The Little Mermaid (2023 film)

It has been suggested that this article should be split into a new article titled The Little Mermaid (2023 soundtrack). (discuss) (May 2023)

The Little Mermaid
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Marshall
Screenplay by	David Magee
Based on	Disney's The Little Mermaid by Ron Clements John Musker The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Produced by	Marc Platt Lin-Manuel Miranda John DeLuca Rob Marshall
Starring	Halle Bailey Jonah Hauer-King Daveed Diggs Awkwafina Jacob Tremblay Noma Dumezweni Art Malik Javier Bardem Melissa McCarthy
Cinematography	Dion Beebe
Edited by	Wyatt Smith
Music by	Alan Menken
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Lucamar Productions Marc Platt Productions
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates	May 8, 2023 (2023-05-08) (Dolby Theatre) May 26, 2023 (2023-05-26) (United States)
Running time	135 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$250 million[2][3]
Box office	$414.2 million[4][5]

The Little Mermaid is a 2023 American musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by David Magee. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1989 animated film of the same name, itself loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same title by Hans Christian Andersen. The film stars Halle Bailey in the titular role, alongside Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy. The Little Mermaid follows a mermaid princess Ariel who is fascinated with the human world and makes a deal with a treacherous sea witch Ursula to trade her voice for human legs in order to impress Prince Eric, who she saved from a shipwreck, before time runs out.

Plans for a remake of 1989's The Little Mermaid were confirmed in May 2016. In December 2017, Disney announced Marshall was being courted to direct the film. Bailey, Tremblay, Awkwafina, and the rest of the cast signed on between July to November 2019. Production was expected to begin in London between late March and early April 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming ultimately took place primarily at Pinewood Studios in England and on the island of Sardinia, Italy, from January to July 2021. Composer Alan Menken, who worked on the original film's soundtrack, returned to compose the score and write new songs alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, who serves as a producer with Platt, John DeLuca and Marshall. The film is dedicated to the late Howard Ashman, who co-produced and co-wrote the songs from the original film.

The Little Mermaid premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on May 8, 2023,^[6] and was released in the United States on May 26. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances of the cast and the musical sequences but criticized the visual effects and character designs. The film has grossed over $414 million worldwide against a total production budget of $250 million.

Plot

Ariel is a mermaid princess and the youngest daughter of King Triton, ruler of the merpeople of Atlantica. She is fascinated with the human world despite never having seen it, as Triton forbid all merfolk from going to the surface after Ariel's mother was killed by a human. Ariel collects human objects with the support of her best friend, Flounder, a sergeant major, and Scuttle, a Northern gannet.

Ariel misses the Coral Moon meeting that she was supposed to attend with her sisters, and is scolded by Triton. Afterward, she sees fireworks above the ocean and surfaces to see it up close. The fireworks come from the ship of Prince Eric, a prince of a nearby island kingdom. Ariel overhears Eric telling the kingdom's Prime Minister, Grimsby, about his wish to explore the unknown and help the people of his kingdom. A storm arrives and the ship crashes against the rocks, forcing all to go for the lifeboats. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore, where she sings with her siren voice to help save his life. She flees before he can regain full consciousness. After Eric recovers, his adoptive mother Queen Selina forbids him from sailing again.

Ariel's absent-minded behavior is commented on by her sisters. Overhearing this, Triton questions his advisor Sebastian the crab, who tells him that she saved a human's life. Outraged, Triton travels to Ariel's grotto to confront her; when she refuses to swear to never go to the surface again, Triton destroys her collection of human objects. After Triton leaves, Ariel is approached by a pair of moray eels who show her an image of the sea witch Ursula, Triton's estranged younger sister and Ariel's aunt who was banished from Atlantica 15 years prior and she offers to help Ariel.

Ariel follows the eels to Ursula's lair, where the sea witch presents a deal: she will transform Ariel into a human for three days, during which Ariel must receive a "true love's kiss" from Eric to remain human permanently. If she fails, she will transform back into a mermaid and Ursula will claim her. To become human, Ariel must give up her tail, the ability to breathe underwater, and her siren voice, the last of which Ursula will keep in a nautilus shell. Ariel accepts the deal and is given human legs. She is taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian, and is rescued by a fisherman, who takes her to the island kingdom and to Eric's castle. Eric, who has been frantically searching for the woman who saved his life, rushes to meet Ariel when he hears of her arrival. Ariel is excited, but her lack of voice has Eric immediately turning away. Later that evening, Ariel explores the castle and finds Eric's collection of items he'd accumulated over his travels. Eric and Ariel spend time together poring over his collection.

