Why The Little Mermaid is the Best Remake

[@TheWickedMerman]

UGH! I just now noticed some moments where I forgot to include my character stills. But to be fair, I was trying to finally get this video uploaded after 2 weeks of dealing with copyright. This is why you always double-check your work, humans lol.

[@dollsareageekbestfriend1777]

Honestly the best thing of the movie it's how alive it feels its not visually borring or trying to be "edgy" there was a lot of effort and I love how they try to be creative without making a lot of non sense like Aladdin or beauty and the beast, i totally agree with triton protrait there was a big lacking on him and i looove how crazy Ursula it's on this, Halley as Ariel was absolutely perfection and i was enchanted with Jonah Hauer-King he seemed like a prince from a storybok something that must of live action princes lack

[@donnguyen1107]

I was just wanting to make an underwater music video of under the sea with all the sea creatures but was worried about getting underwater videos of the sea creatures in the song (“newt play the flute, carp play the harp, place play the base bass play the brass” etc) and this version helped me realize those things weren’t necessary. Some may gripe over not seeing the animals doing what the lyrics r saying but something to note: some animals in those lyrics DIE IN SEAWATER!!! (Newts and carps)

[@fataleflare]

Man I love Wild Uncharted Waters. It gave me chills in the theater.

[@cganimefan1267]

I know that you love the animated film a lot, so I'm very happy that you were able to like the live-action remake, too. I think that I like both versions about equally. Personally, my favorite Disney remake is Alice in Wonderland, but I really like this film. It is in my top 5 Disney live-action remakes.

[@javianwilliams7463]

This movie was one of the best of 2023. Thanks for reviewing and praising it! Also, if you need someone to help you out with your wickedness, I might just be available. (Wink, wink!)

[@cerisejaxel9636]

Wow you out a lot into this one! I agree with a lot of your thoughts. Though I’m not head over heels in love with the movie, it is my favorite of the remakes. The marketplace scene is pure magic to me, it just feels so lively! Obviously this movie is longer than the animated one, and didn’t really need to be any longer, but I would’ve liked a scene where Eric takes Ariel onto his ship and shows her how it works. Could be a sweet bonding moment where he shows more of his interests to her (similar to the carriage ride) and would explain how Ariel knows how to steer the ship in the final battle. Overall, I prefer the animated one, but this one’s pretty solid. I hope Karlee enjoyed it too!

[@TheWickedMerman]

Yes, Karlee loves it as well.

[@rafaelhernandez4855]

I honestly have very few complaints about this movie. In fact, most of them are about the animal characters’ roles. Scuttle is really only underwater in the dinglehopper scene. I was looking forward to her being able to dive since that meant she could have more scenes, but she is honestly only underwater once (twice if you count the end credits). She could have also been involved with the final battle, but more on this in a bit. Flounder disappears from the movie after Ariel goes to the surface and doesn’t reappear until Triton destroys the grotto. I don’t like this since there is pretty much no explanation for it. I’m not much of a fan of the fact that Flotsam and Jetsam don’t talk. I guess you make a point about that only really being important for the animated version, but I still don’t understand the choice. I honestly think Ariel talking to Ursula in the grotto didn’t have the exact same effect. Plus, Flotsam and Jetsam’s names aren’t used in the film at all. We don’t see the sidekicks’ reactions to Ariel and Eric falling into the river at the end of Kiss The Girl despite seeing Sebastian and Scuttle’s reactions in the original. Also makes me feel like there should have been another scene of them talking before Vanessa hypnotized Eric. Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle are completely absent from the final fight with, again, no explanation. I actually am upset that we didn’t get to see Flounder and Sebastian fighting Flotsam and Jetsam again. Plus, they could have had Scuttle dive again for this scene to help Sebastian and Flounder free Eric. We don’t even at least see them reacting to Ursula’s death or Triton’s revival. Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle should have been next to Triton at the end of them film like Sebastian and Flounder were in the original. Overall, while I love the way Ariel’s friends were brought into live-action, I do feel like they may have downplayed their roles a tad bit towards the end of the second half and the climax. As for other complaints, I do agree that Atlantica could have been designed better, and the visuals are not entirely perfect, but still nowhere near as bad as anyone says. The way Triton was portrayed wasn’t as good either admittedly, but the Destruction Of The Grotto scene honestly did kind of make feel scared, although it should have been longer, I will say that. But overall, I think this is a great remake that shouldn’t be getting this much hate, and agree with you that it’s Disney’s best remake thus far. Also, I honestly love the Scuttlebutt. I just do not see any reason to hate it. People say it’s annoying, but that’s literally supposed to be the point of Scuttle’s character. I also love the rapping part at the end even people say it’s out of place. I’m not sure how well a sequel would do, but if they put as much effort into it, maybe it could actually be okay.

