Disney is under fire for “wokery” slipped into its live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which is expected to earn the company $100 million despite mixed reviews this Memorial Day weekend.
Critics and audiences gave the reboot “Average” and “Unfavorable” reviews of the 1989 animated classic on ratings site Metacritic. Some criticize the directors’ efforts to bring the film up to date.
Opponents have focused on plot and lyric tweaks that play with gender, ethnicity and cultural values to fit the 125-minute remake into Disney’s progressive politics.
Scuttle, a male seagull in the original, became a female gannet. Halle Bailey delivers a stunning performance as Ariel, but critics question the decision to switch to a mixed-race family of mermaids and mermen.
Halle Bailey is widely praised for her performance as Ariel, but critics have questioned the decision to go with a mixed-race family of mermaids and mermaids.
Melissa McCarthy, who plays the wicked sea witch Ursula, says the character was inspired by drag queens, including 1970s film icon Divine
In the new version, King Triton, played by Javier Bardem, has developed environmentalist leanings, complaining that humans are polluting the oceans and ravaging his undersea kingdom of Atlantica.
Melissa McCarthy, who plays the wicked sea witch Ursula in the remake, said her performance was influenced by drag queens – transvestite male comics who have become a lightning rod for America’s culture wars.
McCarthy’s inspiration may be consistent with the original, as the original Ursula was based on the famous drag performer, Divine, who appeared in films from the 1960s through the 1980s.
“I just hope to make every incredible drag queen proud,” McCarthy told Deadline.
The edits to the original lyrics also raise eyebrows.
The song ‘Kiss the Girl’, sung by Sebastian the Crab, in which Prince Eric kisses Ariel, was rewritten so the royal would get affirmative consent before puckering his lips.
In the 1989 version, the crab sang: “Maybe she wants you too / There’s a way to ask her / It don’t take a word, not a single word / Go ahead and kiss the girl .”
The 2023 version has however been updated for the #MeToo era.
“Maybe she wants you too / Use your words, boy, and ask her,” the new version kicks off.
Fans are split on the changes – some say it’s a reasonable update to accommodate changing attitudes, others say it’s unnecessary.
Some conservative viewers said the final product was trustworthy and unassailable.
Still, center-right film critic Christian Toto of the Hollywood in Toto website said it wasn’t the complete “woke-a-thon” some feared.
Sebastian the Crab’s lyrics were changed in the remake, reminding Prince Eric to get Ariel’s consent before kissing her
The film premiered this week amid a row between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (right), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
King Triton, played by Javier Bardem, has developed environmentalist leanings, complaining about humanity’s pollution of his undersea kingdom of Atlantica
“Preparing for the movie’s release suggested another Disney Eve, but the movie doesn’t fit that description,” Toto said. The Washington Times.
“Halle Bailey’s color-blind casting has drawn her fair share of criticism, but she has a beautiful voice and pleasant screen presence, silencing doubters.”
Toto said the remake offered a softer take on Disney’s landmark update.
The script “never stops to lecture us about patriarchy or other modern evils,” Toto said, and its ecologist is soft and “softly woven into the fabric of the story.”
The film premiered on Friday as a row between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, heated up.
Disney, in court papers filed Thursday, opposed a claim by DeSantis in the company’s First Amendment lawsuit against the anti-revival governor.
The row began last year over the company’s public opposition to legislation regarding sexual orientation and gender identity classes in the early years, which critics have called a “Don’t Act” law. ‘t Say Gay’ from Florida.
The entertainment giant has come under frequent criticism from conservatives, who accuse it, and Hollywood more generally, of pushing progressive rhetoric at the American public.
