Disney's The Little Mermaid 2023 Parents Guide Movie Review (2024)

Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 is a beautiful remake the whole family will enjoy. Halle Bailey absolutely shines. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 releases in theaters across the United States this Friday, May 26, 2023. The beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, stars singer andactress Halle Bailey (Ariel), Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (Sebastian), Jacob Tremblay (Flounder), Awkwafina (Scuttle); Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric), Art Malik (Sir Grimsby), Noma Dumezweni (“Queen Selina), Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (Father King Triton), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Chef Louis), and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (Ursula). The remake, originally composed by Disney legends Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, is written and composed by David Magee, Ron Clements, and Hans Christian Anderson and led by Director Rob Marshall. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review.

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The Little Mermaid 2023 Quotes

In Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023: 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 2023 Age Rating Parents Guide

Let’s take a look at whatparentsneed to know about the age rating of the movie before letting their younger children watchThe Little Mermaid 2023.

Language: The Little Mermaid 2023 contains mild language, with the strongest words viewers will come across being stupid and idiot.

Mature Content: The biggest concern for parents of young children in the film is the scary scenes, and many of the characters live in peril. Some of the scarier scenes for children include a shark chase, a storm at sea and a fire on the boat, a shipwreck and a character almost drowning, a fight, and the death of a character that may be triggering for some viewers. Ursula and her “home” are creepy, dark, and freightening, and they include scary, dark creatures that cause harm to others. There is a brief nudity scene when Ariel gets her legs, but she is covered up by her hair and a fishing net.

Age Rating of The Little Mermaid 2023:Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 has a PG rating by the Motion Picture Association (MPAA ratings-official rating) for action, peril, and some scary images, and the parental guidelines advisory recommends it for mature audiences, an adult audience, young adults, teens, and older kids aged 8 and older. The suggestion of parental guidance or a legal guardian (adult guardian) is highly suggested for young kids (young viewers) under 8 years of age in this PG-rated motion picture for adult material. The minimum age recommendation is 8 years old; it is not suitable for younger viewers. The MPA definition of PG – some material may not be suitable for children.

Overall Thoughts

The best thing about Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 is the performance given by Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel. Jodi Benson, who is Ariel’s voice in the animated classic, does a terrific job in the original animated film; however, with Bailey at the helm, she takes ‘Part of Your World‘ to an entirely new level that will send chills down the spine. The singer, actress, and Beyoncé protégé gives Disney’s live action remakes a higher bar to hit as she takes the wonderful songs we all know and love and makes them her own with her superb voice and irresistible charm. While Bailey may lack Ariel’s bright red hair and there have been complaints about a person of color playing the Disney princess, once the film begins, there is no question that Bailey embodies the infamous mermaid and is the perfect choice for this Disney movie live action film.

While Bailey shines as Ariel in The Little Mermaid 2023, Daveed Digg’s Sebastian is a scene-stealer and is totally adorable as the faithful sidekick. Digg’s isn’t the only one to bring some of the laughs, as Awkwafina’s comedy charms as Scuttle, even though the Scuttle-Sebastian duet “Scuttlebutt” is one of the few songs that doesn’t really hit. Speaking of songs, the choice to mix classic lyrics and songs with some new ones was a genius move. Some of the lyrics in the classic songs are changed a bit here, but not so much that it changes the feel of the original, serving only to enhance its masterpieces. This comes as no surprise considering Lin-Manuel Miranda was part of their creation.

Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula in The Little Mermaid 2023 was deliciously evil as she slivered across the screen along with her hair-raising sea creatures. McCarthy has some mighty big shoes (or tentacles) to fill, and most knew she was up for the job, but who knew that she could nail ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls‘ with a gusto that would put Pat Carroll in awe? This author would have liked to see more of her in the film; however, as we know how the story goes, we “hear” her performance more than we see her.

The biggest complaint about Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 would be the CGI, which at times can make audiences cringe. One would expect that coming from such a big studio as Disney, they would have the capabilities to really amaze as far as the visual effects and their underwater creatures go, but one may not be too surprised if they had seen the live-action version of The Lion King and how they butchered those poor animals. While The Little Mermaid 2023 CGI effects are hands-down better than The Lion King live-action, they are still lacking and give an overall “fakeness” to many of the underwater scenes. And who made the choice to put Flounder on a diet? That is not the plump, cuddly Flounder we all know and love so much. Someone please feed this ghastly Flounder!

Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2023 has gotten much flack for its diverse princess, and I am sure those same people will also have an issue with Ariel’s multicultural sisters, but in all honesty, it only enhanced the film and gave it a new and fresh feel. The storyline also doesn’t follow along exactly like the classic, which is a welcomed relief because, at a little over 2 hours long, an exact remake would’ve been a snooze. Overall, and despite its flaws, this remake is probably one of the best live-action remakes that Disney has produced, and Halle Bailey deserves all the accolades after having to endure so much from the haters. Disney still has a bit of work to do if they continue down this path of remaking all of their animated classics this way, but they are getting progressively better each time. My guess is, though, that there will be haters every step of the way regardless, simply by virtue of them being remade to begin with, as if their childhood has now been besmirched. However, putting a new spin on an old classic has been done for generations, and movies are no exception. You aren’t going to be able to beat them at this game, so you might as well sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the ride.