In Disney’s Ariel remake, the controversial animals surprised me positively

A remake like Little Mermaid will always face the difficulty of measuring it against its beloved original. In this respect, the outcry a few weeks ago was not surprising when many stumbled over the appearance of Sebastian, Fabius and Scuttle on character posters and in the trailers: The should be the new versions of ?! How could these seemingly empty new variants ever win our hearts? But after going to the cinema I can breathe a sigh of relief: Because most of Ariel’s animal companions work beautifully in the movie.

Ariel and the problem of “realistic” animals in Disney’s live-action remakes

Arielle is now the 23rd project of Disney’s live-action remakes, i.e. the new editions of animated films as live-action films. But when expressive cartoon characters from the animal world find their way into “reality”, they are forced to lose a large part of their human facial expressions. As a result, the accusation of soullessness repeatedly arose in the past.

Most recently, this debate in the Disney context was heard in the remake of The Lion King, which did not require any human personnel. I too was disappointed by the remake of my favorite Disney film back then. Because of the Uncanny Valley effect, I had a hard time bridging the mental abyss of having the animated animals appear as realistic as possible while still retaining a residual “eerie” difference from the real world. (Also because animals don’t talk in real life.) In the end we got neither an expressive character nor a completely believable copy of reality.

The anxious question in the direct comparison of the new Ariel characters with their cartoon templates was in advance whether animal characters like Sebastian would face the same fate as Simba and Co. After going to the cinema I can say that with a clear “No! ” respond.

Arielles Sebastian is also a favorite in the remake

I had to experience Ariel’s non-human companions in the cinema to make a final judgment about them. Because let’s be honest: In pictures, Crab Sebastian looks like a creepy shellfish that nobody would want to be around. But what the musical cancer no longer has in facial expressions in its repertoire, it now equals engaging gestures and language out of.

I’ve seen Arielle in the original English and what Daveed Diggs is looking at here vocal acrobatics performs is a celebration: in his most beautiful French accent since Hamilton, he convincingly transports all the emotional states of Triton’s conductor. The waving crab legs do the rest with gestures (I was particularly fascinated by the paddle legs when swimming) and the raising and lowering of his Stare eyes is so telling, that it’s easy to forget that Sebastian doesn’t even have a face in the traditional sense. In motion, he comes to believable life in the Arielle remake.

Something similar works with Scuttle: In real life, even a bird (once a seagull, now a gannet) is not exactly blessed with a wide range of facial expressions because of its beak. But the tilted head or a fish tucked under the wing illustrate the moods of this bird lady so well that the question of an inner emptiness does not even arise. Especially not when Awkwafina’s unmistakably scratchy, loving voice effortlessly teases out the odd character under the white plumage.

Only Fabius is left behind in Arielle

Only Ariel’s fish friend Fabius has it harder in the Disney remake. In close-up, his eyes are at least larger than initially thought and Jacob Tremblay lends him his cute childlike voice. However, with the “natural” shape of an upright flat disc and tiny fins, its Body language kept to a minimum. He is also Ariel’s only animal friend and has to stay in the water the whole time, which further limits his performance time.

With other undersea creatures like Ursula’s two vicious moray eels, the rigid fish look from dead eyes just the right spooky effect. In the case of Fabius, his limited emotional radius unfortunately means that he is left behind by Scuttle and Sebastian in terms of character. Spontaneously, I can’t think of a live-action movie that has ever given me a cuddly fish that could have kept up with Finding Nemo. Even Free Willy could only show his affection by jumping in the air.

It’s by no means the case that I leave the cinema and don’t like Fabius. He just stays a lot paler than the rest of Ariel’s animal friends. Fortunately, the rampant fears of blunt animal shells without expression are a thing of the past after the cinema visit.

Ariel the Little Mermaid: Is Disney’s Remake a Success?

In the new edition of the FILMSTARTS podcast on the screen, moderator Sebastian talks to his guests Annemarie and Björn about the new film adaptation of Arielle, the mermaid. They not only discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the remake, but also indulge in nostalgic memories of the Disney classic – because it means a lot to Sebastian, as he tells his two colleagues, who are audibly moved by the story.

The screen love is the weekly cinema and film podcast of our colleagues from FILMSTARTS

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