The next day, Eric takes Ariel sightseeing around the kingdom. Sebastian, who has followed Ariel on land, realizes that Ursula has put a cheat in the spell that's causing Ariel to forget that she needs to kiss Eric. Along with Scuttle and Flounder, Sebastian takes it upon himself to get the pair to kiss. They are almost successful, but are thwarted by Ursula's eels. Ursula is enraged by the close call, and transforms herself into the guise of a beautiful young woman named Vanessa, and uses Ariel's siren voice to hypnotize Eric.

The next morning, Ariel and her friends discover that Eric will be announcing his engagement to Vanessa later that day. Scuttle discovers Vanessa's true identity and informs Ariel, who rushes to the engagement party and confronts Ursula to break the nautilus shell around her neck. Ariel's voice is restored to her and the enchantment on Eric is broken. But before they can kiss, the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Ursula reverts to her original form before grabbing Ariel and diving back into the ocean.

Ursula is confronted by Triton, who orders her to let Ariel go. However, Ursula reveals that the deal that she made with Ariel is unbreakable. Triton trades himself for Ariel and is turned to dust by Ursula's eels, much to Ariel's horror. Ursula claims Triton's trident, but before she can kill Ariel, Eric arrives and stops her; in the melee, Ursula accidentally kills her eels. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow to a monstrous size and summons a storm to threaten Ariel and Eric. As Eric distracts Ursula, Ariel pulls herself onto a surfaced ship and turns the helm at the right moment to impale Ursula with its splintered bowsprit. Once Ursula is killed, Triton comes back to life; he and Ariel recognize the other's sacrifice for them. Eric manages to return home, where Selina acknowledges that Eric and Ariel's love was real.

Triton eventually accepts that although Ariel has returned home as he wanted, she is unhappy without Eric. On Sebastian's advice, Triton transforms Ariel into a human permanently, and she reunites with Eric. The pair decide to travel together, with the blessing of both their parents and the support of people from both their worlds.

Cast

• Halle Bailey as Ariel, a curious and headstrong mermaid princess and King Triton's youngest daughter who is fascinated with the human world. Bailey was announced to have been cast on July 3, 2019.^[7] In the early stages of the film's development, Lindsay Lohan expressed interest in playing the role.^[8] Zendaya was reported to have been offered the part in August 2018,^[9] but she herself eventually stated that this was "just a rumor".^[10] Bailey was the first to audition for the role^[11] after Rob Marshall saw her perform Donny Hathaway's 1972 single "Where Is the Love" at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.^[12] According to Marshall, hundreds of other girls also tried out for the part,^[13] but she "set the bar so high that nobody surpassed it."^[14]
• Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, an adventurous and free-spirited human prince whom Ariel falls in love with after saving him from drowning. Hauer-King was announced to have been cast on November 12, 2019.^[15] Hundreds of candidates auditioned for the role,^[16] including actors Asher Angel,^[17] Gavin Leatherwood,^[18] Christian Navarro,^[19] Jack Whitehall,^[20] and Cameron Cuffe, with the latter, along with Hauer-King, doing a screen test alongside Bailey.^[21] Harry Styles was in early negotiations to play the part,^[22] but ultimately turned it down^[23] in favor of doing a concert tour.^[24] Marshall later elaborated that Styles also refused because he wanted to do darker, non-musical roles.^[16] Hauer-King described his character as "restless and inquisitive about where he is in the world, like Ariel… He’s quite isolated and sensitive."^[25]
• Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, a treacherous and conniving sea witch and King Triton's estranged sister, with whom Ariel makes a deal to become a human, which is secretly part of Ursula's plan to conquer Atlantica. McCarthy was announced to have been cast on June 28, 2019.^[26] She described her character as "so funny. There's wit, there's manipulation. She's a great broad and at the same time, I have to think about what armor does she put in? And I don't think her mental health is great."^[27] Lizzo also auditioned for the role.^[28]
  • Jessica Alexander as Vanessa, Ursula's human alter ego, which she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel. Alexander was announced to have been cast on March 1, 2021.^[29] She described her character as "a seductress, a temptress, the definition of a femme fatale and a sexy female villain."^[30] Kacey Musgraves was also considered for the role.^[31]
• Javier Bardem as King Triton, Ariel's strict and overprotective father and the ruler of Atlantica who is prejudiced against humans due to the death of his wife at hands of one of them. Bardem was announced to have been cast on July 17, 2019.^[32] He described his character as "a little bit less grumpy than the original because we were intending to bring more conflict to his behavior, like his fear and insecurity as a father. Being scared of letting his last daughter leave home ends up translating into being angry or too controlling."^[33]
• Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Eric's adoptive mother and the ruler of a Caribbean island kingdom. She is a new character for the film.^[16] Dumezweni was announced to have been cast on January 5, 2021.^[34] She described her character as a "loving queen and a mother queen and a parent and a land lover learning about herself through letting go of her children."^[35]
• Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, the prime minister of Selina's kingdom and Eric's loyal confidant who acts as a father figure to him.^[36]
• Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, a loyal crab and King Triton's majordomo who watches over Ariel. Diggs was announced to have been cast on October 8, 2019.^[37][38]
• Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, an anxious yet noble sergeant major who is Ariel's best friend. Tremblay was announced to have been cast on July 1, 2019.^[39]
• Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, a dimwitted northern gannet and a friend of Ariel's to whom she provides inaccurate descriptions of any human/surface world object Ariel finds. The character is portrayed as a female diving bird instead of a male seagull as in the original in order to feature the character in underwater scenes. Awkwafina was announced to have been cast on July 1, 2019.^[40]

