The Little Mermaid Making Waves in Theaters
Little Mermaid has been making waves in the box office since its release. The return of the classic fairytale as a live-action remake earned around $188 million during the Memorial Day weekend. It made history ranking as the fifth-highest Memorial Day opening.
Although it is a children’s movie, a good portion of the theaters were filled with adults. Around 25% of the demographic ranged from ages 25 to 34. For many of the members in the audience, it was a nostalgic feeling watching one of their favorite childhood movies come back to life on the big screen.
The cast features big names like Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle, and of course Halle Bailey as Ariel. The film kept classic songs such as Halle Bailey’s beautiful rendition of Part of Your World, Under the Sea, and Kiss the Girl (with some lyric changes), but also added a new rap “The Scuttlebutt” sung by Scuttle and Sebastian with lyrics written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and composed by Alan Menken, who composed the original film as well.
The Little Mermaid is not the first live-action remake Disney has made. With hits like the live-action Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Dumbo, and Lady and the Tramp, Disney fans are looking towards the future wondering if there are more remakes of the classic animated films in Disney’s future.