The Little Mermaid

It sounded so awesome; Sofia Coppola directing a live-action version of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. What a great combination of artist and subject; a filmmaker who loves plumbing the depths of privilege and following women as they struggle to free themselves from the prisons society puts them in, and a fairy tale that’s got all of that plus mermaids. It was perfect. But maybe it was too perfect; Deadline now reports that Coppola has dropped out of the project citing “creative differences” with producers at Universal Pictures and Working Title films.

Animated films have long plundered classic fairy tales to build their modern stories (at least four of the Disney Princesses alone are pulled from Brothers Grimm tales), but Hans Christian Andersen’s rise to posthumous family-friendly prominence didn’t come into play until the late eighties, when Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ (which turns twenty-five this week) first swam on to our cinematic shores. The introduction of Ariel also effectively ended a Princess drought – there had not been a new Princess-centric film since 1959, but after Ariel splashed on to the scene, the House of Mouse started churning out a new one with startlingly regularity (four in the nineties alone) – but its real legacy is introducing Andersen to the younger set by way of mainstream animated outings.

With 'Frozen' still a raging phenomenon and 'Big Hero 6' right around the corner, the folks at Disney Animation are probably feeling pretty good about their lives and careers at the moment. So the first news about their next film, 'Moana,' arrives at a time when the world's most famous animation studio is at a fairly incredible high and like their last major blockbuster, this is a female-led adventure. Prepare for the merchandise, parents.

With 'Frozen' still tearing up the box office months after release, the demand for fantastical stories revolving around princesses are at an all-time high ... and Disney isn't the only one looking for a slice of the action. Sofia Coppola of 'Lost in Translation' and 'The Bling Ring' fame is looking to bring Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Mermaid' to the big screen for Universal, which is as

Just as talk is reigniting about the use of phones and electronic devices during screenings thanks to one movie blogger's instantly notorious call to (and inappropriate use of) 911 at the Toronto International Film Festival, Disney has announced that they'd like to encourage you to bring your iPads to the theater. For their upcoming re-release of 'The Little Mermaid,' the studio wants you and your

Ariel from Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' is one of the most-beloved Disney princesses of all time. She had an air about her that was spunky, confident and adventurous, which helped ring in the Disney renaissance era.

Enough with the Disney princess cosplay! How about some Disney villain cosplay? This Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid' is pretty wicked.

All Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' wants is to be part of our world, and now she is with this gorgeous cosplay.