Additionally, Martina Laird appears as Lashana, one of the maids in Eric's castle, who is based on Carlotta from the animated film; Emily Coates appears as Rosa, a young girl who works as a maid in Eric's castle; Christopher Fairbank and John Dagleish appear as Hawkins and Mulligan, two of Eric's shipmates; Jude Akuwudike appears as Joshua, a fisherman who discovers Ariel in her human form; and Russell Balogh and Adrian Christopher appear as two of King Triton's guards.^[41] Also appearing as the daughters of Triton and Ariel's sisters (renamed for the film) are Lorena Andrea as Perla, Simone Ashley as Indira, Karolina Conchet as Mala, Sienna King as Tamika, Kajsa Mohammar as Karina, and Nathalie Sorrell as Caspia.^[42][43][44] Eric's Old English Sheepdog, Max, appears portrayed by Dogs Gary and Edna respectively, with the latter being uncredited.^[45]

Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's green moray eel minions appear. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel in the animated film, cameos as a market vendor during Ariel and Eric's tour of the kingdom.^[46][47][48]

Production

Development

In May 2016, Walt Disney Pictures began developing a live-action adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid".^[49] Three months later, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Marc Platt signed on to produce the film, which was confirmed to be a remake of the Disney's 1989 animated film of the same name.^[50] On December 6, 2017, it was reported that Rob Marshall was being courted by the Walt Disney Company to direct the film, while Jane Goldman would serve as screenwriter.^[51] On December 5, 2018, Marshall revealed that he, along with John DeLuca and Marc Platt were hired to begin developing the project for film adaptation, and said that "John and [Marshall] have begun our work trying to explore it and figure it out", as he felt that "it's a very complicated movie to take from animation to live-action. Live-action's a whole other world so you have to be very careful about how that's done, but so we're starting the exploration phase".^[52] Later in December, Marshall was officially hired as director for the film.^[53] During an interview on December 21, 2018, Marshall revealed that the film is in very early stages of development, stating that the studio is trying to explore ways to translate the original film's story into live-action.^[54] On July 3, 2019, David Magee, who previously wrote the screenplay for Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns, was revealed to have written the script with Goldman.^[55] Magee would receive sole credit for the screenplay. On February 10, 2020, Miranda revealed that rehearsals for the film had already begun.^[56]

Filming

Filming was originally scheduled to begin in London between late March and early April 2020; however, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[57][58][59][60]} Set photos at Pinewood Studios in London, England leaked a few weeks after the production was shut down, it showed aerial images featuring Prince Eric's ship as well as indoor images of what seemed to be his castle. On July 29, 2020, based on a social media post, Jacob Tremblay began recording his lines for the film.^[61] Filming was scheduled to re-commence on August 10, 2020.^[62] By November 2020, Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek announced that filming on all films that had been postponed during pandemic shutdowns had resumed filming, and in some cases completed principal photography.^[63]

In December 2020, McCarthy stated that she would hopefully begin filming in January 2021.^[65] The following month, Diggs discussed the large amount of work he had to do when it came to preparing for and recording dialogue for the role of Sebastian.^[66]

