Which do you prefer, the mermaids who can come out of the water outside of Cair Paravel and talk and sing or the ones in Voyage of the Dawn Treader who can't breathe above the surface?
I was wondering where most mermaid enthusiasts fall on the subject of baby mermaids.
Do you prefer stories where the babies hatch from eggs like fish, or where the mermaids have live births like whales or dolphins?
Do you prefer a story to detail this or hand-wave it?
And what about the fathers? Do you prefer stories where the lore is that they have human fathers because the mermaids find their own species' menfolk unattractive/unappealing in some way, or do you prefer stories where (most) mermaids have two Merfolk parents and no human heritage?
Do you like stories of mer-babies or do you find them annoying and prefer to focus on older mermaids?
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Popularized originally by Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid and pushed permanently into mermaid media until it was hardly questioned anymore is the narrative idea of mermaids holding entire conversations with each other underwater, talking down there the same way we talk in the air on land. There is no indication in any version of the Little Mermaid that I've seen that the conversations were signed or, I dunno, like dolphin or whale squeaks instead of full sentences, they just talk.
There is a mute mermaid who signs to Ariel in the animated Little Mermaid series, but it's canon that this is an outlier and highly unusual.
Personally I don't mind the full conversations under the sea in the original fairytale when I read it because it's just a children's story. I also don't find it distracting in the animated Disney version, being as it's a cartoon. I can hand-wave it somewhat in the book Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon (which is really, really good, btw) even though that pushes the story into a more hyper-realistic historical(ish) fantasy narrative, but I don't think I would like it as much if it were adapted for film and half the movie was just mermaids yacking it up under the sea as if water wasn't getting in their mouths while the other half was a serious political drama on land.
The reason I don't think I'd enjoy that is I didn't especially like the underwater CGI talking scenes in the live action Disney LM movie. I just found it distracting and uncanny valley feeling even though I liked the movie okay overall. I didn't have the same problem with the Faerie Take Theater version (I had this on VHS growing up, 😂, I feel old saying that) because it looked like a stage play, similar to how I imagine people watching the Broadway musical of The Little Mermaid suspended their disbelief that the stage was "underwater".
So I was wondering how most mermaid enthusiasts feel on this subject? Does it bother you in some cases but not in others? Do you prefer a H2o or Splash situation where we see the mermaid swim underwater but she only talks when her head is above water? Do you prefer a different set up altogether?
I loved how shimmery the tails were while not looking like fake Barbie tails but properly fishy. Just a beautiful design in my opinion.
I was a teenager when the first two seasons of H2o came out and I've always been a big fan of the live action show, recently I found out there was an animated spin off and was wondering if there's anything in it for adult fans or if it's more a generic kids show.
Does anyone on here recommend it?
Looking for books that feature mermaids prominently. Don't MIND Little Mermaid retellings or books that use Hans Christian Anderson as inspiration but would prefer something that's not strictly based off that work if possible.
When I say "humancore" whimsy, I mean mermaids just doing underwater versions of human activities or living like humans but the "undersea" version. Like mermaids riding giant seahorses (when we know of course seahorses that gigantic are not a thing, even in a world where belief for mermaids can be lightly suspended) or living in sea cottages and sea castles that are just like a regular castle or cottages but made from shells or corals.
These motifs are adorable in children's books and decorations and fun in cartoons (Disney's little mermaid series leaned hard into this much more than the movie did), but I was wondering if a book, film, video game, or other piece of media meant for older than middle grade can use this style without it seeming weird or cliche or suspending disbelief?
What do most mermaid fans think?
Mermaids being fictional creatures, obviously the tails are up for interpretation, but I was wondering what style of tales your average mermaid fan best likes.
When I was a kid growing up there was a surprisingly small variety. You had the basic green fins of Ariel in the cartoon or you had Barbie mermaid in pastel colours ranging from hot pink to pale blue. Even movies like The Thirteenth Year (which stands out as one of the few merman movies) weren't especially creative in the tail department. (Splash had a neat looking tail, but unfortunately I didn't see it as a child despite being a millennial, which is a shame because kid!me loved Rom Coms and Mermaids and would have been thrilled if she knew it was a thing!)
I did see some very, very interesting and beautiful mermaid tails in picture books that had a bit more variety than movies growing up. But these were overshadowed by more generic ones which were more popular and based off they Disney Ariel style.
It wasn't until I was a teenager I saw more interesting (but still streamlined and functional looking) mermaid tails. Fifteen year old me was really impressed with how sleek and long Aquamarine's tail was, and seventeen year old me originally thought the orangey tails from h2o looked a little stubby in comparison (though as an adult I would argue I now actually prefer the h2o tail design to the Aquamarine one).
