Disney is encouraging their young viewers to bring along their iPads to play along during The Little Mermaid. Kids can use an interactive app, Second Screen Live, to play along during the screening.
Only 16 theaters across the country will participate in Disney Second Screen live, when the classic film gets re-released on Sept. 13.
The app will give those who view it access to behind-the-scenes info, lead sing-alongs during musical numbers on screen, offer games based on what’s going on in the film at that time and more.
Last fall, they tested the app in theaters on audiences who watched Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Although they called it “positive,” the YouTube page’s trailer had a 5-1 ratio of “thumbs-downs” to “thumbs-ups.”
Yahoo reports the experiment continued with Disney’s attempt at the home-based Live Screen app. They offered the app to those who viewed Bambi, Tron: Legacy, The Lion King and The Pirates of the Caribbean at home.
Critics have been vocal about the Second Screen Live experiment, with Russ Fischer at SlashFilm saying “Want to watch a movie like that? Fine, go ahead, as long as (a) I don’t have to look at your stupid glowing screen and (b) people don’t assume they can do it all over the place. Complaint (a) is easy to avoid so long as “second screen” showings are confined to well-designated theaters, but given the high use of cell phones in regular theaters, (b) seems like something that will inevitably take hold.”
image: Wikimedia Commons