Principal photography officially began at Pinewood Studios in Iver, England on January 30, 2021.^[67] Filming for McCarthy's scenes eventually began in April 2021.^[68] On April 6, it was announced that additional filming would be happening in summer in Sardinia, Italy, for a total of "roughly three months".^[69] In June 2021, production was temporarily halted due to multiple crew members of the film contracting COVID-19.^[70] Filming resumed about a week later and officially wrapped on July 11, 2021.^[71][72] On December 30, 2021, Bailey shared some new behind-the-scenes photos of the set, including a glimpse of her portrayal of Ariel. The actress took to Instagram to wrap up her year and shared photos of moments of shooting the film. The first photo showed the film's script, which was blurred to avoid spoilers, but still showed her character name "Ariel" in bold print. One photo showed her swimming in Sardinia's waters, while another showed the process of film-making using CGI.^[73] In February 2023, Marshall revealed that he hopes post-production work on the film will be completed by March, saying:

"I'm very proud of the film. It's the most challenging film I've ever done, for sure. No question … Using complicated, cutting-edge techniques to make this work. I don't think anybody's ever done an underwater musical before. I have to say every single moment of the film had to be choreographed in advance so that we could have a flow to the whole piece. It's crazy the apparatuses we worked with from wires to things called tuning forks to teeter-totters. Thank God we had the rehearsal time. You always need it on a musical anyway."

— Rob Marshall^[74][75]

On March 22, 2023, Bailey revealed that she had to spend 13 hours underwater during certain days of filming and that practical water tanks and CGI were used to create the underwater environments, saying "I pushed myself as far as I've ever pushed myself in life … And I feel like the message from [Ariel] was to know that you've always had it in you." She also revealed that the film's themes were updated so that it is not put at the forefront that Ariel "leaves the ocean for a boy" in response to recent criticism surrounding the portrayal of that desire in the original film. On that, she added "I'm really excited for my version of the film because we've definitely changed that perspective … It's way bigger than that. It's about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants. As women we are amazing, we are independent, we are modern, we are everything and above, and I'm glad that Disney is updating some of those themes."^[76]

Visual effects

Visual effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Wētā FX, Moving Picture Company and Framestore.^[77] DNEG also provided the stereo conversion.^[78] For the "Under the Sea" sequence, Marshall called it a "big, massive musical number" and said that creating the underwater environments involved "a lot of work in advance with John DeLuca and myself creating these musical sequences, to prep it in advance from storyboards to something called pre-visualization, which is almost like a little mini-animated film, so we know how it flowed and how it worked ... You are creating a world, you're creating creatures, but it's very important to me that it feels real – you have to believe, you have to care about them, you have to follow their journey."^[79]

On May 19, 2023, Marshall revealed that his work on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (which featured a mermaid character named Tamara) helped influence his work on The Little Mermaid, using similar live-action and CGI techniques to bring Ariel, her sisters and King Triton to life. He called it "a great launching point for us" and showed his work on Pirates to the crew and visual effects team to break down the process. The colorful tails of the merpeople characters were designed by Marshall's frequent costume designer Colleen Atwood, who used real fish as references to make each of the tails of Ariel and her sisters look more distinct from one another, and also designed the costumes for the human characters.^[80]

Music

It has been suggested that this section should be split into a new article titled The Little Mermaid (2023 soundtrack). (discuss) (May 2023)

On March 17, 2017, it was announced that Alan Menken, who previously scored and co-wrote songs for the original film, would return as the film's composer and to write new songs alongside producer Lin-Manuel Miranda.^[50] Three months later, Menken stated that his work on the film's music had been put on hold due to Miranda and Marc Platt's schedules with Mary Poppins Returns.^[81] On May 20, 2019, Menken stated that The Little Mermaid would be his next project, following the release of the live-action adaptation of Aladdin,^[82] and on July 9, he and Miranda started working on new songs for the film.^[83] On replacing the original film's lyricist, the late Howard Ashman, Miranda felt that "[he] will definitely fall short" to Ashman's work, arguing that "no one can write like him".^[84] On January 16, 2020, Halle Bailey confirmed that the song "Part of Your World", from the original film, will appear in the remake.^[85] On February 10, 2020, Miranda revealed that he and Menken wrote four new songs for the film.^[56] On February 19, 2021, Menken said that the new songs would be a "blend" of his and Miranda's styles. He elaborated that the songs would feature "some rapping" in the vein of Miranda's previous works, as well as a closer style to his usual work.^[86] Menken also stated that he updated the lyrics to "Kiss the Girl" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" to reflect modern times.^[87]