[@TributesAndUnique]

At first, I was skeptical, but Halle definitely captured Ariel's spirit. It's crazy how much she sounds like Jodie Benson. Anyone saying she was a terrible choice is clearly a hater. That said, being skeptical about race-bending choices does not make someone a bigot or a racist (coming from a POC myself). I'm not saying this applies to the live action TLM since Halle definitely has been proven to be a fantastic Ariel and the character is a mermaid, but a lot of times it feels like a lazy and surface-level way to be diverse when they can create more movies and series about original POC characters, or adapt POC (or stories where a character's appearance is never described) stories that deserve to be on screen.

[@TheWickedMerman]

I do see your point there and I do think we need more adaptations of people of color. I cringed when I saw the racebending of Anne Boleyn because that's a historical figure and it's not in something more stylized like Hamilton where racebending a historical figure would be part of the convention. Especially since there are historical figures that are people of color that deserve to be told. I have also heard people of color say that racebending can be pandering (Many of which use the Anne Boleyn and Cleopatra as prime examples), so I do agree it can be, especially if they aren't getting people of color behind the scenes to work on it. But I do feel like with fantasy and musicals that racebending is where is can shine since they don't have to be restricted by the rules of reality. I hope that makes sense.

[@_GachaxKing_]

Personally my only problems with the movie are, - they should have went back and color graded the underwater screens so Ariel’s hair would look less brown and more like the reddish orange that’s meant to be and the water wouldn’t be as dark or dull - SEBASTIAN SUCKED IN THIS MOVIE. The accent shouldn’t be Jamaican bc the original was Trinidadian and the new accent is very annoying, plus his desgin is just, no. They even used the wrong type of crab😭 that type of crab even can’t go underwater!! THEY EVEN GOT RID OF HIS LITTLE CHARACTER ARC, and him being a conductor/composer😭 the character arc was him learning to appreciate land and Ariel kinda like Triton but faster - Javier Bardem was not the best casting for Triton, he LOOKS like he could be a good Triton, but in practice he really wasn’t or maybe it was just -THE DIRECTION especially with the Triton and Ariel scenes which are ESSENTIAL to the story!! Rob Marshall should have tried to get so much more out of them -Like you, Alantica. The rocks, they fricking sucked and they DARE call this a kingdom😭☠️ But otherwise I LOVED this movie!!

[@karleecraziness9216]

