There is a lot of buzz going on about the Little Mermaid remake – which is something we will be talking about a bit more in depth in a future episode, so I’m not going to here. To be clear, anyone who gets upset about the skin color of a live action cartoon movie about fictional mythological Danish creatures, or can’t seem to wrap their head around the fact that Lord of the Rings doesn’t actually take place in Medieval Europe and elves aren’t real… your opinion is pretty much voided on principle.
Not my point tonight.
What I DO wish to discuss is WHY you should care about The Little Mermaid live action (and other ‘why are they doing this’ movies) and the number one reason you aren’t hearing more about this point:
1. Disney doesn’t want to talk about it.
This year, there is a Winnie the Pooh movie coming out that has nothing to do with a rumbly tumbly hunny lovin bear, and has everything to do about a cannibalistic monster and his piggie friend on, what I assume, will be a horrifying murder spree. The original A.A. Milne stories have reached public domain level, so you can go do a Winnie story, but you must be assuredly certain that the version you are utilizing is THAT version and not anything close to the Jim Cummings voiced silly ol’ bear. Next year, Steamboat Willie finally gets to public domain after Disney has destroyed our copyright law to save him.
That’s why there is a new Little Mermaid, a CGI Lion King, a Maleficent and Cruella film. Disney is thrilled if they do well, but if they don’t.. eh, that’s ok, they’ve served a far greater legal purpose of continuing to push a variation of a character they can hold on to.
The best thing you can do next year when the lifeless, like a doll’s eyes, black and white mouse finds his way into all of our legal hands – much like when Winnie The Pooh: Blood & Honey comes out, is support the endeavors of these people who are throwing our public ownership into the face of the beast that has continued to push laws that allow them to own things forever. And this is Disney we’re talking about.. the company that owns everything, anyway.
All I’m asking is for you to go see THOSE pieces of entertainment, if anything, because it really will tick the mouse off.
