It’s a Small World
Kids who couldn’t get enough of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” will have plenty of new mermaid adventure stories and music to look forward to if the Disney Channel’s daily half-hour “The Little Mermaid’s Island” show debuts before year’s end, which looks likely. It’s been in the planning stages, says producer John Purdy, since before the animated feature came out.
For the TV version, Ariel the Mermaid will be a real-live lady--actress Marietta Deprima--whose island home and undersea grotto will be inhabited by Jim Henson puppet versions of characters from the film.
Sam Wright (Sebastian the Crab) and Buddy Hackett (Scuttle the Seagull) are among those already set to reprise their vocal roles.
Purdy says that four musical numbers per episode are planned, with 10 songwriters already at work.
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