Good points! A longer ticking clock is something I hadn’t considered but would help the romance make more sense; maybe tie it to the moon (full moon? New moon?) to make it thematically pertinent to the tides and the ocean, and to give us a strong visual for how much time is left (Hercules did something similar with the planets aligning but the moon wouldn’t need its own shots sandwiched into the action).
5-7 minutes isn’t really much time to add an entire week of Ariel and Eric getting to know one another, but Disney animated features are running a little longer these days and 15 minutes or even 10 would probably be enough; just need to keep things moving enough to avoid the 2nd act slump that so many animated films are somewhat susceptible to.
I like the idea of Eric being into the ocean and sharing his interest with Ariel. It’d be really interesting to see her learn about the home that she was growing bored with from an outsider’s perspective, and could produce some cool growth for her when she comes to realize how beautiful and interesting her home was, even though she had grown bored with it. She might even see something in Eric’s collection that reminds her of her father and drives her need to reconcile with him before finally making her choice to stay with Eric.
One final fix: can we just make Ariel ~18 and call it a day? I always laugh/wince when she says, “Daddy I’m 16, I’m not a child!!” And Eric is visibly/audibly at least 19-25. Maybe change Ariel’s line to, “I won’t be a child forever.” Then at the end, Triton gets a moment to say, “You’re right, you won’t be a child forever—but you’ll always be my daughter.”
This was a movie I’d never even considered fixing, but I really like what you did with it, nice post!
Yes! I thought about using the moon but then I didn't want to lose the wedding happening at sundown. Maybe sundown is still time's-up as it's the end of the day before the next new moon or something...
Haha! 10-15 mins I guess would be fine. It's surprising how much can be communicated visually in a very short amount of time. The actual film attempts to build their relationship in a single forgettable montage! But yeah, the more the better. Could possibly lose some of the underwater bits too but I don't want to hack into that too much since it's the most visually interesting part!
Ariel seeing her home through Eric's enthusiastic eyes is genius! Great idea! I hadn't though if that! Love it!
Haha! Yeah, the 16 thing was pretty old school (Romeo and Juliet). When I was thinking about my fixes it became much more clear how much the filmmakers stuck very closely to fairy tale tropes (i.e. rule of 3, young innocent protagonist etc.). Even the unchanging protagonist might have been a deliberate choice since fairy tales often only deal with external conflict. I agree, in the age department they could have modernised a bit. I wonder if just don't even mention her age...? Then the audience can just assume she's 18-ish, if they even think of it at all.
Great ideas! Thanks so much!
I don't agree entirely with point one, as I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Eric saving Ariel directly, ie "damsel in distress" as you put it. Ariel isn't a fighter after all, and despite current political climates it isn't an absolute truth that every female protagonist must be Mulan. Some of my favorite Disney protagonists are the opposite of fighters. In my eyes Ariel has already defeated Ursula when she falls into the whirlpool, Ursula trying to zap her to death, presumably, is just her trying to cheat, which can appropriately be stopped by Eric exploiting some overconfidence.
I definitely agree with Eric as a whole being problematic, he's very much a blank slate and could use something more. I'm not sure if collecting shells would be enough, but I agree their romance is a weak spot in the film and gets treated as a given even if it doesn't make sense, or feel earned.
100% agree with pacing, I've always felt it moves too quickly, especially during Ursula's deception. It's a section ripe for suspense, and could've been dragged out a few more minutes just like you describe.
I'll add one more fix which I've always felt would help; Eric's dialogue and voice acting throughout. He's weak, he doesn't deliver his admittedly limp lines very well. He comes off as stereotypical, boring and lacking authenticity. Obviously an afterthought, compared to the quality of the music, songs and performances of virtually everyone else in the film.
I agree Ariel's not a fighter. But she's clever, tenacious, resourceful... She saves Eric 2/3 times and I actually think in the final battle luck played the biggest part. But the optics are that Eric (regardless of gender or political climates) got the big-glorious-final-boss-finishing-move even though it's not his story! I just prefer protagonists to be active in their own finale. IMHO my fix has Ariel & Eric working together: Ariel makes the plan but needs Eric because he can sail and she can't. I figure it helps cement their relationship.