On September 22, 2021, Menken sat down with Disney's For Scores podcast and confirmed that the film will feature four new songs. He also recalled that Miranda was "daunted" by the prospect of following on in the footsteps of the late Howard Ashman, the lyricist who worked with Menken to write the original film's songs.^[88] On November 24, 2021, in an interview with Collider, Miranda talked about his admiration for The Little Mermaid and how Ashman and Menken helped shape his childhood. He said:

"Oh, man. So much of my work on The Little Mermaid was that wish fulfillment. I actually didn't write any new songs for Sebastian the Crab because I love his songs so much. I was like, 'I can't. Nope, not me. I can't do it.' I did get to write for some of the other characters in that movie. Every song you love in The Little Mermaid is still in The Little Mermaid, we just found some new moments to musicalise. That's really tricky."

— Lin-Manuel Miranda^[89]

On January 20, 2022, Bailey spoke with Stylecater, saying that she was so emotional while filming "Part of Your World".^[90] She said:

"It was really surreal to film. It was really emotional for me. It was three days of intense being all over the place. I was crying the whole time because I was just like, 'What the heck?' We're all connected to that song and it means a lot to each of us."

— Halle Bailey

On February 17, 2022, during a podcast interview with Variety, Miranda revealed that one of the new songs for the live-action film, "For the First Time", will take place when Ariel is on land in her human form. He also revealed that star Daveed Diggs might rap in the film. This was confirmed later on March 31, 2023, by Menken, revealing the title of the new rap song as "The Scuttlebutt". He described it as a "harebrained" song for Scuttle and Sebastian "…trying to figure out what's going on because they hear rumors that the prince has decided to marry. They think it must be Ariel but of course it's Ursula in the form of Vanessa. It's all this delicious imagination. Lin's lyrics are to die for."^{[91][92][93][94]}

Menken then provided more details on the new songs, revealing that the first of the four that was written during the film's development was a solo for Prince Eric, "Wild Unchartered Waters", resulting from Marshall wanting "…a new song for this moment of waves and all the wildness of what's out there in the ocean…[Ariel] represented that to [Prince Eric]; she being the girl who saved his life. Live action films are really a director's medium." He then revealed that the fourth song did not make the final cut and was supposed to be a new song for King Triton entitled "Impossible Child", as he and the filmmakers felt that it "dramaturgically" was not needed, but did say that the song would be released to the public at a later date, possibly on the film's home media release. Some of the lyrics for "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Kiss the Girl" were updated as well, with Menken explaining that for "Kiss the Girl", it was because "people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel]," while that for "Poor Unfortunate Souls", it was because of "…lines that might make young girls somehow feel that they shouldn't speak out of turn, even though Ursula is clearly manipulating Ariel to give up her voice."^[95][94]

Two songs from the original film were cut: "Daughters of Triton", sung by Ariel's sisters and "Les Poissons", sung by the character of Eric's french cook Chef Louis, who also was cut from the film. Menken explained the reasons for cutting the former, saying that it felt "not needed" given the new approach the filmmakers gave to the sisters, and that they wanted the film to begin "with a much more of a live-action feel of the ocean and meeting Ariel, and then we wait a little bit, make you wait until we get to 'Part of Your World.' And I think that was, you know, it was an amazing choice because it just builds the power and anticipation."^[96] On cutting the latter, Marshall explained "It's literally a Saturday morning cartoon section. If we had filmed it – I don't know how we would've filmed it –- it never would have played. It's also a vacation from the story and has nothing to do with the story, so you can't do that in a live-action film."^[97]

The soundtrack album was made available to pre-save and pre-order on March 13, 2023, and was released digitally on May 19, and on CD and vinyl on May 26, 2023, by Walt Disney Records.^[98][99] Bailey's version of "Part of Your World" was released as a digital download single on April 26, 2023, one month before the film's release,^[100] as well as the Korean version by Danielle of NewJeans.^[101]

The Little Mermaid (2023 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	May 19, 2023
Studio	Air Studios
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	40:00
Label	Walt Disney
Producer	Alan Menken Mike Higham Lin-Manuel Miranda
Singles from The Little Mermaid
"Part of Your World" Released: April 26, 2023

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for The Little Mermaid (OST)

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[102]	54
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[103]	94

Release

The Little Mermaid held its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on May 8, 2023, followed by the London premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on May 15. It was released theatrically on May 26, 2023, in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.^{[104][6][105]}

