The Little Mermaid (2023 film)

The Little Mermaid is a 2023 American musical fantasy film that is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid, which itself is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, DeLuca Marshall, and Marc Platt Productions. Directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay by David Magee, the film stars Halle Bailey as the title character, with Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy in supporting roles. The plot follows the mermaid princess Ariel, who is fascinated with the human world; after saving Prince Eric from a shipwreck, she makes a deal with the sea witch Ursula to walk on land.

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, Hauer-King, McCarthy, Bardem, Diggs, Tremblay, Awkwafina, and the rest of the cast joined between July and November 2019. Production was expected to begin in London between late March and early April 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, before ultimately took place from January to July 2021, primarily at Pinewood Studios in England and on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Composer Alan Menken returned to augment 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, and was released in the United States on May 26 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $569.6 million worldwide against its production budget of $240.2 million, becoming Disney's twenty-third most expensive to date.

Plot

Under the Caribbean Sea, in the kingdom of Atlantica, the mermaid princess Ariel is fascinated with the human world and collects human artifacts in her grotto despite never having seen it, as her father King Triton, the ruler of Atlantica, forbids all merfolk from surfacing there after Ariel's mother was killed by a human. With her best friend Flounder, they both visit Scuttle, a northern gannet who gives inaccurate information about humans.

One night, Ariel sees fireworks above the ocean and surfaces to see them better. They come from the ship of Eric, the prince of a nearby island. When a storm arrives, the ship crashes against rocks, forcing all to go for the lifeboats. Ariel rescues Eric, brings him to shore, and sings to him, fleeing before he can regain full consciousness.

Noticing Ariel's absent-minded behavior, Triton questions his advisor Sebastian the crab, who reveals that she saved a human. Enraged, Triton travels to Ariel's grotto and demands that she swear to never return to the surface. When she refuses, he destroys her collection of human objects. Ariel is later approached by two moray eels sent by the sea witch Ursula, Triton's estranged sister and Ariel's aunt who was banished from Atlantica fifteen years prior.

Ariel makes a deal with Ursula to transform into a human for three days in exchange for her voice, which Ursula will keep in a nautilus shell. Within that time, Ariel must receive "true love's kiss" to remain human permanently. If Ariel fails, she will transform back into a mermaid and Ursula will claim her soul. After receiving human legs, she swims to the surface with Sebastian and Flounder. In the human world, she is rescued and taken to Eric's castle. Eric, who has been searching for the woman who saved his life, rushes to meet Ariel. While exploring the castle, Ariel finds Eric's collection of items he accumulated over his travels. Eric spends time with her poring over his collection.

The next day, Eric takes Ariel sightseeing around the kingdom. Sebastian, who has followed Ariel, discovers that Ursula has rigged the spell to make Ariel 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. Enraged by Ariel’s close success, Ursula turns into a young woman named Vanessa and uses Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric. Back in Atlantica, Triton has the kingdom search for Ariel and begins to regret the way he treated her.

The next morning, Ariel and her friends discover that Eric will be announcing his engagement to Vanessa later that day, believing she is the woman who saved him and sang to him on the beach. After Scuttle discovers Ursula’s disguise and alerts her of it, Ariel rushes to the engagement party, confronts Ursula, and breaks the shell. She gains back her voice, and the enchantment on Eric is broken. However, before they can kiss, the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Reverting to her original form, Ursula drags Ariel back into the ocean.

Wanting to save Ariel, Triton confronts Ursula. However, the deal that she made with Ariel is unbreakable. Triton trades himself for Ariel and is turned to dust by Flotsam and Jetsam before losing his authority over Atlantica, much to her horror. Ursula declares herself the Queen of the Seven Seas and claims Triton's trident when Eric arrives with a harpoon. Ursula attempts to kill Eric, but Ariel intervenes and attacks Ursula who accidentally kills Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow in size.

Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before a gigantic Ursula separates them. She then gains full control of the ocean, creating a storm and bringing sunken ships to the surface before Ariel gets on one. Just as Eric is about to be killed, Ariel commandeers a wrecked ship and impales Ursula with its splintered bowsprit. Once Ursula dies, Triton is resurrected; he and Ariel recognize the other's sacrifice for them.

Ariel returns home, where she is unhappy without Eric. On Sebastian's advice, Triton transforms Ariel into a human permanently, and she reunites with Eric. As Eric and Ariel are on the beach, the pair decide to travel together, with the blessing of both their parents and the support of people from both their worlds.

Cast

Live-action cast

• Halle Bailey as Ariel, a curious, adventurous, and headstrong mermaid princess and King Triton's youngest daughter who is fascinated with the human world.
• Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, an adventurer and free-spirited human prince whom Ariel falls in love with after saving him from drowning. Hauer-King described his character as "restless and inquisitive about where he is in the world, like Ariel... He's quite isolated and sensitive."
• 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 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."
  • Jessica Alexander as Vanessa, Ursula's human alter ego, which she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel. Alexander described her character as "a seductress, a temptress, the definition of a femme fatale and a sexy female villain."
• 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 the hands of one of them. Bardem 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."
• 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. Dumezweni 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."
• 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.

Voice cast

• Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, a loyal fiddler crab and King Triton's majordomo who watches over Ariel.
• Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, an anxious yet noble sergeant major who is Ariel's best friend.
• Awkwafina as 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 gannet instead of a male seagull as in the original to feature the character in underwater scenes.

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. 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.