Live action remakes of well-known and beloved animated properties are becoming quite popular these days. Cinderella and Maleficent have already come to theaters and done quite well, and a live action version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is currently in the works. Another live action telling of an animated favorite, The Little Mermaid, will be on our screens before long, and star Chloe Grace Moretz has given us a hint of what we can expect from that film.
While talking to Entertainment Tonight, Chloe Grace Moretz spilled the news that this take on the classic will be even more likely to appeal to today’s young women:
...a modern, revisionist tale is kind of what we're going after, and making it progressive for young women in this day and age.
She also notes that this story, instead of being based on the well-liked Disney cartoon from 1989, is based on the original tale from Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen which was published in 1837. (This also means that young Ms. Moretz will not be dyeing her hair red for the role, but we can dwell on that travesty later.)
That animated version of The Little Mermaid has the same basic focus as its source material. A young mermaid, unnamed in the Andersen story, dwells in an underwater kingdom but falls for a handsome human prince and desires to be human so that he’ll fall in love with her. The details of the two stories diverge a bit after that. And, as anyone who knows anything about old-time fairy tales could guess, things get a bit dark before we see any light.
Surely Chloe Grace Moretz’s words are calling a lot of possibilities to mind for anyone who was looking forward to this movie. But, let’s be honest here, her description of the film is really pretty vague, which isn’t a surprise at this point. Let’s keep in mind that the film’s idea of "modern" could be a host of different things. This could mean that the story will take place in a modern setting and end up sort of like a moodier version of 1984’s Splash. But, it could also mean that modern ideals will color a story set in the time period of the Andersen yarn.
As for her use of "revisionist," well, your guess is as good as mine. It’s almost a given that the filmmakers will take bits and pieces of the tale as their own and then come up with some of their own connections to add some modern spice to it. The tale could easily become more "progressive" just by making the titular mermaid’s love for a human prince a bit less all-consuming. You know, if she’s hot for him, but isn’t willing to do anything in the sea or on land to get him, or, if the young mermaid goes through severe pains to have him and then wishes she hadn’t.
Whatever the filmmakers decide to do with this classic, I’m sure they’ll make it intriguing for us to watch. And, no small part of that will be due to Chloe Grace Moretz and her modern view of the story they choose to tell.
