Warning: this article contains spoilers for Disney’s live action The Little Mermaid.
With Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid rolling out in theaters around the world, expect some changes that were made to retell this classic fairytale. Rob Marshall revealed that this modern retelling took inspiration from the late-’80s animation and the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, so it’s no secret that some things will be removed and altered.
It’s fair to point out that a majority of the film is pretty similar to the original. So much so that some of the lines remained the same. But what are the changes you need to know about the film? Were they significant? Do they help make the story of this classic fairytale more interesting? Here are all the changes that were made for the live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid.
The Soundtrack
One of the big changes that was made to the film was its iconic soundtrack. After all, the film won ‘Best Original Score’ and ‘Best Original Song’ at the 62nd Academy Awards. Three new songs were added to the live-action film and were co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. These songs either help detail the character motivations or improve on the original scenes from the late 80’s film.
However, this also meant that two songs from the original ’80s soundtrack were not included in the 2023 live-action adaptation. One of them is ‘Les Poissons,’ a song sung by the palace chef who sings about his love of killing and cooking fish. The second is Vanessa’s solo, where Ursula sings about how things are going according to plan. But unlike the former track, this second song was replaced with a film score to underline a similar sentiment and kept the same melody.
Another thing to know about the soundtrack changes is the alterations made for ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ and ‘Kiss the Girl’. It was reported previously that these two songs would have some of their lyrics altered so they could focus on the message of consent. For example, ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ no longer has the line “And don’t underestimate the importance of body language” and now has Ursula giving Ariel one last chance to take the deal or else she’d be trapped underwater forever.
Lastly, there are some changes in how a few of these songs are performed. ‘Under the Sea’ and ‘Kiss the Girl’ once had a huge choir that accompanied Sebastian. In the live-action film, Under the Sea is now sung by Sebastian and Ariel, and Kiss the Girl is only Sebastian, Scuttle, and Flounder. Next, the song ‘Fathoms Bellow’ is no longer played at the start of the film. Instead, it’s now performed during Prince Eric’s party on the ship as a celebratory sea shanty.
Daughters of Triton
Another change that was made in the film was Ariel’s sisters and their role in Atlantica. In the original film, they were mostly seen as performers and sung to all the sea creatures in the underwater kingdom. They also have their names changed. That is no longer the case in the live-action adaptation since they play more of a serving role under King Triton’s rule.
Prior to the film’s release, Disney released a guidebook, titled The Little Mermaid: Guide to Merfolk, which showed that each of the seven mermaids resides in different oceans and has different roles. For example, one of Ariel’s sisters, Mala, loves to protect the coral and doesn’t enjoy shipwrecks. This sentiment was seen in the film when the mermaids were removing the rubble out of the coral due to Prince Eric’s ship being destroyed in the storm.
Ariel’s Motives
Ariel has always been known as someone with a strong fascination with humans and this interest made its way to the film, with some added information. In the live-action adaptation, one of the key issues is the divide between humans and merpeople since humans would recklessly kill sea animals for fun, not to mention Prince Eric’s mother believing that the two species can’t get along. Meanwhile, King Triton has a grudge against humans following the death of Ariel’s mother.
Throughout the film, Ariel is trying to convince her father that not all humans are bad and that some of them are good. She’s done this by sacrificing her mermaid gifts just to be with them, which eventually leads King Trion to believe that not all humans will hurt them.
Prince Eric
In the original film, Prince Eric was just seen as the love interest of Ariel and an excellent ship captain and prince. Fortunately, the 2023 film gave this character much more depth. It was revealed that he was adopted by the royal family after they saw him alone and abandoned 21 years ago. This means that Eric and Ariel have a 5 year age difference if we’re following the same age that was revealed in the animatied film.
It was also revealed that Prince Eric really wants to go on adventures at sea and not just remain confined to one place. He has a room filled with items that he’s found during his travels, including maps, shells, and coral. He’s also dedicated to finding the person who saved him.
Ursula
One of the huge changes that was made to Ursula was that she is revealed to be related to King Triton. In the original movie, she was nothing more than just a sea witch. This piece of information is still the same in the live-action adaptation, except with the added detail that she’s Triton’s younger sister and was exiled from Atlantica due to her “wanting to stir trouble between humans and mermaids.” In short, she’s now Ariel’s aunt.
Another change that involved the sea witch is the spell that she cast onto Ariel. In the original film, Ursula made Ariel human and she only has three days to get Prince Eric to kiss her. This is still the same deal that was made in the live-action movie but with some tiny changes. Rather than have Ariel sign a scroll, the deal was made through a small blood sacrifice.
Also – while Ursula kept her side of the bargain, she made some tweaks to her spell to make sure that nothing happens between the mer-princess and prince. She made it difficult for Ariel to remember the task she needed to do to break the spell. As each day goes by, Ariel will enjoy the limited time she has with her legs, but thanks to the spell, whenever Sebastian and her friends try to remind her of her goal, she just ignores them.
Ariel’s time on land
Ariel had a much more adventurous experience on land in the 2023 adaptation compared to the original film. In fact, there is a whole song about it. Ariel got to experience how hot fire is and how she struggled to walk upon making it onto shore. She and Prince Eric got to go to one of the local markets where she experienced dancing and music. But at the same time, people gave her strange looks since she would do things differently, like a use a fork as a comb since it’s what Scuttle told her. Her time on land isn’t cooped up in a castle and was more fun, filled with color and curiosity.
The ending
The ending is still a happy one, but it’s no longer through marriage. The original ’80s film showed a huge wedding on Prince Eric’s ship, with her father and sisters sending her off. In the live-action take, this was slightly altered to Prince Eric and Ariel exploring uncharted waters together. Fortunately, her father and all the mermaids were able to say goodbye to Ariel one last time before she set off on a brand new adventure.