But in the current age of people cosplaying as mermaids online there have been a lot more creative designs for tails. I've seen tails that are bright red meant to be devil or vampire mermaids, lavender "dragon" tails. And as drop dead gorgeous as they are, I'm often caught thinking those don't even look especially aquatic anymore. They're so unfish-like I sometimes think they miss the point.
Looking at the tail for the recent live action version of the Disney Little Mermaid I find myself conflicted. Because it's unique and kind of pretty the way it has all those flowing tendrils, but at the same time it looks more cartoon-y than the cartoon did. It makes me miss the simplicity of the original design, and how it was immediately identifiable as a "mermaid tail". I kind of think we peaked in media with the H2o tails and then we got so insanely elaborate we don't even know what it's supposed to be anymore.
I will admit I think genre plays a huge part. If it's dramatic gritty story then a mermaid with a flashy pink beribboned tail looks absurd but in an underwater fantasy cartoon where everything is supposed to look like it's from a children's colouring book a more elaborate tail looks cool.
But what do you think? Does the style of the tail effect how you feel about a mermaid story as a whole? Does it distract or pull you out of it? What's your favourite mermaid tail design?
In a lot of mermaid stories, especially TV and film since it's usually not feasible to film your entire media piece underwater or in the ocean (but in non visual mediums like books too, for narrative purposes) there will usually be a huge chunk of plot where the mermaid is on land.
Which got me thinking, what do most mermaid fans prefer? A story where the mermaid's tail remains but is hidden in some way, typically by putting her in a wheelchair (think Miranda, the book version of Aquamarine, or that one scene from the ABC family film Princess)? A story where the mermaid CAN change her tail to legs but there usually some rule that she can't touch water or be out after sunset (think Splash, movie!Aquamarine, Mako Mermaids)? A story where a transformation is possible only as part of a magic spell or potion and is largely irreversible (think Little Mermaid)?
Which do you like best, and is your preference just your preference for fun or personal taste reasons or do you feel it makes for a better narrative?
Also, for life-long mermaid fiction fans, has your preference changed since you were a child? Is there a mermaid to human transformation plot ex machina you'd cringe at as a viewer/reader now but in childhood wouldn't have batted an eye at or been bothered by?
She (Lily from Magic Island) was my favorite fictional mermaid as a kid. But nobody seems to know what I'm talking about when I mention her.
So I'm someone who has loved mermaids since they were little and I watched anything with a mermaid growing up, as a kid I didn't care if they were fluffy Disney Little Mermaid the animated series or if it was a Scary Mermaid (like the ones in Peter Pan 2003), I just loved mermaids. Of course as a teenager I was obsessed with the first two seasons of h2o just add water and the movie Aquamarine.
But I've been wondering about the typical adult audience who grew up with Mermaid tales and their present taste in them. I know for nostalgia's sake we all get excited to rewatch H2o or enjoy Little Mermaid if the opportunity comes up, but going by present taste in media as an adult, exactly how light or dark do you like a mermaid tale to be? If you were to pick up a book in a bookstore today or get a ticket to a movie (with no nostalgia attached) and it was about mermaids, what would you want to see?
On a scale (heh, pun not intended I swear) from Mermaid Barbie with seashell bras to a full on horror monster from the deep, where does your taste fall?
For me I don't know, I love sparkly fairytale mermaids but they run the risk of being too sanitized and like everything I've seen before (not that that's a bad thing, just not a very unique one), whereas the darker you go, the more monster you make your mermaid, the less room for character. They need to have at least a spark of humanity in them or your mermaid is just a horror film crocodile/sea snake with a face. You know?
So I was wondering where most mermaid fans fell taste wise on this issue.
Thoughts?
Looking at the trailer shots, more and more I've been wondering if the wedding at the end (where we see Sally in a reddish dress, Sally and Gillian making margaritas, and all the Owens women jumping off the roof in formal attire) is Kylie and Gideon's.
Because in the book Sally gets married at the end, I had been thinking the wedding at the end had to be hers (to Ian) and found it strange she was wearing a non-bride colour. Then watching the full trailer where they're obviously getting ready for a formal occasion (where Gillian tastes part of the cake frosting) I briefly thought maybe Sally is a baker of some kind in this adaptation as well as just a librarian, but that didn't seem to fit.
But the more I think about it, Kylie is the one in white during the formal scenes, and in the shot where she's hugging Gillian from behind, Kylie seems to be showing her a ring (an engagement ring?)...