Marketing

On September 9, 2022, Rob Marshall and Halle Bailey appeared at the 2022 D23 Expo to introduce an exclusive presentation of the film's "Part of Your World" sequence, which received a positive response from the attendees, who praised Bailey's vocal performance. The film's teaser trailer was released to the public the same day.^[106] On October 13, 2022, the first poster was released to the public,^[107] which Bailey synchronously captioned on Twitter: "Words can't describe how immensely honored I feel to play the mermaid of my dreams."^[108]

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marshall says that this new take on Ariel spotlights a "modern woman". He says that the character goes back to Hans Christian Andersen from another century, but at the same time in 1989, that it felt in some ways like a very modern woman, someone who sees Ariel's life differently than anyone around her, and goes to find that dream.^[109] On January 21, 2023, Disney Live Entertainment announced a casting call for character look-alike actresses to portray Bailey's version of Ariel as a character meet-and-greet at Disneyland in Anaheim, California near the "It's a Small World" attraction, Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and the Walt Disney Studios park at Disneyland Paris in Paris, France, as part of the film's promotional campaign. It was later confirmed by Disney Parks that these meet-and-greets would run for a limited engagement throughout the summer, with the original, classic Ariel being reinstated afterwards.^{[110][111][112]}

On March 12, 2023, the official trailer was shown during the 95th Academy Awards, introduced on stage by Bailey and McCarthy, and then released online alongside a new poster.^[113]

A series of books based on the film were released on April 11, 2023. These include an original prequel novel entitled The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide by J. Elle; an illustrated picture book adaptation entitled The Little Mermaid: Make A Splash by Ashley Franklin and Paul Kellam; The Little Mermaid: Guide to Merfolk by Eric Geron detailing this film's depictions of Ariel, her sisters and universe; and the film's novelization by Faith Noelle.^{[43][114][115][116]}

Disney spent an estimated $140 million promoting The Little Mermaid.^[117] The film had the biggest global promotional campaign for a Disney branded live-action title at $80 million in value, with partner deals with the likes of McDonald's, Booking.com, and Kellogg's.^[118]

Reception

Pre-release

Variety reported that the official teaser trailer of The Little Mermaid garnered more than 104 million global views during the first weekend following its release. It surpassed recent Disney live-action releases including Beauty and the Beast with 94 million, Aladdin with 74 million and Cruella with 68 million.^[119] After the release of the trailer in September 2022, videos of black girls positively reacting to it went viral.^{[120][121][122]} In December 2022, the film ranked number three as the "Most Anticipated Family Film" of 2023 in a poll conducted by Fandango Media while Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy ranked number one as the "Most Anticipated New Performance on the Big Screen" and "Most Anticipated Villain", respectively.^[123]

Following its premiere at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023, the official trailer reportedly generated over 108 million global views within its first 24 hours.^[124] It is now among the most watched trailers for any reimagined title in Disney's growing stable of live-action adaptations, and the biggest for a Disney live-action title since the 2019 remake of The Lion King.^[125]

An early private test screening of the film's final cut took place on April 30, 2023, at The Whitby Hotel in New York City. The event, hosted by Marshall and DeLuca, was attended by 80 celebrities and industry professionals.^[126]

Box office

As of June 11, 2023^[update], The Little Mermaid has grossed $228.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $185.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $414.2 million.^[4][5] Deadline Hollywood's sources estimated the film will need to gross around $560 million at the worldwide box office in order to make a profit, and predicted the film would have a $20 million loss if it earned "anything in the low [$400 million] global threshold". An insider described the film's performance over its opening weekend as "not a huge disappointment, but a disappointment, nonetheless."^[117]

In the United States and Canada, The Little Mermaid—released alongside The Machine, Kandahar, About My Father, and You Hurt My Feelings—was projected to gross $120–125 million from 4,320 theaters over its four-day Memorial Day opening weekend.^[2] The film made $38 million on its first day, including $10.3 million from Thursday night previews.^[127] It went on to debut to $95.6 million in the traditional weekend, and $118.8 million over the four-day frame, topping the box office and making it the fifth highest Memorial Day opening in history.^{[118][128][129][130]} In its second weekend, the film declined 57% to $41.4 million while finishing in second place to newcomer Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.^[131][132] The film made $22.8 million in its third weekend, finishing third behind newcomer Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Across the Spider-Verse.^[133]

