Dad's Thoughts on the Live Action The Little Mermaid
This weekend the family all went to our local movie theater to enjoy the the latest live action offering from Disney - The Little Mermaid. I am neither a huge supporter nor hater of Disney’s ongoing strategy to remake all of their classic animated movies in live action - but I will say this. The Little Mermaid is the best one yet, and probably by a mile.
Before The Little Mermaid, I suppose I enjoyed The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast just fine. And I think perhaps The Jungle Book had the best transition to live action thus far. But there is a key difference between my enjoyment of those movies and my enjoyment of The Little Mermaid. I had little to no desire to watch any of them again, and that’s simply not the case with The Little Mermaid.
The live action The Little Mermaid is one of those family films where I wouldn’t mind if my daughter gets attached to it and asks to watch it over and over again for weeks - and that’s about the highest praise a parent can give in my opinion. That’s how I felt about Moana and Encanto, for example, which we of course ended up watching many, many times. And while I wouldn’t say I adore this new The Little Mermaid as much as those stone cold masterpieces - I still think the fact that I wouldn’t mind rewatching it speaks volumes.
Of course the fact that it came gift-wrapped with 3 already-written and all-time great songs didn’t hurt. Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl, and Under the Sea is quite the trio of diddies to build a movie around - and I’m happy to report that they were executed with perfection. The actors’ singing was top notch and the cinematography and animation all came together to give us some very beautiful and memorable scenes. Disney knew the execution of these songs was of the utmost importance and they truly delivered.
Kiss The Girl © Walt Disney Studios
Lots of people will be giving Halle Bailey her very deserved due for more than living up to the iconic Part of Your World - but I left the movie mostly thinking about the incredibly beautiful (and very funny) Kiss the Girl. By giving a better backstory to Eric, and simultaneously making Ariel and Eric destined for each other for less superficial reasons - Disney managed to make the movie even sweeter and more romantic than before. And the comic relief when Scuttle, Flounder, and Sebastian gang up is a delight.
And speaking of those 3, lots of people on the internet are grumping about their new looks. But that didn’t really phase me at all, and Sebastian and Scuttle in particular were absolute comedic highlights throughout the entire film. Daveed Diggs of Hamilton stole every scene he was in as Sebastian (and I’m not just talking about Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl), and I honestly enjoyed his humor and delivery even more than the original.
Daveed Diggs is Sebastian © Walt Disney Studios
And it is the dimwitted Scuttle that gives us one of the best lines of the whole film:
“Did Eric kill Ariel yet?”
And you know how I mentioned Prince Eric’s great new backstory? The story is that his real parents were killed at sea in a shipwreck, and Eric survived and was adopted by Queen Selina. He longs to explore the sea, feeling disconnected from his home. And he collects treasures from his sea voyages in much the same way that Ariel collects treasures from land.
The great thing about this is that the scene where we explore Eric’s room of sea treasures gives us another great comedic moment - even it it was unintentional. Ariel picks up a mermaid trinket made of glass or jewels and Eric says “there’s my little mermaid.” For a moment Ariel thinks he’s talking about her, and I couldn’t resist whispering to my wife “he said it!” with the Leonardo DiCaprio meme in my head - and I have no doubt I was joined by thousands of dads across the world.
With the extended runtime comes 2 things in particular - new original songs and more character development. Ariel’s new song For the First Time is probably the highlight of the new originals. It really added something to the movie and felt completely and naturally in place. Scuttlebutt truly was fun, but it really came out of nowhere and I completely understand when people say it felt disjointed from the film. But that won’t stop us from listening to it on Spotify because it’s undeniably catchy. It was Eric’s new song that did absolutely nothing for me.
For me the real benefit of having almost a full hour more than the original movie was fleshing out some of the characters. I honestly thought the acting was fantastic. My wife says she found Javier Bardem unconvincing as King Triton - and I remember thinking something similar during the movie. The scene where he destroyed Ariel’s grotto of treasures was rushed and strange, because it all happened too fast - making his anger almost unbelievable. But I think it might actually have had more to do with the script or the editing. And I think King Triton totally redeemed himself with the emotional finale.
Javier Bardem as King Triton © Walt Disney Studios
The two unexpected characters that really shined for me were Grimsby and Eric’s mother the Queen. Grimsby is Eric’s guardian and advisor, and he’s on Team Ariel the whole movie. He can tell that Eric is in love and gives him some sage advice:
“Don’t be held back by what you think should be. Think only of what is.”
He also acts like a true real one when he slyly kicks the wedding ring away during a commotion so Eric can’t put it on Ursula’s finger.
Queen Selina is played by Noma Dumezweni. For me she’s perhaps the single best addition to the live action remake of The Little Mermaid. Her relationship and new backstory with Eric is everything this story was missing. Her entire role is a new addition to the story, and yet it somehow feels 100% necessary. And I think you’ll agree with me when I say her acting makes this world feel that much more real.
My kiddos seemed to really enjoy the movie. My son even told me directly that it was a good movie, and he’s not one to shy away from saying he didn’t like something. My daughter was also engrossed for the entire lengthy runtime, and I think she really got caught up in the slightly spooky and nerve-wracking finale with giant Ursula. But of course the true test will come when it releases on Disney Plus, and we get to find out if we’re in store for many repeated viewings in our house. Fingers crossed I say.
Have you checked out the new The Little Mermaid yet? Do you think it’s the best live action Disney remake yet? Let us know what you or the kids thought in the comments!