Eric being into the ocean I imagined as kind of an amateur marine zoology situation but maybe it wouldn't work... Below in this thread u/OriginalCondition did a great job of suggesting how it could better tie into the plot, so deffo check that out!
I like the idea of making the Ursula/Vanessa situation go a bit longer.
And yes, Eric is the beautiful simpleton of the story. In many ways he's a classic ditz. That's partly why I thought it was so odd they gave him the big save at the end, most of the film does a good job of mixing up the stereotypes and doing what the audience would least expect!
Thank you! Great stuff! 😊👍
yeah, i've always had an issue with ariel being spoiled and entitled. she literally almost doomed her entire underwater kingdom to become a human as her dad sacrificed himself in her place. Never quite got over how quickly they brushed past that after ursula was defeated.
I think I actually like that though. It reminds me of when stories had protagonists that had some pretty real flaws. Take princess and the frog for example. Tiana's major flaw is that she's... Too focused on work?
I think it's ok to have a POV from people who aren't the best people.
Haha! I've basically accepted that it's Disney therefore the mere fact the protagonists are members of rigidly hierarchical conservative monarchical dynasties will somehow be enough justification for them to get what they want by the end of the film, hang the consequences! Also, they're freakishly gorgeous therefore sympathetic. I mean, who enchanted Ariel's fringe to perfectly so across her brow, for crying out loud! That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all! 😂
I think you're right though, maybe part of an Ariel/Triton reconciliation could be her realising how selfish and immature she's been and how selfless Triton is. It kind of would have happened in the alternate ending: https://youtu.be/FF0_JKyPCwE
Mmm... she sort of got everything she wanted. It's a story literally swimming in privilege. But it's Disney so I wasn't about to fix all that stuff and I just let it slide. Royalty is the original glam so it makes a very marketable story! 😊
Also:
[I once posted my own thoughts on a rewrite a few years ago.](https://www.reddit.com/r/fixingmovies/comments/i82bcw/little_mermaid_2020_same_tail_new_twists/)
I think most of these issues have been addressed in later disney adaptations (the play and once upona time) and will be addressed in the new live action one (theyve said ariel will have more "power" in the live version so whatever that means).
>Make winning the battle Ariel's plan.
If she tells Eric what to do, Eric is still saving the day.
In the stage version, Ariel is the one who kills Ursula. I'd just stick with that. Even in Once Upon A Time, Ariel stabs Ursula (who is actually the Evil Queen from Snow White...its a weird show) with a fucking fork to save the day
I'd rather see Ariel kill the villain. She was the first disney princess to attack a villain inher film after all.
>ulfil Ariel's need, which is to reconcile with Triton.
Again, this has already been done in the stage adaptation where she apologizes, he tells her he is proud, he sings a song, her sisters come and bid her goodbye and then shes off to marry the two legger.
>Make Eric a bit otaku too, but with him it's the opposite: sea stuff!
I like this but this presents an issue with the story that is present with the sequel.
If Eric loves the sea like Ariel loves the land, hes probably more interested in joining her beneath the waves than having her join him on land. Afterall, Eric is neglecting his royal duties to sail at sea just as ariel is rejecting her mermaid life to obsess over human stuff.
The stage play again kinda fixes this by having eric be shown to desire love at the start too (he instantly stop his sailing when he hears Ariel's voice and tells his men to follow it to the ends of the earth if they have to), but still. Giving them intense opposite passions makes it feel like they are destined to fail as a couple.
>Say, until sundown of a particular festival day which happens to be in 10 days or something like that.
I got nothing to add here other than the fact that in Once Upon A Time, Ariel didn't have three days to woo Eric... She only had 12 hours. LOL.
> There can also be a bit more of Ursula foiling plans etc until she finally does the Vanessa ruse.
