Disney set to release follow-up movies

Brendan Sheehan l Associate Editor

The Little Mermaid

Disney has always been known for its high production live-action remakes of classic animated films. One of Disney’s most accredited musical works, “The Little Mermaid,” has been long-awaited—and now it’s finally here.

Directed by Rob Marshall, famous for his movie adaptations of the musicals “Chicago” and “Into the Woods,” has been known to interpret classic works into modern masterpieces. Alongside song writers Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken, the movie includes remaking of the original soundtrack, reprises, and even new songs.

Halle Berry stars as Ariel, the main character of The Little Mermaid and a beloved Disney princess. While cameoing in a few films over the years, Berry has mostly made a name for herself as a vocalist for the musical duo Halle x Chloe, alongside her sister. She is the first black woman to star in a live action Disney remake.

Melissa McCarthy stars as the notorious Disney villain Ursula, and Jonah Hauer-King stars as Prince Eric.

While a two-minute trailer teases only a fraction of Ariel’s “Part of your world,” excitement has stirred amongst Disney fans for its release in May 2023.

“The best piece of direction I got was to not only be myself, but to also embody Ariel’s passion and that gumption that she has,” said Bailey in an interview with IMDb. “The lyrics she sings in Part of your world—people think it’s just some dainty song— but it’s this desperate cry for help. It’s this desperate plea.”

Disenchanted

A whimsical and experimental classic returns with Adam Shankman’s “Disenchanted,” the sequel of the praised 2007 film “Enchanted.”

Following the life of a princess from an other-dimensional world of Andalasia, main character Giselle is banished to New York by an evil queen, where she falls in love with a bachelor lawyer named Robert.

Starring the original cast, Amy Adams takes stage as Giselle with Patrick Dempsey as Robert. After the two have been married 15 years, Giselle decides that living in the big city is no longer her calling. Hoping to settle down, Giselle, Robert, and their kids return to the suburbs of Monroeville, where they realize suburbia is not all the fairy-tale life they’d hoped it would be.

According to Variety Magazine, Walt Disney had planned a sequel to Enchanted since 2010, but had not started the production process until 2021. The movie is set to release on Nov. 24.

The movie explores an interesting take on the suffocating nature of modern suburbia and traditionalism, while including several bright and charismatic musical numbers with the musical knowledge of Alan Menken.

Hocus Pocus 2

We’re back, witches.

Yet another sequel to such a late film franchise takes the stage with “Hocus Pocus 2,” a revived classic Halloween tale.

Originally directed by Kenny Ortega in 1993, the story follows three child-hungry resurrected witches that a teenage boy accidentally summons in modern day Salem, Massachusetts. An iconic comedy classic stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary, the three evil witches respectively.

Almost 30 years later, the trio is summoned to Salem once again in Hocus Pocus 2, where friends Becca and Izzy take Becca’s 16th birthday— “the day a witch gets her powers”— to reawaken the magic that has been locked up for far too long.

Interest in a sequel for the movie has been brewing since the early 2000s, but only in 2019 did Midler announce that her, Parker, and Najimy were enthusiastically participating in an active sequel.

“The minute I heard it was real, I said yes right away,” said Parker in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was incredibly easy. The hard part was scheduling: COVID complicated things, but I can't tell you how fast I said yes.”

The movie is to premiere today in jest of the Halloween season.