2022/23 is bound to go down as the year Hollywood became obsessed with underwater movies. First, November 2022 brought us Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, then Avatar: The Way of Water ended the year/kicked off the new one with a box office bang. Plus, before Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom caps off the curious obsession this December, we have Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake to come in May.
Unfortunately, while Avatar 2 managed to escape the same fate, the Mouse House’s live-action reboot is falling prey to the same big mistake that the Marvel sequel made before it. Following the release of the latest teaser for the incoming reimagining of the beloved fairy tale, Twitter is filling up with more criticisms of its dark color palette than there are fish in King Triton’s ocean.
For those with long memories, this may cast them back to early February, when Wakanda Forever came under criticism for the exact same thing after it arrived on Disney Plus.
I mean, we all know the original Hans Christian Anderson story is dark, but sheesh.
In fact, The Little Mermaid is proving so gloomy that people are convinced it’s a secret horror movie.
Public service announcement: make sure you’re not accidentally taking your kids to see The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
Although, to be fair, the CGI Flounder, who appears to be suffering from renal failure, is enough of a horror show on his own.
Uh oh, even Peter Pan & Wendy is getting dragged into the chat.
On the other hand, are these complaints blowing things out of proportion? As one Twitter user poetically put it, being deep under the sea is “dark af lol.”
While the above user has a point, The Lion King‘s National Geographic-style yet glass-eyed animal cast has already proven that realism isn’t exactly something people want from their Disney movies. We’ll find out just how dark The Little Mermaid really is come its theatrical release on May 26.