Since 2014, Disney has released a live-action adaptation of one of their classic films every year – with some years seeing multiple releases, such as 2019, which saw five releases. With multiple films in the pipeline, both for a theatrical release and a Disney+ launch, is it any wonder that The Little Mermaid came to mind for executives at Disney.
Disney Princess films have always been the salvation of the Disney corporation. Whether it be Snow White and the Seven Dwarves or Frozen, there has been a Disney Princess film at the forefront of each generation of Disney. The Little Mermaid (1989) is no different, revitalizing the franchise altogether.As of today, it is the first adaptation to change the ethnicity of its lead character, but it won’t be the last. Snow White follows next year, starring Rachel Zegler in the title role.
Halle Bailey plays the title role of Ariel, the youngest daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), and she brings the youthful exuberance and curiosity to life that Jodi Benson did in the animated original. As part of a singing duo with her older sister Chloe, Halle Bailey provided a powerhouse vocal ability that many consider the biggest necessity for the role. Some questioned why Maleficent, Cinderella, and Mulan dropped the musical approach for their adaptations, while Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid kept them. Simply speaking, the former three were not nearly as reliant on music for their stories, while the latter three had music as a central aspect of their presentation. Certainly, an argument could be made that all of them should keep their music, but there is no getting around the fact that Ariel’s character is intimately intertwined with singing and music. There’s a reason why Ursula required Ariel’s voice as payment for her spell. Each song that Halle performs, whether originally from the animated version or a new composition written for this iteration, knocks it out of the park every time.
Prince Eric, like Prince Phillip before him, was considered a vast improvement over the Prince and Prince Charming from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Cinderella, primarily because he had something regarding a character.
Today, though, many critics point out that the character has little going for him in the original film. Handsome, brave, and adventurous – the only real thing we know about him is that he doesn’t want to marry the Princess they just left behind and that he loves his dog, Max. Jonah Hauer-King brings all that and more to his rendition of Prince Eric, building off of the few traits already baked into the role and expanding on them considerably.
As the adopted son of the King and Queen of their kingdom, after he washed ashore in the wake of a shipwreck, he finds his position constraining in the same vein as Ariel. He wants to explore the world and experience new cultures, and these similar desires and goals allow Eric and Ariel to build a connection with one another beyond ‘s/he looks gorgeous.’ They have the same three-day period to get to know one another, Ariel’s inability to speak, and their trek through his small island kingdom, yet the weight of it all is given more prominence this time. With nearly an hour of additional running time, the entire story can breathe, and their relationship can form with room to spare.
By now, The Little Mermaid’s story is imprinted on countless people’s hearts and minds. Yet even so, many people fundamentally misunderstand the plot at its core. Many people dismiss it as a girl abandoning her entire world and life for a boy she met yesterday, forgetting that Eric was merely a facet of Ariel’s fascination with the surface world. Long before she laid eyes on him, Ariel wanted to explore the surface and all that it had to offer – she literally sang Part of Your World mere minutes before she knew Eric existed. Her collection of things from the human world existed well before this. Much like your average teenage boy and girl, her crush on Eric was juvenile, and Ursula merely took advantage of it to screw over Triton. That distinction is driven home in the 2023 version when Ursula adds to her spell a piece that makes Ariel forget about the need to kiss Eric in order to keep her legs. Without that pressure, her interest in him grows of its own accord.
Ursula (played masterfully by Melissa McCarthy) will regularly top the lists of favorite Disney Villains.
With her bombastic personality, exquisitely vile villainous song, and manipulative and calculating nature, she is a woman on a mission – and that mission will not be derailed by anybody. No matter their plucky nature. While her animated counterpart had all of these traits, adaptations are always eager to build on them when they can.
Ursula is far more cunning here, using her spell to make Ariel forget the sole requirement to succeed in the deal that she offered her but also making it a harsh one beyond that little, miniscule, unimportant detail.
As originally intended in the 1989 version, Ursula is Triton’s sister, and the circumstances surrounding her banishment from the court are just as mysterious here as they were in the first film and the prequel television show.
Granted, deleted, and expanded material makes it explicitly clear that Ursula attempted to overthrow Triton in a coup, so… make of that what you will.
As is expected, partway through the film, frustrated at Ariel’s progress, Ursula blatantly violates their deal like she had always planned to by using Ariel’s Siren voice and her powerful magic to turn Eric’s head.