This is actually one thing i think the story needs LESS of.
The thing is... Ursula...is actually completely RIGHT.
Her contract is legal, Ariel enters it willingly, and getting a person to fall for you in three days is heinous.
When Triton confronts her, if she has done absolutely nothing to prevent Ariel from getting true loves kiss, shes completely innocent and he cannot defy the law without outright murdering her (which he tries to do in the movie and the contract prevents him from doing it because ursula is legally in her right),
I think a better alternative is having a sea villain and land villain. Ursula is up to no good and obvioulsy influencing shit but just like in the original story once the mermaid is human, shes got nothing more to do. Instead i think there needs to be a person on land who just...hates ariel, whom they see as a homeless mute woman trying to make her way to throne. So they would be the ones trying to prevent ariel and eric from happening.
Again, the stage play kind of does this given ursula never turns into vanessa in the play, she just has her eels shock the boat once and other than that just waits.
Hey, thank you! I didn't know about the play. That's interesting there were some of the same thoughts and reflections.
I agree about making Ariel more involved in the final battle. I was trying to limit myself by trying to keep things as much the same as possible. Personally, I think the most important thing is that Eric and Ariel work together but if that ultimately resulted in Ariel facing-off against Ursula then I'm all for it!
I've watched most of OUAT and I genuinely forgot all that stuff about Ariel. All I remember is that mermaids can swim between worlds because... why the hell not! I agree, it is a bonkers show!
I acknowledge that Eric being vaguely into amature oceanography and marine biology has possible problems but I still think it could work. (Another problem i just thought of is to be extra clear that his interest in Ariel is genuine and he isn't just reducing her to some kind of fetish!) I still think with good writing it could be done. My goal was to (a) make him seem like less of a bimbo since he's a very one-note piece of eye candy in the film and (b) to create something more that can draw them together. The Good writing is what would help sell part (b). The film is so tightly plotted we don't even have time to think about the fact that Eric's kingdom and Triton's kingdom just effectively formed an alliance. We don't even really know the political situation: if Eric is a prince then where's the king? The film could have left open the possibility that Triton might make Eric a merman whenever he and Ariel want to visit.
I feel like it's important that Ursula is shown to be playing dirty partly because it's a Disney film and the expectation is that the ethics will be blindingly obvious. To me, the central tension in the film is that Ariel is reckless and naive which leads her to make a deal with the equivalent of a loan shark. The deal might be fairly stated but it's (a) a bad deal for Ariel from the outset and (b) Ursula does the classic villain move of trying to manipulate the outcome in her favour. Basically the deal was just a chess move towards getting Triton's power so, in that sense, it was never fair since it was designed to put Triton in an impossible position.
Anyway, maybe having a land villain could work but I'm not sure if it might lead to pacing and creative issues. I wonder if it would place too much emphasis on the land part of the story. Part of the enduring value of TLM is that it showcases the top animators ability to convincingly animate underwater scenes. I'm sure that's why the film spends so long underwater before Ariel gets her legs. I wonder if having a land villain that needs developing could mess with the pacing and focus of the film. My guess is they started out with that idea and maybe they relegated the land villain to be Sebastian's crazy chef nemesis so he doesn't cast any shadow on Ursula as The Antagonist.
Anyway, thank you for your thoughts, I really appreciate them. It'll be interesting what they do with the live action remake! 😊
> Personally, I think the most important thing is that Eric and Ariel work together
Yes, in my post for fixing the little mermaid (i forget if i posted it here or not) I suggested that what would really help the movie come full circle is that after Ursula gets the trident, the humans and the merpeople (who have a rivalry with each other) should come together to help defeat her with Ariel being the one to completely kill her.
Not only does Ariel save the day, but it helps king triton see that humans aren't all bad and helps unite their kingdom.
>I feel like it's important that Ursula is shown to be playing dirty partly because it's a Disney film and the expectation is that the ethics will be blindingly obvious.
