Spoilers for 2×22

[Slurpeez]

@Spitweet wrote:

Gosh I hope Laine MacNeil will not play Ariel…I have googled her and I don’t find her attractive one bit. She looks like a 9 yo boy with long hair…. 😕

No offense, but I think that’s a very superficial complaint. She first appeared on the scene as a child actor, and while she may have had some growing pains, Laine MacNeil is turning into a pretty young woman. She has beautiful sky-blue doe eyes, an attractive round face, and flowing long locks. She doesn’t look like a boy at all to me.

[spitweet]

@slurpeez108 wrote:

No offense, but I think that’s a very superficial complaint. She first appeared on the scene as a child actor, and while she may have had some growing pains, Laine MacNeil is turning into a pretty young woman. She has beautiful sky-blue doe eyes, an attractive round face, and flowing long locks. She doesn’t look like a boy at all to me.

Well of course it’s superficial, but considering the casting group has made such good choices in the past… I hope they didn’t cast her as Ariel… I see nothing of Ariel in this girl :

I’d much rather have an older, sexier, sassier Ariel :

[kfchimera]

@Demileto wrote:

@Phee wrote:

I still think they may not cast Ariel that young, though. I know that traditionally she’s only 16, but for the context of this show, if they want to give the character a full on, true love romance storyline, they could do that more effectively with an Ariel that’s several years older.

I’ve said this in another thread, but I still don’t get how 16 is seen as tradition for Ariel and not the other Disney Princesses. They’re all teenagers; Snow White, for example, is the youngest of the lineup with only 14 and she’s grown up enough to have a daughter in the show.

@Phee wrote:

They could push her age up to around 20 and still keep the theme of the story where her father doesn’t want her running off. And around 20 makes her mature enough to have a proper relationship.

That’s what I think will happen as well.

I commented in the other thread about it–but yes, on this show the writers already tweaked Snow and the other princess’ age and personalities. Ariel’s youth isn’t any more a part of her essential character than those other princesses’ ages were. I think they could present an Ariel of just about any age as the heart of the story was her willingness to challenge her people and leave her kind to be with the man she loved. The Disney version ends happily, but the original tale is more tragic.

Whether they go younger or older, I think the writers have the freedom to really write a new tale (or a new tail 😆 ) for this character in whatever way they want. I think it is the differences from the story we already know that makes ONCE interesting anyway.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[Phee]

@RumplesGirl wrote:

While I personally see Lanie as more a Tinkerbell (she looks very delicate and tiny)

Agreed. I can totally picture her as a cheeky little fairy, causing mischief, then peering up with those big round eyes and batting her lashes to get out of trouble.

@slurpeez108 wrote:

She’s got the right color hair, which would satisfy a lot of Disney “purists” who insist on Ariel being a red head.

I’ll be very surprised if Once’s Ariel isn’t a redhead. But natural gingery red isn’t red enough for Ariel. She should have red that looks like a shot of flame as she darts through the depths. And that’s what wigs are for. 😉

And Once doesn’t have to show Ariel getting married; it could just be a sweet teen romance.

Ah, but dark, doomed, adult romance makes for more compelling TV. They’ve been taking the show to a darker place recently, so a fluffy, innocent, teen romance would seem a bit out of place. It wouldn’t leave an impact on the adult audience, and would be a bit of a waste of such an iconic character IMO.

@KFChimera wrote:

The Disney version ends happily, but the original tale is more tragic.

It straight up sucked to be the mermaid in Anderson’s version. Feeling like she was being run through with a sword when she transformed, feeling as though blades were slicing her feet open with every step, and then her prince marries someone else, which causes her to die because she failed in her task. Obviously they’ll give her her happy ending on Once, but I do hope they also have a bit of a darker edge to her overall story, in keeping with Anderson’s version.

[RumplesGirl]

I do hope they combine the Anderson and Disney version. I want a more angsty story for Ariel, but not so dark as the original, which is why I do hope the casting is an older girl. But honestly, I’m just thrilled we’re getting an Ariel!

