The Little Mermaid (1989)

The long-anticipated, centre-of-racist-controversy live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is finally out, and it’s by far the best live action remake of Disney’s animated classics! Halle Bailey is a serial scene-stealer. Her impressive vocal abilities deliver in the new renditions of the classic songs and her emotionally rich performance as Ariel is magical. I’m so glad the film went for a colour-blind casting because Bailey seems to have been born to play Ariel. From floating with her underwater neighbours and swimming rapidly away from sharks to unsurely stumbling forward on her feet into a dance and trying to communicate without talking, Halle expertly captures all the facets of Ariel.

The Little Mermaid (2023) is a live-action remake of the 1989 animated movie of the same name.

The Little Mermaid (2023) is most notable for the lead female actress, Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel. Halle Bailey is an African American actress playing the main role, a historic first. There are noticeable differences between the design of Ariel from the live-action remake and the animated movie adaptations. In the 1989 version of The Little Mermaid, Ariel's character design was simple; she had pale skin, red hair, blue eyes, an hourglass figure, and red lips. In the live-action remake, Ariel's design is more detailed; her mermaid tail and seashell bikini top are more detailed, shimmering in sparkling blues that Halle replicated on the red carpet premiere of the movie. Ariel having brown skin and an Afrocentric loc hairstyle in a darker shade of red was controversial for people who always have an issue with such things. However, the pure joy of viewers everywhere, especially young black girls and boys, has been the dominant expression of this historic adaptation.

Halle Bailey's voice captures the spirit of Ariel's character; in the animated movie, she has the most beautiful voice, and Bailey captures this in the live-action version. Ariel's song, "Part Of Your World", has new musical notes to give viewers a new take on the beloved classic.

Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S is an original movie that focuses on two major groups: zombies and humans. At Seabrook High School, everything has to be perfect: traditions, pep rallies, and uniformity. Uniformity is the main topic explored in this film, as it is the main example of conformity in high schools.

Addison is a human cheerleader who is expected to be perfect by her parents, as her mother is the mayor of Seabrook and her father is the Chief of the Zombie Patrol. Knowing that her parents will be disappointed, Addison tries to keep her new relationship with Zed, a zombie who wants to try out for the football team, a secret. Addison's relationship with Zed is similar to the star-crossed relationship between Ariel and Eric in The Little Mermaid and Romeo and Juliet in the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. In addition, the conflict between the zombies and the humans at Seabrook High School is similar to the conflict between the Arendellians and the Northuldra in Frozen 2.

There is some representation of African Americans in Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. Eliza (Kylee Russell), a zombie friend of Zed, and Bree (Carla Jeffery), a cheerleading friend of Addison, are characters of African American descent who have supporting roles. Coach (Jonathan Langdon), the coach of the school's football team, is also an African American character.

The unfair treatment of zombies at Seabrook High School is a central conflict in Disney's Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. In this movie, the zombies are identified as people with green hair and wearing Z-Bands. Addison, who wears a blonde wig to hide her naturally white hair from the other Seabrook High School students, believes that being different is a good thing and the people around her have to change for the better.

The success of this film has led to two sequels in this trilogy. The two sequels are Z-O-M-B-I-E-S-2 and Z-O-M-B-I-E-S-3. This trilogy is similar to Disney's Descendants trilogy.

So, I’m not just writing this article because this is my favorite Disney film and I want to gush about it, but I find it a relevant film to talk about during quarantine. For those few who don’t know the story, Hunchback of Notre Dame is about Quasimodo (Tom Hulce), a deformed bell-ringer who yearns to be free from his sheltered life inside Notre Dame Cathedral, but has to stay away from society because his master, Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay), forbids it.

Quasimodo is a character whom we can all relate to right now. He wants to get out there, and his song “Out There” is a powerful number that emphasizes his desire to belong. His desire to be free from the restrictions that has bound him for 20 years.

Now, if Quasimodo is able to handle isolation inside a dark cathedral for that long, we can handle this quarantine. We can do it, everyone.

Anyhow, “Quasi” manages to leave his confinement and goes to a festival called the Feast of Fools. He’s crowned the King of Fools as everyone believes that he’s wearing a hideous mask, but when it’s revealed that it’s not the case, he’s humiliated. Quasi’s tied up, insulted, and has food thrown at him.

I love Disney, and I’m sure you do too. Disney has given us such classics as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. But Disney has turned those movies and others into live action because, apparently, they care more about making money than anything else. With all these remakes, it makes one wish for the days of hand drawn animation. While Disney has kicked that form of animation to the curb, there are still studios utilizing it.

As it’s the month to celebrate St. Paddy, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about Cartoon Saloon. This is a small animation studio based in Kilkenny, Ireland, with only 80+ employees so far. They work on both film and TV, as well as provide illustration and design services.

Cartoon Saloon was founded in 1999 by Tomm Moore, Paul Young and Nora Twomey. The three studied together at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin. There, they begun working on their first animated film, The Secret of Kells.

The film is about a boy named Brendan who lives a sheltered life at an abbey. One day, an illuminator (someone who decorates manuscripts) arrives with an unfinished book, and beckons Brendan to help him finish it. The book turns out to be the Book of Kells, a real, illuminated manuscript that was written around 800 AD.

This is one of my favorite animated movies. The animation is beautiful and vibrant, taking inspiration from Celtic and medieval art. The film also takes inspiration from Celtic mythology with the inclusion of a pre-Christian deity and a forest fairy.