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, the opening weekend box office results fell short of expectations, grossing just $63.8 million worldwide.^[134] The film's biggest markets were Mexico ($8.5 million), the United Kingdom ($6.3 million), Italy ($4.7 million), Brazil and Australia (both around $4 million).^[134] Its performance in China and South Korea was disappointing; it grossed only $3.6 million in China, a country where Disney films tend to gross between $40–85 million, and $4.4 million in South Korea.^{[135][136][137]} Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was suffering from review bombing online, and that sites such as IMDb in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Mexico, and AlloCiné in France had added warnings to the rating pages for the film about "unusual" activity. IMDb's warning read, "Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied."^[138] Deadline Hollywood cited these low user ratings as well as "backlash...over the casting of star Halle Bailey in the title role" in countries such as Korea, China, France and Germany as contributing factors in the disappointing overseas box office.^[117] Al Jazeera similarly attributed the film's poor performance in Asian markets to the public's disappointment that a black actress had been cast in the role of Ariel.^[139]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 309 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "With Halle Bailey making a major splash in the title role, Disney's live-action Little Mermaid ranks among the studio's most enjoyable reimaginings."^[140] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[141] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an overall 91% positive score, with 76% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[118]

Vanessa Armstrong of /Film called it a live-action remake "done well" that "improves on the original" and had no doubt that "it will become an indelible part of many a young person's childhood, and I can't wait to watch it with my daughter."^[142] Molly Edwards of Total Film gave it four stars out of five and called it "A sparkling, enchanting new spin that out-swims the original, with a pitch-perfect performance from Halle Bailey."^[143] Zoë Rose Bryant of Next Best Picture praised its sense of nostalgia and called Bailey and Hauer-King the "stars of the show". She did, however, criticize the visual effects, but said that they were "far better than the oft-maligned trailers would lead you to believe."^[144] Peter Debruge of Variety lauded the film, saying that "Halle Bailey is all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic."^[145] Lex Briscuso of TheWrap called it "a fresh take on a beloved classic that isn't afraid to take a fairy tale and make it as real as it can, inviting its audience to dive into uncharted waters alongside its engaging and charming central characters."^[146] Brian Lowry of CNN wrote that the film "holds up nicely under the weight of those expectations, preserving the original's essence while updating undernourished aspects of it and riding a warm, hard-to-resist wave of nostalgia."^[147] Ross Bonaime of Collider wrote that it "might not match the greatness of the original, but it's the rare remake that feels worthy of being part of our world."^[148]

Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood wrote that "Marshall has made a movie with all the magic required to pull it off and, if not replace the original in our hearts, at least has made a movie that can stand next to that one to also become a memorable part of our cinematic world."^[149] Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly praised the performances of Bailey, Hauer-King and McCarthy, and named the "Under the Sea" sequence as the film's best musical highlight.^[150] Rachel LaBonte of Screen Rant felt mixed, saying that the film is "bolstered by deeper characterization and a grand scope, even as it grapples with flaws."^[151] Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote that "While not everything goes swimmingly, Halle Bailey splendidly buoys this "Mermaid" as the naive underwater youngster with dreams of exploring the surface."^[152] Helen O'Hara of Empire called it "Another 'live-action' remake that's darker and less compelling than the animated original, but it's saved by Bailey's charming performance, McCarthy's sass and the story's own eternal magic."^[153] Moira MacDonald of The Seattle Times praised Bailey's performance, saying that "her singing voice has both sweetness and power, and her smile is the sort on which dreams dance."^[154] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post called it an "on-the-other-fin mixed bag of a movie that honors its source material with a big, color-saturated production, while never precisely proving that it ever needed to exist."^[155]