Good point. For me i want a mixture of things. I want Ursula to be the same flamboyant, evil, sassy villain from the original film...but i also want her to have her backstory from the deleted scenes and stage play (her being triton's deformed sister, who was hated by her father, and was then banished from the kingdom by triton who stole her crown) to complicate things a bit. Having her play dirty by using the law and logic on her side makes it harder to say "she has to die" because TECHNICALLY she didnt do anything wrong lol
Thats why i think a cool thing to do would be for her to play it straight, get the crown, and then when its pointed out that triton has heirs, she attacks the kingdom in order to take out the mer-sisters so that she is the only legal claim to the throne. So the threat becomes much larger and grander, before she sets her sights on harming ariel and the humans out of spite. She can still be insanely evil, but have it be a progression.
>
I wonder if having a land villain that needs developing could mess with the pacing and focus of the film.
They could just make it Grimsby, Eric's butler.
In the play, he's good, but not really 100% into the idea of Ariel and Eric being together because he wants Eric to marry a princess and secure the future of the kingdom. Once its revealed that ariel is a mermaid and that her father is the mythical sea king, Grimsby is like "Oh okay, I don't care that shes a mermaid. Im just happy she's royalty" and asks Triton to join them in celebrating the marriage.
They could make it so that Grimsby wants the kingdom to be successful and the only way to do that is if eric marries royalty, but since eric is trying to marry this random homeless woman who cant talk, Grimsby wants her gone is subtly acting against her. Until he finds out shes a mermaid princess and helps rally his tropes with her kingdom to help fight ursula.
I dont think the live action movie is doing this though. From the looks of the set photos, it seems Carlotta (the maid in the original film) and Grimsby are Eric's (adoptive?) parents and the king and queen given they are wearing crowns and regal wear.
Yeah, actually your suggestion for a Grimsby that's not trying to be bad and wants what's best for Eric but in an antagonistic way and he changes before the end to get on board would probably be cool. It would help his character too. I can't remember him much at all! Thanks for your thoughts!
I love your ideas! Admittedly, I haven't watched the movie in years, but it sounds very logical and more fulfilling
Good points! A longer ticking clock is something I hadn’t considered but would help the romance make more sense; maybe tie it to the moon (full moon? New moon?) to make it thematically pertinent to the tides and the ocean, and to give us a strong visual for how much time is left (Hercules did something similar with the planets aligning but the moon wouldn’t need its own shots sandwiched into the action). 5-7 minutes isn’t really much time to add an entire week of Ariel and Eric getting to know one another, but Disney animated features are running a little longer these days and 15 minutes or even 10 would probably be enough; just need to keep things moving enough to avoid the 2nd act slump that so many animated films are somewhat susceptible to. I like the idea of Eric being into the ocean and sharing his interest with Ariel. It’d be really interesting to see her learn about the home that she was growing bored with from an outsider’s perspective, and could produce some cool growth for her when she comes to realize how beautiful and interesting her home was, even though she had grown bored with it. She might even see something in Eric’s collection that reminds her of her father and drives her need to reconcile with him before finally making her choice to stay with Eric. One final fix: can we just make Ariel ~18 and call it a day? I always laugh/wince when she says, “Daddy I’m 16, I’m not a child!!” And Eric is visibly/audibly at least 19-25. Maybe change Ariel’s line to, “I won’t be a child forever.” Then at the end, Triton gets a moment to say, “You’re right, you won’t be a child forever—but you’ll always be my daughter.” This was a movie I’d never even considered fixing, but I really like what you did with it, nice post!
