Happy International Mermaid Day!
Today is International Mermaid Day, and it comes with big news for mermaid fans. I recently shared a leaked promo video for Disney Junior's Ariel that was taken down shortly after. Today, in honor of International Mermaid Day, an official teaser was launched containing only footage from the show without any of the interviews from its creators. There was also an update from Rainbow SpA's upcoming animated series, Mermaid Magic, which is scheduled to release around the same time period as Ariel. Finally, my friend Kae-Leah Williamson's Wattpad book, The Siren Queen, was recently completed along with a lovely romantic prequel set in a fictional mer-universe called The Servant Girl and the Sea Prince.
Though it does not have a specific release date yet, the first official teaser for Disney Junior's Ariel took the internet by storm today. It is reported to premiere sometime this summer on Disney Junior and Disney+. The teaser featured new footage of characters that had been introduced previously in press releases including brand new Caribbean-inspired redesigns for Ariel, King Triton, Ursula, and Ariel's two new friends, Lucia and Fernie. The teaser also reveals animation of Ariel's tail glowing and changing colors her emotions, which directly mirrors the emotion-powered crystal dress from Elena of Avalor. The end of the teaser plays a clip of the show's theme song, emphasizing the Caribbean-inspired instruments and repetitive lyric of the title to appeal to its younger target audience. Although I'm excited to see new footage after a very small promotional campaign, I'm still a little disappointed by all the changes it has made to the world and characters of the original series from the '90s.
From the creators of Winx Club, Mermaid Magic is a series that has undergone numerous changes since its announcement a few years ago. It was originally going to be titled Mertropolis and got stuck in pre-production for a while with very little information released to the public. In honor of International Mermaid Day, the Italian animated series has revealed a first look at its three main characters, Princess Merlinda, Nerissa, and Sasha, to the public along with a more detailed summary. This summer, Merlinda and her friends will embark on a quest to save the undersea kingdom of Mertropia from the wicked pirate Barbarossa and his Sea Monsters. It promises adventures both under the sea and in the surface world, which means there's a good possibility for some beautiful new transformation sequences. Though Merlinda shares the same color scheme as Princess Peach's mermaid form from the new Showtime! game, it's a little less shimmery and dramatic and has more of a generic look reminiscent of a fashionable teenage girl who happens to have a tail. Her friends Nerissa and Sasha add some refreshing diversity to the show with tail colors reminiscent of other famous mermaids of the past. The show will premiere on Netflix worldwide around the same time as Disney Junior's Ariel.
Finally, I have two new book recommendations, and they are both completely free of charge! Kae-Leah Williamson's The Siren Queen is a short retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" set in an original mermaid world in which merfolk are vegetarians and have telepathic abilities with sea creatures. It is a lovely romance about a mermaid princess named Nerissa whose fiancé, Zale, gets kidnapped by his jealous aunt. Though it is set in an original world, the book follows the plot of "The Snow Queen" closely and jumps through each stage of the fairy tale with little time spent on side characters. It contains a non-threatening villain, which makes it a good choice for people who don't like dark books with a lot of torture. Its prequel, The Servant Girl and the Sea Prince, is a "Cinderella" story that reveals the background of Nerissa's mother, Melinda, who started her life as a human servant before being rescued by the merman prince, Poseidon. The book contains a lot of detail about both the undersea and mermaid kingdoms, exhibiting a great display of historical knowledge. Though the romance is understated, it is a sweet story that depicts a common romantic fantasy amongst young women who love mermaids.
Comments
I already read the mermaid stories on Wattpad and I loved them! I admit that I hope your friend does more fairy tales in that same world...the daughter of the pirate woman could be an interesting heroine for example, or in the story of Beauty and the Beast someone could be cursed to be a beast kraken.