THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: THE LITTLE MERMAID LIVE is in production at ABC.

The live TV musical of The Little Mermaid will be a two-hour special event. Viewers will go under the sea with Ariel in the original 1989 animated feature film. In addition, the special’s producers – Hamish Hamilton, Ian Stewart, David Jammy, Katy Mullan, and RIchard Kraft – will be casting a variety of celebrity artists whose performance will be woven into the film.

This may be the first time that DIsney is doing a hybrid live-action/animation experience of The Little Mermaid on-screen, but it is not the first time live performances have been interwoven with the film. At this past summer’s Hollywood Bowl, a collection of big names performed songs from The Little Mermaid. Sara Bareilles was the protagonist Ariel, Rebel Wilson was the evil Ursula, Darren Criss was Ariel’s love interest Eric, Tituss Burgess was the musical crab Sebastian, John Stamos was Sebastian’s nemesis Chef Louis, Norm Louis was Ariel’s father Triton, and Joshua Colley was the bashful fish Flounder.

ABC’s announcement of a live TV musical of The Little Mermaid comes shortly after the news that Fox is producing live versions of Rent and A Christmas Story and NBC is producing a live version of Jesus Christ Superstar. The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live is set to debut on Tuesday, October 3rd.

(Source)