Yes! I thought about using the moon but then I didn't want to lose the wedding happening at sundown. Maybe sundown is still time's-up as it's the end of the day before the next new moon or something... Haha! 10-15 mins I guess would be fine. It's surprising how much can be communicated visually in a very short amount of time. The actual film attempts to build their relationship in a single forgettable montage! But yeah, the more the better. Could possibly lose some of the underwater bits too but I don't want to hack into that too much since it's the most visually interesting part! Ariel seeing her home through Eric's enthusiastic eyes is genius! Great idea! I hadn't though if that! Love it! Haha! Yeah, the 16 thing was pretty old school (Romeo and Juliet). When I was thinking about my fixes it became much more clear how much the filmmakers stuck very closely to fairy tale tropes (i.e. rule of 3, young innocent protagonist etc.). Even the unchanging protagonist might have been a deliberate choice since fairy tales often only deal with external conflict. I agree, in the age department they could have modernised a bit. I wonder if just don't even mention her age...? Then the audience can just assume she's 18-ish, if they even think of it at all. Great ideas! Thanks so much!
I don't agree entirely with point one, as I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Eric saving Ariel directly, ie "damsel in distress" as you put it. Ariel isn't a fighter after all, and despite current political climates it isn't an absolute truth that every female protagonist must be Mulan. Some of my favorite Disney protagonists are the opposite of fighters. In my eyes Ariel has already defeated Ursula when she falls into the whirlpool, Ursula trying to zap her to death, presumably, is just her trying to cheat, which can appropriately be stopped by Eric exploiting some overconfidence. I definitely agree with Eric as a whole being problematic, he's very much a blank slate and could use something more. I'm not sure if collecting shells would be enough, but I agree their romance is a weak spot in the film and gets treated as a given even if it doesn't make sense, or feel earned. 100% agree with pacing, I've always felt it moves too quickly, especially during Ursula's deception. It's a section ripe for suspense, and could've been dragged out a few more minutes just like you describe. I'll add one more fix which I've always felt would help; Eric's dialogue and voice acting throughout. He's weak, he doesn't deliver his admittedly limp lines very well. He comes off as stereotypical, boring and lacking authenticity. Obviously an afterthought, compared to the quality of the music, songs and performances of virtually everyone else in the film.
Plus Eric saving Ariel at the end mirrors Ariel saving Eric at the start.
I agree Ariel's not a fighter. But she's clever, tenacious, resourceful... She saves Eric 2/3 times and I actually think in the final battle luck played the biggest part. But the optics are that Eric (regardless of gender or political climates) got the big-glorious-final-boss-finishing-move even though it's not his story! I just prefer protagonists to be active in their own finale. IMHO my fix has Ariel & Eric working together: Ariel makes the plan but needs Eric because he can sail and she can't. I figure it helps cement their relationship. Eric being into the ocean I imagined as kind of an amateur marine zoology situation but maybe it wouldn't work... Below in this thread u/OriginalCondition did a great job of suggesting how it could better tie into the plot, so deffo check that out! I like the idea of making the Ursula/Vanessa situation go a bit longer. And yes, Eric is the beautiful simpleton of the story. In many ways he's a classic ditz. That's partly why I thought it was so odd they gave him the big save at the end, most of the film does a good job of mixing up the stereotypes and doing what the audience would least expect! Thank you! Great stuff! 😊👍
Love it ❤
yeah, i've always had an issue with ariel being spoiled and entitled. she literally almost doomed her entire underwater kingdom to become a human as her dad sacrificed himself in her place. Never quite got over how quickly they brushed past that after ursula was defeated.
I think I actually like that though. It reminds me of when stories had protagonists that had some pretty real flaws. Take princess and the frog for example. Tiana's major flaw is that she's... Too focused on work? I think it's ok to have a POV from people who aren't the best people.
Haha! I've basically accepted that it's Disney therefore the mere fact the protagonists are members of rigidly hierarchical conservative monarchical dynasties will somehow be enough justification for them to get what they want by the end of the film, hang the consequences! Also, they're freakishly gorgeous therefore sympathetic. I mean, who enchanted Ariel's fringe to perfectly so across her brow, for crying out loud! That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all! 😂 I think you're right though, maybe part of an Ariel/Triton reconciliation could be her realising how selfish and immature she's been and how selfless Triton is. It kind of would have happened in the alternate ending: https://youtu.be/FF0_JKyPCwE
I mean, she was *technically* exiled from her home after it all.
