“The Little Mermaid” Returning to Life

For those looking for the next 80s nostalgia rush, "The Little Mermaid" is back. And more miraculous than a mermaid earning human legs, the classic will be moving from animated to live action.

This will be a shock to the system for generations of Ariel wannabes weened on the classic 1989 Disney cartoon.

DeadlineHollywood.com reports that Joe Wright, who directed "The Soloist," is developing the new project for London's Working Title.

Rather than inspiration by the Disney yarn, Wright has been inspired by a version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale staged by the Little Angel Theatre Company using puppets.

But the success of the Disney production has proven there is indeed a strong market for lovers of the tale.  We spoke with voice actress Jodi Benson the voice of Ariel, during her recent press tour for "Toy Story 3." Beyond putting animation back on the map for Disney, the story of "The Little Mermaid" continues to be a business onto itself that has kept her steadily employed for 25 years.

"It's still a full-time job now," she told us.

There would appear to be plenty of room in this ocean for a quality project.

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