Scuttle is not only changed from male to female but is also now a diving bird instead of a seagull. "This was done specifically so that Ariel would only meet Scuttle underwater, because, at the start of our story, Ariel has never dared go above the surface," director Rob Marshall said in production notes.
Changing the gender of the character as well as the species may seem strange, but the creators wanted to feature a bird who could be in underwater scenes. While a seagull is an iconic beach bird, for practical reasons, it makes much more sense for Scuttle to be a seabird.
Why did they make Scuttle a girl in The Little Mermaid?
Diversity. Ariel had 3 male animal friends, so they needed to make one a girl. Same reason they made Jock a girl (Jacqueline aka Jacque) in the Lady & The Tramp live-action remake.
In The Little Mermaid remake, Scuttle plays a bigger role than in the original. Instead of Scuttle being a male seagull, Scuttle is a northern gannet which is a female seabird. This allowed Scuttle to be included in the underwater scenes which ends up being an important change from the original movie.
The live-action remake of The Little Mermaid made changes to the character design of Scuttle, turning him into a Northern gannet instead of a seagull. The decision to change Scuttle's species was made in order to elevate Ariel's narrative and create a more impactful moment when she breaches the water's edge.
Ursula was played by Melissa McCarthy in the 2023 live action remake of The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall. In this version, like with the Broadway musical, Ursula is the estranged younger sister of King Triton (played by Javier Bardem), thus making her the paternal aunt to Ariel and her sisters in this film.
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.
In case you're wondering why Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina) is swimming, the bird is now a female northern gannet diving bird instead of a male seagull — but she kept the fork (or dinglehopper, as it's called).
Why did Disney change the names of Ariel's sisters?
So, why the change? One theory is that each of Ariel's sisters represents different oceans that are home to various cultures and ethnicities. It's pretty problematic to have mermaids who all look the same representing such an expansive underwater world.
Ariel kills the Sea Witch at the end of the movie.
At the end of the 1989 animated film, Eric saves the day and kills Ursula. But in the new movie, Ariel is no longer the damsel in distress. She takes matters into her own hands and kills Ursula herself.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
What is the hidden meaning behind The Little Mermaid?
TLDR The original Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Andersen is much darker and more tragic than the Disney version, exploring themes of the value of a soul, the fear of death, and the consequences of unrequited love.
Since it was Morgana using Ursula's magic potion that turned Melody into a mermaid, it is unknown if salmon pink would be her natural mermaid tail color.
Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, an anxious yet noble sergeant major who is Ariel's best friend. Tremblay was announced to have been cast on July 1, 2019. 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.
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.
There were a lot of very confused people a few years ago when it was revealed that Halle Bailey had been cast as the live-action Ariel and people, who did not know Bailey from her music career, believed that Halle Berry had been cast in the role.
Rather, Ursula's appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress. It's possible Ursula is not a mermaid in appearance because she and Triton did not have the same mother or father. If they're half siblings, Ursula's tentacles make more sense.
Queen Athena is shown to be a stunningly beautiful and attractive mermaid with long, red hair tied in a partial ponytail, green eyes, and an aqua tail. Of all her daughters, her youngest, Ariel, resembles her the most.
“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 Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall explained why Disney's live-action remake chose not to include Chef Louis. "That's when you realize we're not an animated movie," Marshall told SFX Magazine. "The animated movie stays forever, and people can go and watch that. This needs to work in a realistic way.
That honor goes to a song that's not in the movie - the “If Only” quartet that Ariel sings with Sebastian, King Triton and Prince Eric. Among Mermaid's many subplots is the special relationship shared by Ariel and Flounder. While Ariel regards Flounder as more of a sidekick, Flounder has an adolescent crush on Ariel.
Though it looked like King Triton was dead, Ariel's defeat of Ursula resurrected him. It's possible Ursula held merpeople captive for eternity, but the spell was no longer active after her death, setting Triton free of the contract and restoring him to full health.
At the beginning of the second movie when her daughter Melody is illegally swimming, she is clearly holding her breath for an extremely long time. It's entirely possible that she inherited this ability from her mother, which also came in handy when she became a mermaid.