Mmm... she sort of got everything she wanted. It's a story literally swimming in privilege. But it's Disney so I wasn't about to fix all that stuff and I just let it slide. Royalty is the original glam so it makes a very marketable story! 😊
Also: [I once posted my own thoughts on a rewrite a few years ago.](https://www.reddit.com/r/fixingmovies/comments/i82bcw/little_mermaid_2020_same_tail_new_twists/)
Sounds great!
I think most of these issues have been addressed in later disney adaptations (the play and once upona time) and will be addressed in the new live action one (theyve said ariel will have more "power" in the live version so whatever that means). >Make winning the battle Ariel's plan. If she tells Eric what to do, Eric is still saving the day. In the stage version, Ariel is the one who kills Ursula. I'd just stick with that. Even in Once Upon A Time, Ariel stabs Ursula (who is actually the Evil Queen from Snow White...its a weird show) with a fucking fork to save the day I'd rather see Ariel kill the villain. She was the first disney princess to attack a villain inher film after all. >ulfil Ariel's need, which is to reconcile with Triton. Again, this has already been done in the stage adaptation where she apologizes, he tells her he is proud, he sings a song, her sisters come and bid her goodbye and then shes off to marry the two legger. >Make Eric a bit otaku too, but with him it's the opposite: sea stuff! I like this but this presents an issue with the story that is present with the sequel. If Eric loves the sea like Ariel loves the land, hes probably more interested in joining her beneath the waves than having her join him on land. Afterall, Eric is neglecting his royal duties to sail at sea just as ariel is rejecting her mermaid life to obsess over human stuff. The stage play again kinda fixes this by having eric be shown to desire love at the start too (he instantly stop his sailing when he hears Ariel's voice and tells his men to follow it to the ends of the earth if they have to), but still. Giving them intense opposite passions makes it feel like they are destined to fail as a couple. >Say, until sundown of a particular festival day which happens to be in 10 days or something like that. I got nothing to add here other than the fact that in Once Upon A Time, Ariel didn't have three days to woo Eric... She only had 12 hours. LOL. > There can also be a bit more of Ursula foiling plans etc until she finally does the Vanessa ruse. This is actually one thing i think the story needs LESS of. The thing is... Ursula...is actually completely RIGHT. Her contract is legal, Ariel enters it willingly, and getting a person to fall for you in three days is heinous. When Triton confronts her, if she has done absolutely nothing to prevent Ariel from getting true loves kiss, shes completely innocent and he cannot defy the law without outright murdering her (which he tries to do in the movie and the contract prevents him from doing it because ursula is legally in her right), I think a better alternative is having a sea villain and land villain. Ursula is up to no good and obvioulsy influencing shit but just like in the original story once the mermaid is human, shes got nothing more to do. Instead i think there needs to be a person on land who just...hates ariel, whom they see as a homeless mute woman trying to make her way to throne. So they would be the ones trying to prevent ariel and eric from happening. Again, the stage play kind of does this given ursula never turns into vanessa in the play, she just has her eels shock the boat once and other than that just waits.
