(Disclaimer: Sprout actually fell asleep just before Under the Sea started, so this is going to be a retelling of my The Little Mermaid 2023 experience. I’ll try to make this as spoiler-free as possible.)

The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney film, hands down. Growing up, I just wanted to be a mermaid and I didn’t understand at all why Ariel wanted to be human. (Well, the seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake, as Sebastian says.) So when I learned that Disney was releasing a live action, I was ecstatic.

But I’m the type of person who reads reviews before reading a book or watching a movie. Not that I let others influence my decision to read or watch; doing so simply takes away the surprise – I hate surprises. So, I did that for this one… and it was sad.

My Unsolicited Thoughts on The Little Mermaid Backlash

“Fans” of the original The Little Mermaid have so many issues about the live action remake. One of people’s secondary issues was the ultra-realistic CGI, and I must admit that in the beginning, I had issues with that, too. I mean, I always compared my Sprout’s cheeks to Flounder! Seeing Flounder as flat was a bit off-putting, but as I watched more and more trailers, I kind of got used to it and got over my initial hesitation.

Another minor issue critics cite was the darkness of the underwater and night scenes. I did tell Francis it’s so dark, it’s like DC. But if you watch the entirety of the film, you’d see that most of it is actually bright, colorful, and vibrant. Under the Sea was so beautiful, like something you see when you go scuba diving.

One more thing people didn’t like was the song changes. Aside from removing a couple of songs, Disney made minor changes to two major soundtracks, a move that makes the lyrics more politically correct by today’s standards. Ursula’s Poor Unfortunate Souls excluded an entire verse which talks about how a girl’s voice is not important. I love that it teaches my daughter that she is worth listening to.

Meanwhile, in Kiss the Girl, the lyrics changed from “There is one way to ask her / It don’t take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl” to “Use your voice, boy, and ask her / If the time is right and that time is tonight, go on and kiss the girl” to signify and promote consent.

But biggest was the backlash on the casting of Halle Bailey, who I knew nothing about before the live action remake. My nerves flare up as I read the disagreement (to put it lightly) on her casting as the titular role of Ariel. When I read vile comments about how Halle was “aggressive” – which she was not – you can’t convince me that it has nothing to do with the color of her skin. After all, the Ariel we know from the original animated film is white, so many people were put off with the idea of having a black Ariel.

I wasn’t, and when Disney started releasing Halle’s version of the iconic Part of Your World, I found her rendition to be so captivating. Jodi Benson’s original was already hard to top, but Halle’s was more emotional, more filled with a longing for what she wanted and can’t have. Ariel’s “thing” has always been her voice, and that’s what makes Halle, Ariel. Do I love her? Yes, indeed.

What I’m saying is if you’re not giving The Little Mermaid a chance because of the negative stuff critics are saying online or the low box office turnout, you’re missing a lot. The changes Disney made in the storyline and songs are necessary, the CGI is beautiful, the casting is perfect. It’s still showing on SM City Cabanatuan, so catch it before it swims away.

Once Sprout grows up and begins to appreciate movies, The Little Mermaid 2023 is one of the first films we will have her see.