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 Channels' daily half-hour "The Little Mermaid's Island" show debuts before year's end, which looks likely. It has 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 the 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.
Also on the kid beat: NBC is looking into the prospect of a tyke version of "Saturday Night Live," complete with an ensemble cast, ages 9-15, in the "Saturday Night Live" format. Tentative title, according to a source: "Saturday Morning Live."
NBC is mum on the project, but a well-placed source says that the show would probably be taped before a studio audience, to avoid problems with a young cast performing live. Two young adults would also appear as regulars on the half-hour show.
Also in the offing: a parade of NBC kid favorites, such as the "Cosby Show" youngsters and ALF, as guest hosts, along with grown-up stars.
One proposed recurring bit: "Baby Terminator," a tot who inadvertently wreaks havoc in the adult world. - STACY JENEL SMITH
-The Movie Chart
Films now going into production:
HIGHLANDER II (Davis-Panzer). Shooting in Argentina, Russell Mulcahy, director of the 1986 original, which stiffed in the United States but scored big overseas, returns with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery reprising their respective characters. Time traveling again presents the spine of the film with past, present and future all getting ample screen time. Producers Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer. Also stars Virginia Madsen and Michael Ironside.
THE INVISIBLE MANIAC (Smoking Gun). Shooting in Los Angeles. Noel Peters plays the title character, a scientist who has perfected a serum that will actually "decreate" matter. He gleefully uses the discovery on himself but suffers egregious side effects. Producers Anton Markwell and Matt Devlen. Director-screenwriter Rif Coogan. Also stars Melissa Moore and Shannon Wilsey.