'I asked Melissa McCarthy and Halle Bailey why The Little Mermaid's story had to drastically change.'

News that a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid was coming to our screens should not have been controversial.

Now, if anyone had been thinking of whipping up a movie based on the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen (you know, the one where mermaids turn to sea foam at death and Ariel attempts to stab the prince in the heart?) and show it to a cinema full of children, that would have been a different story. 

But the original Disney animated classic, which was released in 1990, is a delightful tale filled with lovable characters and magical songs, seemingly ripe for a live-action remake.

Yet when it was announced that singer Halle Bailey had been cast in the coveted Disney lead role, the news was instantly met with a wave of intense racially fuelled online backlash that culminated in the #NotMyAriel movement.

Along the way, there was also a flutter of criticism around the lyrics of Kiss the Girl changing ever so slightly with an added layer of consent and even some fan fury at Melissa McCarthy's Ursula make-up. 

But now that this new version of The Little Mermaid has arrived on the big screen, I feel compelled to say that not only is it a technical marvel, but also a movie brimming with the same heart, humour and story stakes that made us fall in love with the original in the first place.

In short, it's the best live-action classic adaptation Disney has released so far.

Take a look at the trailer for The Little Mermaid. Post continues below.

The Little Mermaid, which was directed by Rob Marshall, stars Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, and Javier Bardem as King Triton. The original film's composer, Alan Menken, also returned to compose the new movie's score and write additional songs for The Little Mermaid alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.

This new adaptation matches every beat of the original tale, which centres on a young mermaid princess who gives up her voice to a manipulative sea witch in order to become human and fall in love with a prince she saved from drowning.

But within this classic tale, there are now new character backstories and motivations, and for Melissa McCarthy, who fought for the role to be hers, it was important that the sea witch Ursula be so much more than just a one-dimensional villain. 

"The new addition that we added to the story was making Javier Bardem's character King Triton and my character Ursula siblings in this movie, which was incredibly interesting," Melissa told Mamamia. "It is a script change, but one that was really impactful. It then made our story so much more than just good versus evil.

“Being rejected by your family has such a big impact," Melissa continued, explaining the new backstory she had crafted for the sea witch. "It's so much darker, so much stickier and so much more complicated.

“It was really about taking her out of being seen as just a cabaret act. She is a fun character, that’s why we have the original. But this was about giving thought to her isolation.

“And thinking more about her backstory," she continued. "Did she want to have children, but she's just not had the opportunity? And maybe that’s because she's been literally imprisoned by her mental health and many different types of heartbreaks. Yes, she still does the wrong thing, but at the same time, she really has become a fully dimensional character to me. That was a lovely thing we were able to do for her."

Actress and singer Halle Bailey found out she had been cast in the role of Ariel at the age of 19. Now, at 23, and as someone who grew up watching the original movie, she wanted to slightly course-correct one of the biggest criticisms of the first The Little Mermaid. 

She wanted it to be clear Ariel didn't give up her voice and her family for a man she didn't know.

“I really wanted to keep all of those elements that made Ariel so special to all of us," Halle told Mamamia. “But I also wanted to give people a deeper dive into her mind and heart. To give a reason why she made the decisions that she did. I wanted to explain to the audience why she gave up her voice. It was actually for herself, for her own future, passions and goals. 

"That’s why I am just so grateful to be a part of this reimagining," she continued. "It tells a story that was already there, one that was so beautiful and original, but just in a deeper way."

Melissa McCarthy and Halle Bailey at The Little Mermaid premiere. Image: Getty. 

For both Halle and Melissa, bringing these characters to life on screen changed how they see themselves. Which, especially if you're a child of the '90s, has always been a flow-on effect of consuming any classic Disney film. At first, it's all true love's kiss and talking animals, until a plot twist inadvertently makes you rethink your entire life.

"I would like to be headstrong like Miss Ariel," Halle said. "Like when she pushes back against what her dad told her to do. I would love to have some of that courage, she's inspired me to be that way."

“Ursula has the ability to be unapologetically who she is," Melissa added. "I find that really fascinating, even though she was pushed too far. She took her moment.

“She was certainly unapologetic about grifting, controlling and manipulating. If she had a different life, she could have used that same confidence in positive ways, but it wasn’t afforded to her. Sometimes, especially as women, we can all use a little bit of that. Saying to ourselves, ‘I will unapologetically ask for what I require.'

“That's something I'm always looking to increase doing. In a much kinder fashion,” she adds quickly, making sure I’m aware she wouldn't actually trick a young woman into giving up her life. Probably.

The Little Mermaid truly strikes a perfect balance between a childhood movie we love and a new world we all want to be a part of.

The Little Mermaid is in cinemas now, it is rated PG.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here.