A surprisingly sweet re-make

Incredibly, I think I have managed to avoid every single Disney live action remake of recent times. Of course, this isn’t purely accidental – the terrible reviews they have almost universally received doesn’t exactly make you want to seek them out. But there’s something different about The Little Mermaid. I just adore the music in The Little Mermaid, and it was one of the few Disney movies we had on video when I was growing up, so I’ve watched it more times than I can remember. So it’s safe to say I’ve got a bit of a soft-spot for it.

One other thing stood out about this film over the others, and that was the nature of the criticism it received. It took only moments after the casting announcement for racists (let’s not beat about the push!) to seize on the fact that a young black woman was cast in the role of Ariel, who was white in the original cartoon. Much of the negative response to the film devolved into attempts to justify that racism (“It’s not realistic for her to have red hair!”), making it hard to tell if the film in itself was actually any good. I’m sure it suffered from a certain amount of review bombing in the days and weeks after release.

Everything taken into consideration, it seemed a safer bet to just go and watch it for myself, and I’m glad I did. Here are my attempts at brief thoughts on what I loved and didn’t care for so much in Rob Marshall’s latest outing.

The Pros

• Halle Bailey. You can really tell that Halle is a ‘real’ singer, not an actress attempting to sing. She has a lovely, smooth, rich voice, which is powerful enough to really carry the songs. She’s perhaps doesn’t give the most complex of performances, but she nicely captures the kind of charming naivety and optimism necessary for Ariel’s character. She is believable as a frustrated and adventurous teenage girl trying to figure out what she wants from life.
• The visuals. There were lots of complains about how visually dull the film looked when people got a first look at the posters and trailers, but this really didn’t ring true of the actual film for me. I thought it was really bright and vibrant, somehow managing to avoid the uncanny valley-ness of other adaptations. It looked realistic without being creepy, and did a good job of capturing the wonder of a coral reef.
• The message updates. Ok, it’s easy for the ‘modernisations’ to these types of film’s messages to end up being crass and heavy-handed (see GirlBoss feminist Belle in Beauty and the Beast). But I think they were handled with an appropriately light touch in The Little Mermaid. They’re kind of snuck in, without becoming defining features of the film. The merpeople’s concern with human destruction of the reef feels topical without being shoe-horned, and the slight changes to ‘Kiss the Girl’ address the concept of consent in a totally natural way. Eric’s anti-isolationist stance is a little big stranger, but works thematically to give him more similarities to Ariel. They actually want similar things from life, which adds real warmth to the depiction of their relationship. Which leads me on to…
• Ariel and Eric’s relationship. It’s still the whirlwind romance of the original, but it feels so much warmer and more realistic. We get to see them interact more and they feel more like equals. Somehow it’s just less creepy than the original, with Ariel feeling less like a child compared to Eric and more like a peer who can’t talk (which is not exactly unheard of in the real world!). One small detail I particularly appreciated was that when they finally re-unite at the end, they hug before kissing. It isn’t the classic, Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet-scored rush towards each other’s arms, but just a really heartfelt hug between two people who have missed each other. Given that the film is largely aimed at children and younger people (whatever nostalgic millennials may argue), this was a really sweet touch, and sets quite a cute example.
• Sebastian. The ‘look’ of Sebastian and Flounder was widely and loudly criticised on release of the posters, but I’ve got to say, I loved them both! Yes, it’s very different to the cartoons, but there’s something hilariously adorable about that weird little crab. Don’t take it too seriously, and there’s a lot to like about him!

The Cons

• The new songs. Not a particularly big thing, as there aren’t many of them, but the new songs don’t really capture the magic of the originals. Eric gets a song, which again adds to his characterisation and provides him with some actual motivations. The score is written by Alan Menken, who composed the original music and songs with Howard Ashman. Tragically, Ashman died before the completion of the original, and perhaps it’s the lack of that creative partnership that brings the new songs down. The absolute cringe of Awkwafina’s song as Scuttle was definitely the low-point of the film for me. But as I said, these films are largely aimed at bringing in a new, younger generation of viewers, and kid’s films often seem to come with terrible rapping these days (do I sound curmudgeonly yet?). So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised!
• Under-utilisation of the cast. I was genuinely excited about the casting of Ariel’s sisters (particularly Simone Ashley!), and quite a big deal was made of it in the promotional material. In fact, they were barely featured at all – I think Ashley got a single line! This probably shouldn’t have been a surprise given their meagre role in the original film, but I was hoping their parts had been bulked up a bit. Sadly this wasn’t really the case. But it was still nice to see them, and I liked the effort they made with personalising their ‘outfits’, drawing inspiration from actual fish and marine life.
• Triton and Ursula. My criticism of Javier Bardem’s Triton is perhaps a little harsh, but he came across as quite one-note. Of all the characters, he was perhaps the only one who felt less ‘real than that of the cartoon. He grumbled and brooded, and didn’t really say very much! There was something quite touching and believable in the depiction of Triton in the cartoon – you really did feel he was going to miss her – but Bardem didn’t make much of the role. The contrast between the CGI version of him underwater and the him out of water literally made me laugh out loud – they did Bardem dirty. He looked so much older and more tired! Perhaps this was a deliberate choice, designed to represent his lack of power outside his own realm, but I’m afraid it came across more as a bit of a goof. Compared with much of Bardem’s existing filmography, this film is incredibly lightweight, and of all the cast, he’s the only one who feels like he’s in it for the pay-check alone.
  Melissa McCarthy’s casting as Ursula was another source of controversy for the movie. Ursula’s original design was famously based on drag queen Divine, and it seemed a huge snub not to cast a drag artist in the role. It would have been a perfect way to bring the depiction into the modern age and give the role the sense of fun and extravagance which the original so perfectly expressed. In the end, I think McCarthy did a pretty decent job, but her performance still lacked the campy exuberance which would have made for a classic Disney villain.

All things considered, I really enjoyed The Little Mermaid, and I can see it becoming an easy comfort watch. I think you just have to bring some realism to your expectation of these big remakes. They’re capitalist undertakings – of course they’re just in it for the money! They’re aiming to appeal to the widest possible audience to earn the highest sales – they’re not going to be deeply thought-provoking masterpieces, or the very height of their art. But if there are enough talented people putting thought and care into its creation, you can still end up with an enjoyable experience, even if it is still very much a product. I think that in this, The Little Mermaid achieved what it set out to do, offering a fun watch with plenty going for it.

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Have you watched The Little Mermaid? What did you think of it compared with the other Disney remakes of the past decade or so? I still adore the original cartoon and won’t stop watching it any time soon, but I’m pleased to have taken a chance on this remake, which I can see myself coming back to it again and again. (Although maybe making use of the fast-forward button for Scuttle’s solos!)