Parent reviews for The Little Mermaid (2023) (2024)

Atik L. Parent of 12 and 13-year-old

The best Disney live action movie I've ever watched. Halle Bailey was amazing and, her voice was absolutely breathtaking. The movies quality was flawless, and the cinematography was amazing! Would watch again!

HIGHLY recommend to take your family, friends, neighbors, etc, to see this throughout the summer. Will become a family favorite! The songs (new and classic revamped) and movie score are absolutely wonderful, magical and great fun for repeat listening. The changes to the story add a delightful touch that everyone enjoyed. There are connections to the original story by Hans Christian Andersen that really deepens the emotional beats in the film and matures the content from the animated film. And the character development was chef's kiss (nods head towards Prince Eric). Lastly, the actors performances, vocals, the film's directing and visuals are outstanding! Halle/Ariel is truly amazing and really made a lasting impression - she truly outshines as a Live-Action Disney Princess!! Definitely at the top of our "Disney Live-Action Movie List." Very hopeful for its future successes 🙌 ***SPOILER*** FYI in the 1 climatic scene when Ariel + Eric must face-off against Gigantic Ursula - the sea witch appearance did frighten my younger child. Although Gigantic Ursula is seen in very quick shots, my child did ask me to cover her eyes everytime we saw the film. The scene does wrap up quickly, and my younger child truly loves and adores this film (and asks to only listen to the soundtrack from sunup to sundown) and our family has watched the film 5 times, so far! We hope your family ❤’s this film too!!

Don’t even bother with this remake. Probably the worst. Movie is very dark and not bright, characters don’t seem to come to life. Actress has beautiful voice but the songs aren’t even in the same tone. She didn’t give that spark and life to Ariel. 0 stars.

This movie was OK; if it was not a remake, it would be an 8/10. However, compared to the original's magic and drawing style (1989), it fell short, and much of the magic was lost. Many of the scenes were very dark, so much so that you had to squint to see what was happening. Despite the less magical style, I enjoyed Sebastian, the crab. His Caribbean accent was entertaining and made the dry movie a little cheeky. Halle Berry slayed the singing portion of this performance. I almost cried during her rendition of "Part of Your World." However, the other songs in the movie fell short, including a rambly and forgettable ballad by the prince and a cringe rap called "Scuttlebutt" with Sebastian and Flounder that had me covering my eyes in embarrassment. I also want to mention that Ursula was the best part of this movie; her hair, acting, and makeup were top-tier. But the thing that made the movie the hardest to watch was the pacing. This movie was 52 minutes longer than the original, with no more significant scenes. There were a lot of extra scenes that could have been cut out, and I found myself getting squirmy towards the end of the movie. One of the most heartbreaking things about this movie, however, was the styling of the costumes and the hair of both the Prince and Ariel. In the original movie, the outfits were so magical and pretty, especially in the wedding scene. In comparison, the outfits of Ariel and the Prince in this version were underwhelming, which hurt. As a black person, it is so important to be able to see yourself in movies, and I appreciate that Disney tried to be inclusive. However, this movie was not the way to do this. I would have appreciated it if they added black/Caribbean culture throughout the movie to give it more pizazz because the rest of the movie was a carbon copy of the original. Overall a 2.5/5. With hopes that Disney creates a new black Caribbean princess and stops recreating all of their classics.

Pau L. Parent of 5, 6, 10 and 11-year-old

The movie lacked quality by far the worse Disney film I have watched kids wanted to go home half way through . Awful don’t waste your time or money .

Kayla S. Parent of 5 and 9-year-old

This movie follows pretty closely to the original little mermaid. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the movie

The new Little Mermaid movie was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and I loved every moment! The songs were all wonderful and the singing especially by Halle Bailey as Ariel was breathtaking. The acting was great and the cgi made it like you were really under the sea! It is the best live action movie Disney has ever made.

The CGI was awful. All the scenes were extremely dark. Sebastian had no life in him. The under the sea scene was tragic. There was no life under the sea in most of the scenes. Prince Eric was old as hell. Ariel’s voice was trash and pitchy. Ursula was better but still she had no heart! Everything was just lifeless.

I am beyond shocked with Disney on this one. I absolutely LOVED IT. (Spoilers!!) Rob Marshall not only succeeded on making the best live action remake and keeping to the original fairytale BUT he expanded on it. Ariel’s sister take more of a noticeable role as they each rule and represent one of the seven seas. Ursula, (King Triton’s little sister,) takes away Ariel’s voice because it’s a sirens voice. She also tweaks the spell, adding that Ariel can not remember that she had to kiss Eric in order to stay human. (Which for those disturbed is the reason why she also pulls away in ‘Kiss the Girl’.) Eric and Ariel have the sweetest romance in Disney history. Eric, having been taken in by the royal family, longs to explore new islands, meet new people and discover new cultures and make new trading relations to bring commerce back to his island. Ariel, a mermaid, longs for the above world, to meet people, ask them questions and see their world. Unlike the cartoon, which keep in mind is for a child audience, does more then give you hints on Eric’s personality gives a reason why Eric and Ariel work, and are meant to be, despite their physical differences. Yes Ariel does the end stabbing but to me atleast it doesn’t feel like a girlboss moment. Also, not once in the entire movie for they make out Ariel being oppressed because of her skin color or a victim. In fact race is never even discussed or thrown at your face like a marvel tv series. The wokeness level is hardly there at all. Yes, the cast is diverse but these days when is it not? It doesn’t hinder on the enjoyable expirence so don’t dwell on it.I’m not even gonna mention the sparkly very 80’s dress other then to say, yes, she didn’t wear it….. I mean… It’s obvious why she didn’t… Isn’t it? None of the original songs that we grew up with had a noticeable if had any changes at all. And, I’d like the note the ‘Scuttlebutt’ (in my opinion) fits Scuttle incredibly well. If you don’t think it sounds good then great! Because Scuttle has never sung well! It’s just a cute short rap Scuttle does to inform Ariel and Sebastian that Eric’s planning on proposing. That’s it. The new songs they also added are spectacular! Lin Miranda Manuel has never failed to compose a song and this movie changes nothing.The CGI also has a lot of uncalled for hate. The movie was gorgeous. And I also don’t understand why people hate on the animals….. They look like animals? Like, what did you want them to look like? The lion king? The animals doesn’t ruin the movie what so ever. It’s a L.I.V.E A.C.T.I.O.N. They’re supposed to look like real life animal’s. The mermaids, the hair movement, the animals. All well done. Better then what I had expected. The above water shots were beautiful. The movie was just satisfying to the eyes.The cast was also beyond perfection. I was irritated at first with Disney casting Ariel as a black woman however I admit I was wrong. No one could have done Ariel better Halle Bailey. She has the looks, the air of curiosity but naivety, and most important of all the voice. My god that girl can sing. Jonah as Eric I knew was already a perfect cast. He's got the dimples and that beautiful smile! And his voice? Heavenly. To die for. Melissa McCarthy was a darn perfect Ursula and Vanessa? The best way to describe Vanessa is hot. Straight up hot. Awkwafina as Scuttle couldn’t have been a better choice. She suits Scuttle so well. She naturally always has the chaotic energy. I have so many other things to say but I’ll stop my rant. I think my best piece of advice for you is, if you’re mind is already set on ‘The little mermaid is trash,’ then don’t waste your money. If you haven’t seen it and have your doubts BUT you got that sliver of hope then go watch it!! I’m positive that you’ll love it or atleast like it. Please give this movie a chance!!