Once Again this is a nice long comment from your loving and supportive fiancée. To make this comment easy to read I am going to divide my nice long comment into sections using your time stamp titles to make it easier to read. Without further ado here are my thoughts and feelings on the overall movie. (The Performances) To start with I agree your opinion for the most part. But for me Daveed Diggs, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy weren't my favorite performance wise. I mean yes, they did an amazing job, but I felt they were slightly weaker performances. Then again, I go back and forth on how I feel about Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. On one hand she did prove her talent, that she can sing, and play evil characters. But on the other hand, since I grew up with her all I can see our two types of characters she plays which are very over the top bubbly ones or very vulgar raunchy ones. For Daveed Digs I feel he was trying a little too hard to imitate Samuel E Wright's performance and I didn't get the same quirky vibe that I got from the cartoon. I also felt he had a little more meanness to him than the original. For Javiar Bardem, I felt if he had a little better direction and combined his performance from Lyle Lyle Crocodile then maybe he could have been a better Triton. As for my favorite performances it would have to be Jonah Hauer King, which that was a pleasant surprise, Jacob Trembly, Jessica Alexander, Noma Dumezweni, and, of course, Halle Bailey. Jonah Hauer King was a pleasant surprise because if I was judging based on looks alone, I would not have picked him for Prince Eric. But I liked his singing and he had good facial expressions. Jacob Trembly is a very talented actor and I thought he fit the role of Flounder like a glove. Jessica Alexander did an amazing job as Vanessa even though we only saw her for a few minutes, she had Vanessa's mannerisms down pat. Norma Dumezweni as Selina, I actually bought her as un uptight and slightly overbearing but loving mother. Oh, and I thought Art Malik, aka Grimsby, was better than the animated version, but I will say why when we get to the actual characters. I also, of course, can't end this without saying that the best performance was Halle Bailey. She had Ariel down pat. The singing, her facial expressions were just so full of wonder and curiosity. She got the most out of her three days on land. They couldn't have casted anyone better for the role. As you mentioned she did make me cry. (The Characters) When it comes to characters in live action movies vs animated ones, I feel like live action has the upper hand on how they handle characters and just smallest of changes can make the biggest difference. For example, in Beauty and the Beast when Belle has to get The Beast back to castle, in the animated they just cut The Beast being on the horse and her walking the horse back to the castle and I was like there is not a chance in hell she was strong enough to move him by herself, whereas in the live action she says to him, "You have to help me. You have to stand." That made it more believable. I think the live-action Little Mermaid did a great job of expanding upon the characters. What you said about Ariel was totally spot on! She felt like the animated Ariel but with more depth. I liked the fact she was a lot more active, like her being the one to get her voice back, and her making the final move to defeat Ursula. I am not going to go into much about Ariel because I would be pretty much echoing everything you said. My absolute favorite character improvement in the movie was Prince Eric. I loved the fact he felt more like an active character, and he felt more fit to be a King due to the fact he was willing to help out his fellow crew. He has the qualities to be a great King. I also liked the fact he had a lot in common with Ariel. It made him more fleshed out and it made him more complex. Grimsby was another one I thought they did a great job with him as well. While he felt uptight, he didn't feel as uptight as in the original movie. He basically had the characterization that I wish Triton had in the movie. I especially loved the parts where he kicks the ring over and where he says, "What carriage LaShana" was hilarious. I also liked how he felt like a father figure to Eric similar to how Mosby felt like London's father figure in Suite Life. For Chef Louie, he was a character that worked only in animation. He would have not been a good fit in the live action. King Triton's characterization, well that felt like a letdown. As I said before I think the characterization should have been what Grimsby was but not a copy and paste of each other. I love the edition of Selina and her relationship with Eric. It adds another parallel between Eric and Ariel. They love to collect things, to explore, they both kind of have a strained relationship with one parent, and they have another parent who is not alive. Flounder and Ursula's characterization were totally on point. As for Sebastion's I go back and forth because he feels meaner than the animated one and slightly less goofy. As for Scuttle I enjoyed her characterization and made Scuttle her own. Ariel's Sisters I still wish they had a bigger role, but I do like they were part of the search party. However, I wish Triton would confess to them that he destroyed the grotto but oh well. Not much to say about them. (The Visuals) While I definitely think they could have done better with visuals, I don't think they are as ugly as people claim. To start with the positives, I think that the "Under the Sea" sequence was beautiful. The dancing starfish and jellyfish were gorgeous. The designs of the merpeople were absolutely stunning. The other thing I enjoyed was the inside of Ursula's Layer. The visuals that let me down were of course Atlantica and the costuming. I mean, in animation it was magnificent, gorgeous, and I was expecting it to look similar to the underwater palace in Aquaman. Instead, we get an ugly rock formation for Atlantica. I just didn't like it. The costuming was lackluster. This is another thing where live action movies should have the upper hand over animated movie. I know Ariel is on land for a whole three days, but did she really only have to have that blue dress? While I don't hate either of the dresses, she wears, I don't find them super memorable. The blue dress in animation was better due to it being multiple shades of blue, having a black corset, and it had better accessories too. The shade of pink used for the head band was fine, but the pattern was very off putting to the rest of the outfit. The pink wedding dress didn't feel very wedding-ish. It felt more like a casual outing dress. The animated did it better with costumes. I feel for the talking animals they could have done what Stuart Little did with Margalo, as in make them more expressive and have saturated colors. For Prince Eric's costumes I agree with Tommy Ross that they could have made Eric's outfits more flamboyant like they did with Kit's outfits. Such as a slightly more rugged version of what Grimsby wears. As for Vanessa's outfits they were good but nothing super special. Queen Selena was definitely the best dressed and accessorized. Oh, and us not getting the sparkly dress moment feels criminal. I also loved Ursula becoming more monstrous. One thing I missed was Ursula making magic figures with her magic as opposed to using Flotsam and Jetsam for examples. (The Writing/Changes) There are very few changes I hate so I will start with those because the changes I love will be a much longer list. The changes I hate, Ursula's victims dying when they failed to hold up their end of the bargain. As you said, Ursula turning her victims into plants or whatever she turned them into felt like a much crueler fate than death. Death was an easy way out. I also really liked your idea of this Ursula having more options on what she could turn her victims into. I wish they had gone that route instead. Triton's death then resurrecting felt like a cop out. I liked when he turned into that weird plant thing. I also don't like Flotsam and Jetsam did the killing. Again, there are very little changes that I actively hate. Changes I feel indifferent towards, are making Flotsam and Jetsam unable to speak, which in all honesty I don't think would work all that well. As for the first song of the movie I would have to do a comparison of the animated and live-action on which would work for an opening song, Fathoms Below or Part of Your World. I am not sure. Changes that I absoutely love are that humans and merfolk have a prejudice towards each other. This makes Eric and Ariel's relationship even stronger because they would be the peace makers of both worlds. I really liked how it was Ariel mainly saving the day with Eric helping whereas in the animation, it felt like the other way around. I enjoyed the conversations Ariel had with her father and sisters about not all humans are bad and not all merfolks are good. I totally agree with what you said about the other changes you like. There are more changes that I love than I hate. I really loved fact Ariel had to rip off one of her scales to make the deal as opposed to her signing a scroll. That took care of the plot hole of her not writing to Eric.