On the critical side, Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture panned the film, writing that with this film, "Disney betrays its own lack of imagination and an essential misreading of what made its original children's fare such a joy to audiences in the first place."^[156] Lindsey Bahr of Associated Press wrote that "For all its pizazz, everything about this Little Mermaid is just more muted. Miranda's new songs are odd, too, and don't seem to fit."^[157] Hillary Busis of Vanity Fair criticized the runtime and called it an "uneasy mix of carbon copy and superfluous added material, presented in "live-action" that looks and feels (and is) as artificial as Lightning McQueen."^[158] Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post wrote that "Despite real actors, CGI and brand new material, 'Mermaid' is the studio's latest flesh-and-blood cash grab that's more lifeless than far better two-dimensional painted drawings." Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times wrote that "What's on-screen too often feels like wan, second-rate imitation, and the few differences seem motivated less by a spirit of imagination than one of joyless anxiety."^[159] "The Scuttlebutt" musical number was widely criticized by critics and audiences for Awkwafina's vocal performance, Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics (particularly the line "Remember the swamp? Remember my song in the swamp? When I was like 'Womp, chicka womp-womp, chicka womp-woooomp'") and its rap style not fitting in with the musical style of the other songs. Raven Brunner of Decider called the number "awkward" and that it felt "forced".^[160] A. Felicia Wade of DiscussingFilm wrote that "Considering the setting, it's really out of place for the film in general."^[161] Kat Rosenfield, writing for UnHerd, panned the film for being "propaganda" and for paling in comparison to the original, writing that "This is perhaps the worst thing about Disney’s contemporary remakes: not that they are blatant cash grabs, but that they are infantilizing. The original Little Mermaid placed infinitely more trust in its intended audience of children than the new version places in those same children, now that they’re grown up."^[162]

Casting of Ariel

After the announcement of Bailey as the role of Ariel in July 2019, and after the first teaser was released in September 2022, the film gained mixed responses from the public for casting an African-American actress as Ariel, who was originally White with red hair in the 1989 animated film. Arguments for the negative response have included that a Black mermaid does not adhere to historical accuracy (Hans Christian Andersen's description of the mermaid is that "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea"),^[163][164] that the adaptation should be as close to the original as possible,^[165] and that mermaids cannot be Black as they are underwater creatures.^[166] Criticism of the casting after the teaser trailer release became viral and elicited the hashtag #NotMyAriel.^[167] Many media outlets as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda, the film's producer and lyricist, criticized the negative response and described it as being racist.^{[168][169][170]} Stuart Heritage of The Guardian argued, "The boring spat over the Disney trailer makes idiots of us all – whether Ariel is Black or White, it is clearly a film that should rightfully be ignored then forgotten forever", suggesting instead that there should be a "grotesque scaly mutant as the lead".^[171]

During an interview in August 2019, Bailey said that "[she doesn't] pay attention to the negativity", while Auliʻi Cravalho, who played Ariel in a musical presentation as a part of The Wonderful World of Disney, expressed excitement at watching Bailey's portrayal of the character.^[167] Jodi Benson, the voice actress for Ariel in the 1989 film, praised Bailey, stating, "I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters".^[172] Brandy Norwood, the first woman of color to play Cinderella in the 1997 Disney television film of the same, and Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana (Disney's first official African-American Princess), also both praised the casting of Bailey as Ariel.^[173][174] Rachel Zegler, who played Maria in Steven Spielberg's 2021 film version of West Side Story and will play the titular role in Disney's 2024 live-action remake of Snow White, also voiced her support for Bailey.^[175] In February 2023, after another first look of the film was released online, which had some negative reactions, Bailey revealed that she was trying during the film's promotional campaign to ignore the criticisms shown by racist trolls on social media and instead focus on the positives of the anticipation for the film's release. In a cover story for The Face, Bailey further added "I know people are like: 'It's not about race.' But now that I'm her... People don't understand that when you're Black there's this whole other community... It's so important for us to see ourselves."^[176]

A poll conducted in July 2019, from Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult found that just less than half of Americans supported the idea of minorities playing the roles of characters who had been cast as White.^[a] When asked "Thinking about live-action movie remakes of classic cartoons, do you support or oppose actors who are racial and ethnic minorities playing characters who have been White in past films?", 48% answered "strongly" or "somewhat" support, 21% said "strongly" or "somewhat" oppose, while 31% either did not know or had no opinion.^[165][177] The same poll also found a majority in support of remakes that are "as close to their original as possible, including sticking to the race and ethnicity of each character."^[177]

China

In May 2023, the Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Chinese Communist Party, accused Disney of "forced inclusion of minorities" and "lazy and irresponsible storytelling."^[178]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Golden Trailer Awards	June 29, 2023	Best Original Score	"Above" (Level Up AV)	Pending	[179]
The Queerties	February 28, 2023	Next Big Thing	The Little Mermaid	Won	[180]

Possible sequels

On April 25, 2023, Marshall hinted at the possibility of there being sequels if the film is successful, saying, "It's a classic story that has a lot of characters and a lot of interesting stories. I do think it's right for certain things. But you have to see how a movie plays, and how it does... I think there's always opportunity to find stories within stories. That's always a wonderful thing."^[181]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• The Little Mermaid at IMDb