Emma’ review: 4.3/5 stars 

As many know, Disney is reimagining most of their “classics” into live-action remakes. From Beauty and the Beast to Cinderella, Disney learned that they could make “even more money remaking the most popular Disney films,” said MovieWeb. Their most recent adaptation was The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric.  

In 1989, Disney Studios released their hit movie The Little Mermaid. The movie follows King Triton’s youngest daughter, Ariel, a mermaid who longs to be on land but is stuck below water. After making a deal with a sea witch, Ursula, who also happens to be her aunt, she is given the chance to go above water and be human for three days, but she will be forced back to the ocean if she doesn’t share a kiss of “true love” with a prince.  

After much anticipation, the live-action teaser was released during September 2022 and caused a lot of controversy. The biggest issue people had with the new version was that Ariel is black. Everything from mermaids being European mythological creatures and therefore being white, to simply that it is not realistic, has been argued by racists. However, though there are all kinds of immediate rebuttals to these racist arguments, the fact of the matter is that The Little Mermaid is a fictional story set in a fictional world, and a sea witch rising from the ocean and creating a giant whirlpool is highly less realistic than Ariel being black.  

Regardless of all controversies, The Little Mermaid hit theaters on May 26, 2023, and has been a hit – mostly. The film has received a 7.2/10 on IMDb, but people seem to be split on not only whether or not it did justice to the original, but whether or not it was good in general. One user described it as “an insult to the original,” saying how “the changes made to the ending make the story worse, not better” and that the producers “didn’t need to make Eric weaker to build up Ariel.” However, another user disagreed saying that “the storyline aligned to [the] animated film perfectly with some good additions,” and that it is one of Disney’s best live-action remakes.  

As for me, I believe that The Little Mermaid did an amazing job in all categories: inclusivity and representation, casting, music, filming, and adaptation. I think the added banter between Scuttle and Sebastian made for a nice break during intense moments and created a great dynamic. Additionally, though Flounder’s adaptation was not the best, I really liked both Scuttle and Prince Eric’s added songs. All in all, these movies are called a reimagining for a reason. They are not supposed to match the original word for word, but instead use the same storyline to tell a story that is up to date with society, and I think the 2023 reimagining of The Little Mermaid did just that.