered was how the air would move about the building so, except for Eric’s library, there are hardly no windows in the entire place and the few openings there are have aquatic and undulating shapes. We began with the idea of the faded colours of some of the castles in the South of France and on the Italian coast, we wanted to create something that give the idea of a castle perched on the sea, while also being colonial and Caribbean.”
Mahmood, twice winner of the Festival di Sanremo (2019, 2022), is one of the film’s Italian voices; he voices the iconic Sebastian.
Ariel is played by singer and actress Halle Bailey and the multi-cultural cast also includes: Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric; Javier Bardem as her father, King Triton, ruler of the realm of Atlantica; Melissa McCarthy as the sea witch Ursula; Noma Dumezwen as Queen Selina; and Art Malik as Sir Grimsby.
Watch and you'll see,
someday I'll be
part of your world!
(by Carmen Diotaiuti)