Bringing 'The Little Mermaid' to live-action was 'a balancing act', says director Rob Marshall

"There are things we can do in live-action that you can’t do in an animated world,” explains 'The Little Mermaid' director Rob Marshall. — Photo: Walt Disney Studios Malaysia

Look at Rob Marshall’s filmography – isn’t it neat? He’s got adaptations of stage musicals aplenty, from acclaimed stage musicals like Chicago (which won him the Best Picture Oscar in 2002), Nine, and Into The Woods, to books like Memoirs Of A Geisha, which also won three Academy Awards. He’s also got franchises and sequels galore, like Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Mary Poppins Returns.

But his latest adaptation is a thingamabob that posed new challenge for the seasoned director – a live-action remake of one of Disney’s most beloved animated classics – 1989’s The Little Mermaid.