The Little Mermaid

Growing up my sister and I loved Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” I can’t even begin to tell you how many times we watched it. You see, she and I dreamed of being real-life mermaids.

Like all little girls do, we eventually grew up and now I have my own little girl who dreams of becoming a mermaid. My daughter, however, prefers movies closer to that of Hans Christian Andersen’s book The Little Mermaid.

She and I became very excited when we found out that a new retelling of “The Little Mermaid” was coming to theaters in 2018. We were thrilled with finding out that it stays much closer to the original fairy tale with a few fun twists here and there.

I was lucky enough to view an early screener of the fantasy-adventure film and without giving much away, I must say its quite delightful.

The film follows a young girl named, Elle (Loreto Peralta), who suffers from a rare sickness. Together with her uncle, Cam (William Moseley), a young reporter, they travel to Mississippi to find out about a magic healing water said to cure all. While there they discover what Elle believes to be the real “Little Mermaid” of lore, Elizabeth (Poppy Drayton) at a traveling circus. However, all is not what it seems when they uncover what is really going on behind the curtain tents.

The film also includes Academy Award Winner Shirley MacLaine, (“The Last Word,”) Gina Gershon, (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Armando Gutierrez, (“Walt Before Mickey.”)

I was able to speak with two of the stars of the film William Moseley (“The Royals”, “The Chronicles of Narnia”) and Poppy Drayton (“The Shannara Chronicles”,”Downton Abbey” Christmas special ) and ask them a few questions about the film.

Poppy Drayton and William Moseley were a delight to talk to. They are both sweet as can be and so down to earth. I was grateful that they were able to answer a question I had about the film and also provide some fun facts too!

Fun Facts about “The Little Mermaid”

• No CGI was used in the film.
• There were two hand-painted mermaid tails used which were both very heavy.
• One tail was floppy while the other was stiff. Both tails were used in different scenes depending on the type of swimming that was done.
• Poppy Drayton had to be carried around the set while in her mermaid tail.
• -Poppy sings beautifully in the film but was very nervous to do so. (and oh, her voice is gorgeous!)
• Poppy practiced swimming in a faux mermaid tail for months before the film to become a better swimmer.
• Poppy watched a lot of “Blue Planet” and studied the movement of dolphins and fish for her role. 
• The film was shot in Savannah, Georgia (with a few shots done in Florida)
  
• The original film title was “The Little Mermaid of Mississippi”

Poppy and William, What was your favorite scene to film?
  

“One of my favorite days was when we came down to Tampa and filmed at Weeki Wachee a Mermaid theme park. It was such a fun day. It was awesome we’d jump in the water and the water was beautiful. It’s a beautiful, natural spring water and there is a beautiful ecosystem down there and real fish and turtles and manatees. In some of the shots I’d just be swimming along and I’d look behind me and there would be a little turtle just following me and following my tail. Just stuff like that just was really special to experience.”

–Poppy Drayton

 “My favorite day was, um, we had one scene at the end which was really like a fluke scene that happened. It was when I release the mermaid into the water. It was beautiful the sun set at the perfect time, we were on the beach carrying Poppy in and it was really fantastic. That was one of those cinematic magic moments that happen and fortunately the camera was rolling and fortunately, the sunset came through at the right time everything lined up perfectly. That’s what I think makes the film in some ways that you needed a bit of magic at the very end you needed a bit of that natural atmosphere so that to me made the whole film what it is.” 

-William Moseley

You can watch the trailer for “The Little Mermaid” below:

“The Little Mermaid” will be in AMC Theatres nationwide on August 17th so get your tickets now!