Some fans of Disney’s animated classic The Little Mermaid are worried about the live-action version, questioning the addition of new songs, the fact that Ariel’s hair isn’t red enough, and the changes in Eric’s castle and Ariel’s costumes. And these complaints/concerns are based solely on the trailers. But the absolute funniest takeaway I heard before the screening – and the one I can get behind – has to do with Flounder.
I wasn’t thinking fast enough to write down the fan’s hot take, but it went something like this: “It seems everyone in Hollywood is taking Ozempic, including Flounder.” Nailed it, sort of, because the live-action version of Ariel’s finned BFF is slimmed down and way too sleek.
Nitpicking? Yes. But the Mouse House sets itself up for such quibbling when it does a live-action version of a beloved animated classic.
Ozempic Flounder aside, most of the alterations made to bring this tale of a curious young woman who longs to expand her universe, exchange her fins for feet, and stand tall are a positive step forward. Representation and inclusion matter, and director Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns, Into the Woods) has done an impressive job of allowing a new generation of movie fans the opportunity to see characters that reflect our big, beautiful, diverse world up on the screen.
As for the story, it’s much the same as that of the animated tale. Ariel (Halle Bailey), the free-spirited, adventurous daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem, delivering the weirdest performance of his career), collects treasures that wind up on the ocean floor, cast off by humans or lost at sea as the result of shipwrecks. Her sisters, each representing one of the seven seas (a change that hardly matters), are well-behaved and content. It’s only Ariel who’s filled with wanderlust and a desire to understand humans.
Ariel witnesses Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King, fine when he’s not singing) tumble overboard during a violent storm and saves the handsome young man. Her first crush on a human leads the impetuous teen into making a deal with The Little Mermaid‘s version of the devil – the many-tentacled Ursula the sea witch (Melissa McCarthy). And while we’re discussing Ursula, McCarthy’s performance nails the vibe of the animated version but isn’t nearly as voluptuous or imposing.
Ariel’s deal with Ursula requires her to make Prince Eric kiss her within three days; a task made more difficult after Ursula steals her voice and wipes her memory of the kiss portion of their deal. Fortunately, Ariel’s not alone in this strange new world. Flounder, the newly svelte fish (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), and Sebastian, the spy-turned-ally, scene-stealing crab (Daveed Diggs) do everything in their power to push Ariel and Eric into locking lips, along with the well-meaning Scuttle (Awkwafina), a northern gannet diving bird. Is a gannet an upgrade from the animated The Little Mermaid‘s seagull? No, because the original Scuttle didn’t bust out in an unnecessary, nails-on-a-chalkboard rap song. (The new songs add nothing to the production.)
Anyway, you know the rest of the story, or if you don’t, where have you been and how did you escape sitting through the 1989 blockbuster?
Disney isn’t going to stop bringing their animated classics – or their amusement park rides – to life in live-action productions anytime soon. There’s too much money to be made from their built-in fan bases. But they have a challenging tightrope to walk in making these adaptations of popular properties. Deviate too much, and you risk offending diehard fans. Stick too close to a beat-for-beat adaptation, and the question of why even make a live-action version is raised. 2023’s The Little Mermaid exists in a peculiar little bubble. It doesn’t push far enough away from the original text to win over new fans, but it also isn’t just a reproduction of the animated film done with flesh and blood characters.
Director Rob Marshall took bold steps in the casting of the live-action adaptation, and I’d posit an answer to why a new The Little Mermaid should exist boils down to two words: Halle Bailey. The announcement of Bailey as Ariel brought out the worst in some idiots but, more importantly, it was a source of hope to many young girls as Bailey’s only the second Black actor to be crowned a Disney princess.
“I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special and that they should be a princess in every single way,” said Bailey in an interview with Variety. “There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed.”
Halle Bailey does a terrific job of capturing Ariel’s independent spirit, and there’s absolutely no denying she has the vocal chops worthy of handling Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s beloved song, “Part of Your World.” As sung by Bailey, “Part of Your World” is soulful and heart-wrenching, with all the yearning and uncertainty of growing up channeled into its lyrics.
Thanks to Bailey’s performance, the 2023 The Little Mermaid is one of Disney’s better live-action adaptations. It’s not quite as magical as the animated classic, but it does weave its own special spell as it invites audiences to be part of Ariel’s world.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: PG for some scary images, action, and peril
Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Release Date: May 26, 2023
