Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they're missing," he wrote. The reference to "kink," which sometimes means "a person's unusual sexual preference," especially in a pop culture context, drew attention online. "The Little Mermaid" has a PG rating and is being marketed to children and families.
Throughout most of the film, Ariel is rarely fully covered as she sports a seashell bra with her mermaid tail. There are a few instances where Ariel bears even more skin, which prompted producers to get creative in terms of ensuring that things remain G-rated.
What is the problem in the story The Little Mermaid?
Creatures like mermaids can only gain a soul if a human being falls in love with them, which seems like an unfair point for the mermaid. The titular little mermaid wants to spend her life and afterlife with the human prince that she falls in love with. He, however, doesn't fall in love with her.
This fairy tale teaches society that even though someone may have achieved a heroic feat, such as the little mermaid saving the prince, they may not be renowned for it. This is evident when the little mermaid is rejected by the prince who thinks the young woman from the convent is his rescuer.
The Little Mermaid has been facing a racist backlash since the casting of Halle Bailey with the trailer getting down-voted as many as 3 million times. Racists claim that Ariel's fictional character was depicted as white in the 1989 animated classic.
NOT KINKY ENOUGH: NYT blasted for bizarre complaint about 'Little Mermaid' movie
Is Ariel The Little Mermaid autistic?
Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” has been headcanoned as autistic, because no one who sings a song about wanting to not just learn about an interest, but literally be in that world, is neurotypical.
On the significance of casting a Black actress as Ariel
Sherri Hope Culver: To have a Disney character who is not just a princess but a live-action, real flesh and blood person that children can be inspired by is important. This is because people of color are less likely to see themselves reflected in the media.
While lighting itself isn't all that expensive, darkness can be used to hide a lot of things. Halle Bailey is not actually a mermaid, and so having the scenes be darker makes it easier to disguise the CGI work.
In Andersen's fairy tale, the Little Mermaid is described as follows: "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea." And if you're wondering if Andersen's Little Mermaid had that signature bright red hair that has become synonymous with mermaids, the answer is unclear.
The movie itself does not explicitly state Ariel's age, but Disney's production notes for the film shared by Yahoo! describe the lead character as a "spirited 18-year-old." The evidence behind Ariel being aged up two years compared to the animated movie can be seen in the live-action remake.
What race is Ariel in the original Little Mermaid?
In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish. As Ariel is half fish, she cannot be categorized by our ethnicities and races.
The decision to fix Ariel's age at 16 years old was also likely to appeal to the target audience of Disney's version of The Little Mermaid. Her age makes sense to the narrative of the story as it's driven by her curiosity about the world and her identity crisis; relatable themes for many at the same stage of life.
From Ursula's terrifying final form to the devastating shipwreck, 2023's live-action The Little Mermaid is much darker than 1989's animated classic. Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid is making a splash with the original movie's fans.
Younger kids who are familiar with the cartoon may be able to handle the more intense aspects of this version, but the live-action element definitely heightens the peril of scenes like the shark chase, the storm at sea, the shipwreck, and the big, climactic fight scene between Ursula, Ariel, and Eric.
While it is known that her mother perished, there is no story attached to the event. However, much later, in 2008, an animated The Little Mermaid prequel revealed that Ariel's mother was crushed by a pirate ship during an altercation between humans and merpeople.
The video goes on to talk about how this original concept for Ariel was too close to the Splash mermaid and the designers wanted to differentiate Ariel, so her red hair was born. We can't imagine Ariel without her red hair, but not everyone felt the same way back in the 80s.
“There's so much you can do with tentacles. They give a creepy feeling,” supervising animator Ruben Aquino told Premiere magazine in 1989, adding the team ultimately decided to make her look like an octopus.
The reported box office result of The Little Mermaid 2023 remake is about $560 million. On paper, these numbers look good. The film grossed over $298 million domestically and more than $263 million internationally.
One fan pointed out that her hair looked less vibrantly red because the film is "lit realistically." After seeing this trailer, it's not that the Little Mermaid doesn't have color. It's just all lit realistically.
While some of Sebastian's features resemble a lobster, Sebastian is definitely a crab, as is stated in The Little Mermaid itself a few times. This includes the scene where the obsessed Chef Louis refers to Sebastian as a crab, and since he's a professional, he really should know.
The reason studios make beloved characters black in the live action adaptations is so they don't have to go to the trouble of actually giving special, brand new unique characters made from scratch to black people.
There are several instances when Eric's mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni), who is Black and adopted him as a child when he washed up from the ocean, chastises him for his obvious love for beings that are considered other.
One thing to note, Hans Christian Andersen left out race, skin color, and character names. For the animated movie, Disney made the little mermaid white, made her hair red, and gave her a name, Ariel.