So here's my prediction putting all this together. I bet unlike the book where Kylie was in love with Gideon from the time she was thirteen but they kept their romantic relationship a secret from the family (who thought they were only best friends), Kylie is full on open about her romantic feelings for Gideon and the reason they are all getting together at the beginning of the movie is to see Kylie get married (not because Jet is dying... Maybe she is but doesn't tell them because she doesn't want to ruin the wedding...); but Gideon is going to have an accident maybe picking up flowers for the wedding rather than just as a gift for Kylie the way he did in the book.
What I think kind of works about this is if Kylie was literally on the point of getting publicly married and Sally was still shamelessly gaslighting her that there was no curse and they were not witches and what Kylie witnessed of their magic powers when she was a little girl (in the first film) wasn't real... Well, then movie Kylie is much more justified than book Kylie and I don't blame her for being pissed and running to England. At least Book!Kylie shared part of the blame for being secretive and not telling her mother she was in a romantic relationship, but if she's literally getting married and Sally who has lost two husbands to the curse already (both Kylie's real father Michael and stepdad Gary Hallet) neglected to warn her... Ooh this is some juicy juicy drama and I love it already!
In The Book of Magic (the source material for Practical Magic 2), when the curse is broken part of the result of the fallout (including Franny's death, which looks like it will be included) is Sally becomes an ordinary person, no longer a witch with active power, and this is emphasized by the facts that she can dive under water (Witches can't sink) while Gillian and her daughters can't, always floating, and that her grey Owens eyes turn blue.
I never expected the film to keep the eye colour detail because the actress have never worn contacts for the roles so the film universe has never established that they Owens witches have grey eyes. But I thought she might still lose her powers. However it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Since we see her at what appears to be a wedding or party magically making margaritas with Gillian.
To be honest I think this might be the best choice the filmmakers can make. I think film-only fans would riot if the witch they remember being iconic from their childhood, making teaspoons stir and candles magically light, lost her powers. It works in a streamline way, just having Franny's sacrifice end the curse for good and her witch nieces get to live happily ever after.
In the book at one point Sally loses the ability to see the color red.
Which is one reason I found it fascinating that in the trailer for the scenes that seem to be towards the end of the movie (at a celebration or wedding perhaps?) she's wearing a pinkish red dress while in scenes that look like they're from earlier in the film she's in dark colours, blacks and navy blues.
I also thought it was interesting that the magic book Jet finds and Kylie later uses appears to be RED in this adaptation! Unless I'm misremembering, it was black in the book. I kind of love the idea that maybe Jet is able to hide the book in plain sight because Sally can't see the colour red despite being a librarian and working around books all day.
That is such a neat concept. I don't know if I'm right and the movie is including the losing the ability to see red detail, but it would definitely be in keeping with Hoffman's storytelling themes if they did. For some reason in the Practical Magic series Hoffman uses two major ideas she also revisited in her book The Ice Queen: losing the ability to see red and what happens when you're struck by lightning and survive (in the book this was a thing in Gary's backstory since his grandfather was a lightning strike survivor).
I actually think Alice Englert could work really well as Maria, since she's currently only 32 and would roughly be around the age Sandra and Nicole were for the first movie if ML gets made relatively soon.
She's played a witch in two other movies already as well (Beautiful Creatures and You Won't Be Alone).
On top of that, I think with her round shaped face she looks a little like Joey and Maisie who are the new Kylie and Antonia. This would work canonically because in the book, Kylie is said to look like Maria.
Just a thought.
Who would you want in the prequel if it gets made?
I see a lot of posts and comments saying Evan Rachel Wood didn't get asked back because Sandra and Nicole were afraid of looking too old if the "daughter" character was played by a 38 year old actress or because Evan was part of the MeToo movement and got blacklisted, and that may be true, I don't know, honestly, but I wonder if it could actually be simpler than that.
Joey has worked with Nicole (per my understanding) more recently than Evan, who was a child when they filmed PM 1. It's important for older Kylie to be close to Gillian because she's basically the daughter Gillian never had but desperately wants. Maybe they didn't think grownup Evan and Nicole would have the right on screen chemistry. And to be completely fair, Joey looks more like she could be Maisie's sister than Evan would.
I think it might have been interesting if they'd cast Joey as Antonia (she does look like her!) and brought Evan back for Kylie, but then we wouldn't get to see Maisie in the role. And moreover Kylie is the one who is supposed to be close to Gillian so if the aunt/niece, mother/daughter chemistry between them as adult actors wasn't right, that could explain the recast.