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Slurpeez]

I really don’t think youth is a barrier on Once. Just look at young Snow. Baliee Madison did such a wonderful job of showing a morally conflicted young Snow White, despite the actress being just 14. Same goes for Dylan Schmid, who excellently plays young Baelfire. Also, as most of us can attest, teenage romance is always riddled with emotional angst and drama. So, a rebellious adolescent version of Ariel is still in keeping with a happy Disney ending most of us have come to expect of The Little Mermaid. While I certainly don’t think the Little Mermaid would commit suicide like in Anderson’s original fairytale, I don’t think the writers would are too afraid to venture on the side of “dark” with Ariel just because the actress playing her could be so young.

Also, regarding Laine MacNeil’s appearance, the second picture posted is from when she was a good deal younger (maybe 12 or 13). She’s grown up a lot since then and matured into a very pretty young woman. Plus, her piercing blue eyes are just like Ariel’s eyes in the Disney cartoon. Also, I think her natural gingery red hair is way more attractive than a flaming red wig would be. I hated it when Emilie de Ravin wore that fake-looking wig in “Skin Deep.” Emilie’s hair looks 1000x better now that she has grown out her natural locks and simply dyed her hair brown. It would be more authentic for an already gingered hair girl like Laine MacNeil to add some darker hues of red to her already beautiful strawberry hair than it would be for a non-gingered hair girl to do so. I personally thought a blonde Wendy Darling looked fake as portrayed by a beautiful dark brunette like Freya Tingley. She’s pretty, but her hair looks so fake.

Also, I think Tinker Bell is a far sexier role for a teenager like Laine MacNeil to play than the Little Mermaid. Tinker Bell is portrayed in the Disney version as a pixie vixen, with a very short dress who struts her little bottom like a little minx. She’s also extremely volatile and jealous, and not at all a cute or innocent little girl-like fairy. I think that role would be better played by an older, sexy actress in her 20s.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[RumplesGirl]

Lol. It took people posting pics of Freya and Wendy side by side to convince me that Wendy WAS Freya, so I see what you mean.

I do think Lanie is a very pretty and she does have an Ariel look, and after looking at some pics on Google, her hair is a nice natural gingery. That can’t be coincidence. And they would have always darken it if they thought it was called for.
BUT I think it’s more likely that they’ll give us Tinkerbell before they give us Ariel since we are seeing Pan’s *uber creepy* shadow in SSTR. The TVGuide quote said that mermaids AND fairies exist in NL and that will pay off. I guess we’ll know for sure in a week and a half.

Also, I think Tinker Bell is a far sexier role for a teenager like Laine MacNeil to play than the Little Mermaid. Tinker Bell is portrayed in the Disney version as a pixie vixen, with a very short dress who struts her little bottom like a little minx. She’s also extremely volatile and jealous, and not at all a cute or innocent little girl-like fairy. I think that role would be better played by an older, sexy actress in her 20s.

I think it all comes down to how they want to tell their story. In one of the interviews H and K said that they were doing NL and PP completely different, for instance the shadow in SSTR is not the “cuddly” shadow of Disney. So it stands to reason that their Ariel AND their Tink will be vastly different from the iterations we’re thinking of. We were so convinced Freya would be playing Ariel and now we know she’s Wendy. But since we know the focus is on NL and traditionally Ariel is NOT associated with NL and that’s a much bigger reveal for S3, I think I’m standing by Lanie as Tink.

But again: mostly, I’m just thrilled we’re getting Ariel at all. That’s probably been the biggest asked for character since the show began.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Phee]

Watch us all be wrong and she won’t be either Ariel or Tink, she’ll be someone else we haven’t even considered. 😆

[spitweet]

@Phee wrote:

Watch us all be wrong and she won’t be either Ariel or Tink, she’ll be someone else we haven’t even considered. 😆

LOL hopefully ! Although I admit Tinker Bell would be a good choice…

Am I the only one here not being too excited by the Peter Pan direction they’re going ? I am not very familiar with that fairy tale as I never really was interested in it…

[RumplesGirl]

@Phee wrote:

Watch us all be wrong and she won’t be either Ariel or Tink, she’ll be someone else we haven’t even considered. 😆

This is probably what’s actually going to happen. She’ll play a fairy but not Tink or she’s a mermaid but she’s not Ariel. 😆

Am I the only one here not being too excited by the Peter Pan direction they’re going ? I am not very familiar with that fairy tale as I never really was interested in it…

It seems like it’s going to be much darker and I’m really excited for that. If Peter is maybe not the whimsical boy but gives into his mischievous side more often, that will be very fun to watch. Especially if mermaids are involved somehow.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Author]

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