[@karleecraziness9216]

My comment was too long, so I had to copy and paste this. (The Music) The songs in the movie totally splashed! My favorite songs, of course, were Part of Your World, For the First Time, Uncharted Waters, and, of course, Under the Sea. I loved the fact that Eric got his own song. It added more depth to his character and it parallels Part of Your World. The songs that were entertaining were Scuttlebutt, that song just makes me laugh. Kiss the Girl and Poor Unfortunate Soul were highly entertaining. I enjoyed the songs. I don't have anything negative to say. (Ariel and Eric) All I have to say is that I give them 11/10 in their relationship. The fact the movie took the time to expand upon their relationship was awesome! I have mentioned I love the parallels between Eric and Ariel. I love how Ariel and Eric were educating each other about the world's they come from. I really loved when Ariel was grabbing map after map because she was that interested to learn about the above world. I also loved how she dropped the geode and showed Eric the inside of it. I could go on and on about how much I love this relationship, but I will finish it by saying I loved how Eric learned her name. This was arguably my favorite part of the movie. (The Diversity) As a biracial woman, Halle Bailey's casting was life changing. It was very reminiscent of Brandy Norwood's casting in Cinderella along with the rest of the casting choices. I didn't mind Eric being adopted because it gave good rep to adopted children. The race swaps absoutely had no effect on the story, which I really liked. I also loved how a black woman was cast to play the queen because it shows black women can play feminine parts. Oh, and the little black girls reaction to Halle was so touching to the point I cry every time I watch their reactions. I hope this movie will inspire Disney to make more original black princesses.