So why are so many filmmakers keeping the lights low? The simple answer is: because they can. It's been a decade since digital video overtook the use of celluloid, and by 2016 more than 90% of films were shot digitally.
The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall on the 'dark' lighting. One key inspiration point was the BBC Earth's 2001 documentary series The Blue Planet, Marshall reveals, which made them want it to feel just as believable as that acclaimed series. “We all spent a lot of time watching Blue Planet.
Why is the lighting in The Little Mermaid so dark?
While lighting itself isn't all that expensive, darkness can be used to hide a lot of things. Halle Bailey is not actually a mermaid, and so having the scenes be darker makes it easier to disguise the CGI work.
Disney's remakes have so far been a way to reintroduce their classic stories to new, younger audiences, and remaking Moana so soon goes against that. Moana was a hit, so the remake may well be a way for Disney to reignite their remake box office success, knowing Moana already has a strong fan base.
It seems that the rotten ratings, given out quite often by critics and fans alike, have seriously tainted audience opinions on these films. While many of the remakes do follow the classic storylines of the films they are updating, others opt to tell some kind of prequel story from another character's perspective.
Why Disney should stop making live action remakes?
They're Disappointing The Audience
Often, reviews for Disney remakes tend to have one main thing in common: No matter what, they are never as good as the original animated film. There are some exceptions, like The Jungle Book and Cinderella, but the majority opinion is they don't live up to the hype.
In the movie The Little Mermaid (Clements & Musker, 1989), Ariel displays symptoms of disposophobia, which is defined as the fear of getting rid of things.
Movies have dark scenes nowadays mainly because it is a trend. On top of that dark scenes can have practical advantages (set building, VFX, lighting, etc. can be reduced or become much simpler to do which directly translates into money saved during shooting).
Obviously, modifications are required anytime you adapt animation to live-action, but Bailey and the beauty department had to reimagine Ariel as a woman of color too. Bailey and the team opted to keep her hair red—that was essential—but opted for copper locs to make it her own.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame's tragic original ending
Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame – certainly one of the darker animated films in their vast back catalogue – ends happily, with Quasimodo saving Esmeralda, accepting that she loves another and leaving the cathedral to be welcomed into society as a hero.
The Dark Side of Disney is an unauthorized documentary film examining what happens when Disney fans take their obsessions to the extreme. Disney Gangs, urban explorers, podcasters, drug abusers, and even the filmmaker's own mother are all part of The Dark Side of Disney.
The period from 1970 to 1988 is often referred to as Disney's “Dark Era,” characterized by movies that were darker in tone, design, and subject. “Dark” also refers to the fact that it was seen as a time of decline for the company, with many experimental movies that didn't reach previous highs.
From Ursula's terrifying final form to the devastating shipwreck, 2023's live-action The Little Mermaid is much darker than 1989's animated classic. Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid is making a splash with the original movie's fans.
At this point in the series, things are getting pretty depressing. Voldemort was at the height of his power, Hogwarts was drained of its spirit, and the golden trio was on a dangerous quest that tested their physical, emotional and mental limits. So it makes sense why the visuals are dark and depressing.
I think it has something to do with the emergence of digital cinematography and digital colour grading. Most films today are shot on flat settings in order to allow for maximum flexibility in the colour grading/correcting during post production. In effect, the contrast, saturation, and sharpness are all brought down.
But is it healthy? In Part I of the Frozen series, I suggested that Elsa experiences something like borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this interpretation, Elsa's frozen rages are an outward display of the emotional dysregulation she feels inside.
Throughout her journey in Wonderland, Alice sees talking animals and a hookah-smoking caterpillar, which falls under the common schizophrenia symptoms of hallucinations and delusions. She imagines a drink that makes her smaller in size and is tortured by the Queen of Hearts.
Snow White can be classified as having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Princess meets all eight of the criteria listed in the DSM-V to diagnose PTSD (See Appendix A). First, she directly experiences a traumatic event relating to a near death experience (Criterion A1).
“[T]o have something that you feel very fondly towards, and to see it be manipulated or changed in often-cynically-motivated ways is very irksome,” Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist, had noted, explaining people's anger at remakes of their favorite childhood movies.
Sources confirmed the removal to Variety and attributed it to the upcoming theatrical re-release of the 2009 sci-fi epic. Set for Sept. 23, the theatrical re-release, intended to promote the film's long awaited sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water,” will present the movie in new, 4K high-dynamic range restoration.
A live-action Moana film affords new opportunities to Pacific Island talent both in front of and behind the camera. Disney could always make an original film, but remaking Moana is a surefire box office hit that gives people of the culture Moana is about a chance in the spotlight.
