Little Mermaid Reveals Yet Another Character Poster, And It's the Worst One So Far
Maybe one day Disney will learn that making animal characters too realistic is not a good idea.
With the recently released character posters for Disney 's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, fans have mixed feelings about them.
While the human-looking characters like Ariel, King Triton, Ursula and Eric are nice, Ariel's aquatic friends look a little creepy.
This is especially true when it comes to Flounder, a colorful tropical fish who is the Little Mermaid's best friend.
Voiced by Jacob Tremblay, fans are joking that the creators should have invited Steve Buscemi for the role instead, as his new realistic version bears an uncanny resemblance to the legendary actor's signature features.
They also point out that he looks like he is under the influence of some psychoactive substance, as he seems "baked as hell."
Others say that Sebastian the crab, another of Ariel's friends, also looks strange, as his eyes and mouth do not match the rest of his realistic body.
Fans wish that Disney had taken notes from the creators of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog, who changed the design of the titular character after the initial backlash, making Sonic more cartoonish and sympathetic.
This is not the first time Disney's intentions to make talking animal characters hyper-realistic have been criticized.
The same thing happened with their live-action (although the term CGI is more appropriate) remake of The Lion King.
The animals in that movie looked so realistic that some viewers found it challenging to read emotions on their faces and become invested in the story. Other fans even complained that they looked creepy for some reason.
Fans say that these remakes with extremely realistic graphics simply don't work the same way as their animated predecessors.
As mentioned above, these new models don't show human emotions as well as the cartoonish animated characters.
Furthermore, watching these new versions completely removes any sense of nostalgia for the character, making it difficult to invest in the movie.
There is also an element of the Uncanny Valley effect for some viewers, which only further damages the likeability of the character.
Perhaps one day Disney will learn from their mistakes and try a more hybrid approach in their future remakes.
The Little Mermaid will be released on May 26, 2023.
Source: Reddit