I remember the first time I watched the 1989 version of The Little Mermaid as if it was yesterday. It was a Sunday morning, and I was curled up in a pile of blankets at the foot of my parents’ bed with a bowl of cereal in my lap, watching Ariel twirl a fork through her hair while yearning to be part of our world. I was a young boy, she was a young girl, but it didn’t matter. Her longing for a new life translated into my own hidden longing I was only beginning to understand. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet, but I dove headfirst into it anyway and never looked back.
You can imagine my disappointment, then, when it was announced Disney planned to remake this favorite film of mine with a live-action edition. After all, the company doesn’t have the best track record with live-action remakes. Over time, minor changes were fed to us such as Halle Bailey becoming the first Black Ariel, Ursula as King Triton’s sister, and a few song lyrics here and there being altered for a modern audience.
I didn’t worry that the changes in and of themselves would hurt the film, but that the film would lose sight of its north star, its beating heart. Because as much as I understood this modern version would come with alterations — alterations I was too young to understand were sorely missing from the original — there was still a part of me that didn’t want it to be too different. Let Ariel still twirl a fork through her hair. Let Sebastian still urge Prince Eric to kiss the girl. Let Flounder be frightened by the nearest boo. Let Prince Eric and Ariel fall over the boat together right before they kiss.
You can imagine my joy, then, at seeing a side-by-side comparison of both films in a TikTok video. In it, Rob Marshall’s painstaking dedication to staying true to the original is clear as day, and I couldn’t be happier. The top clip is from the live-action official trailer whereas the bottom is spliced clips from the original to mirror the clips from the trailer.
The most jarring (in a good way) similarities is Prince Eric’s shipwreck; Ariel’s rescue of him; the two of them on the beach as the former wakes up from unconsciousness; Ariel swimming to the top of the ocean to seek out humans; Ursula’s lair; Ariel flipping her hair as she emerges from the water; Ariel’s signature pose on a rock as the waves crash behind her; the underwater sea community dancing with Ariel as she sings; Ariel and Prince Eric riding on a horse carriage; the entire “Kiss the Girl” sequence; Prince Eric’s boat riding off into the ocean backdropped by exploding fireworks — basically every clip, okay?
It’s hard not to watch the TikTok video and wonder how the live-action could be any less spectacular than the original. However, as we know, early reviews have been harsh. The film currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 71 percent, ranking it lower than seven other live-action adaptations before it.
Even if it turns out that The Little Mermaid remake missed the minor nuances the adaptation got right, let it at least have heart, and let Ariel at least shine as bright as she did in the original, which apparently she does if the critics are to be believed.
A princess to love, a prince to swoon over, a love story to admire, and a remake that respects its source material is about all I could ask for in a live-action remake. And good CGI, of course (Lord, please let the CGI be good). The rest, as they say, will be history. So, let’s dust off those mermaid tails and jump into this adventure, why don’t we?
You can watch The Little Mermaid when it premieres in theaters worldwide this Friday, May 26.
