See the trailer for Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' trailer that debuted during 'The Oscars'

Mar 13, 2023 in "Walt Disney Studios"

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The Little Mermaid poster

Posted: Monday March 13, 2023 11:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy debuted the trailer for new live-action version of 'The Little Mermaid' on ABC's live broadcast of The Oscars.

The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life—and her father’s crown—in jeopardy.

The Little Mermaid poster

The film stars Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, and Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, with Oscar winner Javier Bardem as King Triton and two-time Oscar nominee McCarthy as Ursula.

The Little Mermaid is directed by Oscar nominee Rob Marshall, from a screenplay by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee. The songs feature music from multiple Academy Award winner and Disney Legend Alan Menken and lyrics by Disney Legend Howard Ashman, and new lyrics by three-time Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film is produced by two-time Emmy® winner Marc Platt, Miranda, two-time Emmy winner John DeLuca, and Marshall, with Jeffrey Silver serving as executive producer.

Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' opens exclusively in theaters on May 26, 2023.

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MisterPenguinOct 10, 2023

TP2000Sep 20, 2023

But what about Merchandise and DVD sales? That's got to count for something, right?

Vegas Disney FanSep 20, 2023

With so much content now I suspect first impressions are everything, I start a ton of movies and shows that I don’t continue if the first 10-15 minutes don’t hook me. In the theater, after driving across town and paying $20 for a ticket and snacks, they’ve got a fairly captive audience, at home they’ve probably got about 10 minutes before most people will turn it off and move on to the next option, with thousand of options there’s no reason to continue on if something bores you at the beginning. This also makes the way they calculate viewings interesting also, it’s possible 26 million people started and didn’t finish but all those minutes added up to millions of views, even if many never finished the movie.

EPCOT-O.G.Sep 20, 2023

I’m fascinated by this. TLM actually did a bit better at the box office than Elemental. Yet Elemental has overwhelmed TLM in terms of purported viewership. It feels like the animated films generally have more rewatchability on those services than the live action remakes.

doctornickSep 20, 2023

I watched but I did enjoy Elemental a good bit more and we’ve rewatched it. I thought TLM was probably in the top half of live action remakes actually but in general I don’t really like those movies that much so it’s not saying much. Jungle Book still far and away the best of the bunch

Vegas Disney FanSep 20, 2023

Elemental had 26 million views in its first week, TLM had 16 million… looks like about 40% of active D+ viewers don’t want to watch it, even for “free”. Rewatchability (is that a word?) likely skews this though as I’ve watched Elemental twice already and have still only watched the first 15 or so minutes of TLM. The first TLM scenes are very slow which probably isn’t helping its D+ viewership. Elemental grabs you from the start so it encourages continuing.

MoonRakerSCMSep 15, 2023

All my disney friend peeps now have full access to Little Mermaid on a service they already pay for. None will watch it with me.

LSLSSep 15, 2023

Honestly this kind of tells me Disney has REALLY screwed up their movie sector. Basically people have been trained that if they only have a passing interest in seeing a movie, there's no need to go to the theater when they can watch it for free in a few months. I get they are trying to change it, but I think this is highlighting the damage they've done.

TP2000Sep 14, 2023

This remake of Little Mermaid just lost $106 Million at the box office for Disney. I'm sure there are Sharp Pencil Boys and several executives now asking that same financial question you have.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

Most likely so. I just know I kept wanting to fast forward but didn't in fear of missing something new.

Chi84Sep 14, 2023

I had nowhere to go so the length didn’t bother me lol. Also, I prefer live-action retellings to the originals for the very reason that relationships can be better established. So we’re probably coming from two very different places where the movie is concerned.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

I really didn't like any of the three new songs. They felt like time fillers, however Scuttlebutt was jarring to me.

Chi84Sep 14, 2023

Obviously, I enjoyed it much more than you did. Different things for different people! I thought the Scuttlebutt song was great.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

I watched it on D+. The acting and singing were fine except for the Scuttlebutt song. The songs felt more like karaoke at times. The animal animation was dreadful. The biggest problem is the length. There isn't much happening to justify the length. There were large patches where nothing advanced the plot. It is a C+.