The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall and released in theaters on May 26, 2023, is a brilliant live action remake of the 1985 The Little Mermaid directed by John Musker and Ron Clements.
In this movie, the youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most resistant, Ariel yearns to learn more about the world above her waters. When she defies her father and visits the surface, Ariel falls in love with the charming Prince Eric. Ariel must follow her heart even though it contradicts everything the mermaids believe, not to interact with humans. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to give her a chance to have a life with Eric on land, but ultimately puts the life of her, King Triton and the Mer-Kingdom in peril.
The main cast consists of Halle Bailey (Ariel), Javier Bardem (King Triton), Melissa McCarthy (Ursula) Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric), Awkwafina (Scuttle), Daveed Diggs (Sebastian), and Jacob Tremblay (Flounder).
This movie takes advantage of its artistic license in many different scenes. The Sea Witch Ursula is actually King Triton’s sister and Ariel’s Aunt. In addition, Prince Eric was found shipwrecked and adopted by the King and Queen of an island in the Caribbean. In the 1985 version, Prince Eric found Ariel as a human on shore, but Ron Clements had Ariel get caught in a fisher’s net and brought to shore where the Queen welcomed her into the castle.
There were also a few new songs that were added including Ariel’s “For the First Time” and “Wild Uncharted Waters” sung by Prince Eric. In the song “For the first time,” Ariel sings of her time on land and all the new things she experiences. She also thinks about what her first time meeting Prince Eric as a human will be like, but sadly comes to realize that he won’t recognize her because she can’t speak. It gives us a great insight on Ariel’s thoughts and feelings about giving up her voice to be a human. She understands that she can’t undo the decisions and choices she’s made. Ariel says she feels “lost for the first time, scared for the first time. Gravity feels like an undertow pulling me down.”
When Prince Eric sings “Wild Uncharted Waters,” he describes his captivation for the girl (Ariel) that rescued him from the shipwreck. He also mentions how her song takes over his mind and has a hold on him “stronger than the undertow.” In the chorus, Prince Eric says, “time may change the shoreline, but time will not change me.” What he means by this is that time may pass and the people and way of life around him may change, but he will always love the mystery girl no matter what happens.
In the end, I thought that The Little Mermaid directed by Ron Clements was swimmingly good. It was unique in its own ways while still keeping the charm and character of the 1985 original. I would definitely recommend this movie to people of all ages.