She does this by taking on the human visage of Vanessa (Jessica Alexander), and the actress brings the character to life with devilish glee.
She may have only had a handful of minutes of screen time, but Jessica Alexander wasted absolutely none of them. During the press tour, she was also incredibly direct in her praise of Halle Bailey, as was all of the cast. That they had to do this for such obvious reasons doesn’t diminish their efforts in the least. The technology that now exists allows for Halle Bailey’s elegant voice to flow seamlessly from Jessica Alexander’s lips (as well as Melissa McCarthy’s), making it all the more haunting, ethereal, and beautiful.
Ariel’s family is, as usual, not given much of a spotlight in the film, especially with the song Daughters of Triton being cut. Still, all six of them are present and given unique designs that play off of actual marine life. Two sisters stand out for me because of their other work – Perla and Indira, played by Lorena Andrea and Simone Ashley. The former plays a critical character in Warrior Nun, while the latter plays the female lead in the second season of Bridgerton and is a supporting character in Sex Education.
The other four, Mala (Karolina Conchet), Tamika (Sienna King), Karina (Kajsa Mohammar), and Caspia (Nathalie Sorrell), have varying levels of importance, though they all at least get one or two lines of dialogue. Their differing ethnicities and the design of their scales and tails, not to mention the fact that it is explicitly stated, make it clear that they are tied to the Seven Seas, a reference to the varying seas of Europe that divide it from Africa. While I would have loved for them to have just a bit more presence, there is no getting around the fact that they are minor characters filling out Ariel’s family. One can dream, though.
Queen Selina (Noma Dumezweni) is Eric’s mother, and much like Triton, she is worried about his safety and his fascination with the sea and travel, much preferring him to be safe at home in the castle. She also fears the creatures who live there and the power they wield against them if they are displeased. Before Ariel’s true form is revealed, how the characters talk about beings from the deep is unclear if they know about mermaids and the like or only think they do.
After all, many ancient cultures blamed mythological beings like sirens and the Gods for varying misfortunes that we now understand better. It just so happens that many of her fears are justified. The King of the Ocean does have it out for humanity, who he blames for the death of his wife – a detail kept from the original film and the second sequel.
Grimsby (Art Malik) has a much more important role in this iteration, acting as Prime Minister for the Kingdom, as much as he seems to be Eric’s caretaker and Selina’s confidant. His paternal role with Eric makes it all the more interesting that Ariel doesn’t have a maternal figure in her life under the sea. By the time she comes to shore, Lashana (Martina Laird) could have provided that kind of relationship with Ariel, like her animated counterpart of Carlotta was implied to, but the focus at that point is the burgeoning relationship between Ariel and Eric. Another original supporting character in the film is Rosa (Emily Coates), who I recognized from another ill-fated show released by Netflix, Cursed. Together, they fill out the human cast to make Eric’s world feel livelier.
The last characters are where The Little Mermaid has finally differed from each live-action adaptation released so far – that didn’t initially focus on animals. Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), and Scuttle (Awkwafina) are Ariel’s three animal companions, and all of them can speak with her and those around them. The film never makes it clear if Eric can hear them, as the 1989 version implied when Sebastian whispers Ariel’s name to him, but it doesn’t go out of its way to disprove it, either. All three were given updates to their species and their designs in order to make their presence more understandable and realistic. Animated films are able to use artistic license, and while some of the changes were criticized, I found them to be interesting. They certainly didn’t bother me. Just as they did in the animated film, the trio assist Ariel in her task, made all the more Herculean because of Ursula’s trick, and their near successes are all the more badass because of it.
The Little Mermaid is renowned for its music and score, and the new songs that were included – For the First Time and Wild Uncharted Waters – are amazing additions to classics like Part of Your World, Kiss The Girl, and the all-time fan-favorite Under the Sea. The Scuttlebutt, a rap performed by Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs, was a riotously hilarious inclusion, making great use of Lin Manuel Miranda’s talents as well as the actors.
The songs have some changes, as they always do, with a whole verse slashed from Poor Unfortunate Souls, but they are minor nuisances at best. Melissa McCarthy and Halle Bailey shine with their respective songs, and Daveed Diggs (alongside Halle Bailey, harkens to the play’s more modern take on it) brings Under the Sea to life for a new generation of moviegoing audiences. Each and every member of the cast understood the assignment and exceeded any and all expectations that I had.
When it comes down to it, it all serves to make me all the more anticipatory of Snow White in 2024.
Lloydd Marshall Books 