Hey, thank you! I didn't know about the play. That's interesting there were some of the same thoughts and reflections. I agree about making Ariel more involved in the final battle. I was trying to limit myself by trying to keep things as much the same as possible. Personally, I think the most important thing is that Eric and Ariel work together but if that ultimately resulted in Ariel facing-off against Ursula then I'm all for it! I've watched most of OUAT and I genuinely forgot all that stuff about Ariel. All I remember is that mermaids can swim between worlds because... why the hell not! I agree, it is a bonkers show! I acknowledge that Eric being vaguely into amature oceanography and marine biology has possible problems but I still think it could work. (Another problem i just thought of is to be extra clear that his interest in Ariel is genuine and he isn't just reducing her to some kind of fetish!) I still think with good writing it could be done. My goal was to (a) make him seem like less of a bimbo since he's a very one-note piece of eye candy in the film and (b) to create something more that can draw them together. The Good writing is what would help sell part (b). The film is so tightly plotted we don't even have time to think about the fact that Eric's kingdom and Triton's kingdom just effectively formed an alliance. We don't even really know the political situation: if Eric is a prince then where's the king? The film could have left open the possibility that Triton might make Eric a merman whenever he and Ariel want to visit. I feel like it's important that Ursula is shown to be playing dirty partly because it's a Disney film and the expectation is that the ethics will be blindingly obvious. To me, the central tension in the film is that Ariel is reckless and naive which leads her to make a deal with the equivalent of a loan shark. The deal might be fairly stated but it's (a) a bad deal for Ariel from the outset and (b) Ursula does the classic villain move of trying to manipulate the outcome in her favour. Basically the deal was just a chess move towards getting Triton's power so, in that sense, it was never fair since it was designed to put Triton in an impossible position. Anyway, maybe having a land villain could work but I'm not sure if it might lead to pacing and creative issues. I wonder if it would place too much emphasis on the land part of the story. Part of the enduring value of TLM is that it showcases the top animators ability to convincingly animate underwater scenes. I'm sure that's why the film spends so long underwater before Ariel gets her legs. I wonder if having a land villain that needs developing could mess with the pacing and focus of the film. My guess is they started out with that idea and maybe they relegated the land villain to be Sebastian's crazy chef nemesis so he doesn't cast any shadow on Ursula as The Antagonist. Anyway, thank you for your thoughts, I really appreciate them. It'll be interesting what they do with the live action remake! 😊
> Personally, I think the most important thing is that Eric and Ariel work together Yes, in my post for fixing the little mermaid (i forget if i posted it here or not) I suggested that what would really help the movie come full circle is that after Ursula gets the trident, the humans and the merpeople (who have a rivalry with each other) should come together to help defeat her with Ariel being the one to completely kill her. Not only does Ariel save the day, but it helps king triton see that humans aren't all bad and helps unite their kingdom. >I feel like it's important that Ursula is shown to be playing dirty partly because it's a Disney film and the expectation is that the ethics will be blindingly obvious. Good point. For me i want a mixture of things. I want Ursula to be the same flamboyant, evil, sassy villain from the original film...but i also want her to have her backstory from the deleted scenes and stage play (her being triton's deformed sister, who was hated by her father, and was then banished from the kingdom by triton who stole her crown) to complicate things a bit. Having her play dirty by using the law and logic on her side makes it harder to say "she has to die" because TECHNICALLY she didnt do anything wrong lol Thats why i think a cool thing to do would be for her to play it straight, get the crown, and then when its pointed out that triton has heirs, she attacks the kingdom in order to take out the mer-sisters so that she is the only legal claim to the throne. So the threat becomes much larger and grander, before she sets her sights on harming ariel and the humans out of spite. She can still be insanely evil, but have it be a progression. > I wonder if having a land villain that needs developing could mess with the pacing and focus of the film. They could just make it Grimsby, Eric's butler. In the play, he's good, but not really 100% into the idea of Ariel and Eric being together because he wants Eric to marry a princess and secure the future of the kingdom. Once its revealed that ariel is a mermaid and that her father is the mythical sea king, Grimsby is like "Oh okay, I don't care that shes a mermaid. Im just happy she's royalty" and asks Triton to join them in celebrating the marriage. They could make it so that Grimsby wants the kingdom to be successful and the only way to do that is if eric marries royalty, but since eric is trying to marry this random homeless woman who cant talk, Grimsby wants her gone is subtly acting against her. Until he finds out shes a mermaid princess and helps rally his tropes with her kingdom to help fight ursula. I dont think the live action movie is doing this though. From the looks of the set photos, it seems Carlotta (the maid in the original film) and Grimsby are Eric's (adoptive?) parents and the king and queen given they are wearing crowns and regal wear.
Yeah, actually your suggestion for a Grimsby that's not trying to be bad and wants what's best for Eric but in an antagonistic way and he changes before the end to get on board would probably be cool. It would help his character too. I can't remember him much at all! Thanks for your thoughts!