I don’t have any wise words about the impact of Disney Princesses that you haven’t read before. I’m not going to debate why Halle Bailey as Ariel is just as valid as the Jodi Benson version. Or how the second one does not subtract from the first but enhances the legend. Folklore changes over time to match who and where we are. Neither of the Disney versions looks anything like the original written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837, where he described, “Her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea;” Notice he wrote “leaf” not “petal.” So yeah, Andersen probably envisioned his sea princess with green skin. This means Disney’s Ariel is not “The” Little Mermaid but “a” little mermaid, a character who is open to interpretation.
The Little Mermaid (2023) stars Halle Bailey as Ariel because that is director Rob Marshall’s vision for her. And it is a good one. Bailey sparkles in the role with a voice so ethereal it’s difficult to match and her performance is as gentle and as forceful as the seas themselves can be.
You already know the story, right? The sixth or seventh daughter of Neptune, Poseidon, or King Triton (Javier Bardem)—depending on which version you’re into—is obsessed with the human world above the waves. She collects doodads and thingies she doesn’t understand but that still fascinates her. Her father fears the world above since the death of her mother and forbids her to explore it, but there’s a shipwreck where she saves a prince called Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and our girl starts crushing hard. Unable to walk on land with her tail, Ariel makes a deal with The Sea Witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), and, the same as with most fairy tales, things get messy. But she doesn’t turn into seafoam like in the 1837 original—for those considering themselves purists. Just saying.
Following the structure of Disney’s live-action adaptations before it, The 2023 Little Mermaid mirrors the animated one but with updates that give the girl more agency and it adds a few new songs. The best of these is “For the First Time” sung by Ariel, and “The Scuttlebutt” sung by Awkwafina (Scuttle) and Daveed Diggs (Sebastian), a song that is so Hamilton you wanna wink at Lin Manuel Miranda while listening. Prince Eric gets a song (“Wild Uncharted Waters”) that isn’t great but it’s nice to see him have his moment. Another change is Eric’s kingdom, it is now multicultural with a Caribbean vibe. The 1997 Cinderella, starring Brandy and Paulo Montleban, comes to mind as an inspiration, especially when we meet Queen Selina (Noma Dumezweni) and Sir Grimsby (Art Malik).
The visuals in the first half are gorgeous and “Under the Sea” gets a boost from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, making it more spectacular. I liked the village scene and “Kiss the Girl” better here too. Call back your assassins, I feel how I feel. McCarthy’s Ursula is campy with an immaculate set of tentacles with bioluminescent highlights (but she didn’t scare me and I wanted her to). Her barracudas, however, yes! Hauer-King’s prince is prince’ing (he cute) and he and Bailey share a chemistry with a glow. Equally glowy are the costume designs for the mermaids. They will make you gasp; the most ‘fittingest’ fit is on Princess Tamika; actress Sienna King serves face in the role. Then there’s Daveed Diggs’ accent . . . it happened . . . but he’s so good you end up letting it go.
Which makes the length the biggest drawback of this movie. Bardem is a great daddy. The switch to a father-daughter tug-of-war between her dreams and his fears works. But we spend too much time under the sea and too little time getting to know Ariel and Eric, and what the new world they intend to build together might look like—or if their love is built to withstand those wild uncharted waters he sings about.
In the end, I say see it. It’s kinda lovely.
Score: 7/10 or B
filed under: ROMANCLUSIVITY for historical-ish inclusive romance and a reference to Cinderella (1997)
