John Musker, who co-wrote and co-directed Disney‘s 1989 The Little Mermaid with Ron Clements, isn't a fan of the live-action remake starring Halle Bailey.

Speaking to El País, Musker talked about the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. He first pointed out Disney's political messages in their recent films. He believes that Disney has prioritized messages over stories.

“I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters,” Musker said.

As for The Little Mermaid, Musker believes the live-action remake dropped the ball with the emotional beats. He thinks that they should have leaned into the father-daughter story.

“They didn't play up the father-daughter story, and that was the heart of the movie, in a way,” he said. “And the crab [Sebastian] — you could look at live animals in a zoo and they have more expression, like with The Lion King.

“That's one of the basic things about Disney, is the appeal. That's what animation does best,” he added.

What The Little Mermaid live-action remake seemingly whiffed on was using the animated film's “qualities and imagination” — “If you do something that is animated, take advantage of all its qualities and imagination,” Musker said.

He praised recent animated films such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Despicable Me as films that did make the most of their circumstances. He also name-dropped Studio Ghibli's iconic My Neighbor Totoro.

Musker also co-directed Moana with Ron Clements. The film is now getting a live-action remake before an animated sequel will be released. Musker wishes them well despite not having anything to do with it.

“I hope that they do it well, but we have nothing to do with it,” he said.

Disney's Little Mermaid live-action remake

The Little Mermaid, Disney

In 2023, Disney released a live-action remake of John Musker and Ron Clements' Little Mermaid. Rob Marshall directed the film based on a script written by David Magee.

This was not Marshall's first rodeo with Disney. He previously directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Into the Woods, and Mary Poppins Returns for them.

Halle Bailey led the film as Ariel. Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy also starred in the film.

The film tells a similar story to the animated film. In it, Ariel, a mermaid princess, is fascinated with the human world. She saves Prince Eric (Hauer-King) and makes a deal with Ursula (McCarthy) to be able to walk on land. This deal comes with dire consequences that Ariel learns over the course of the film.

While Musker wasn't alone in his criticism of the film, The Little Mermaid remake still grossed over $560 million worldwide. It opened to $95.5 million domestically during its opening Memorial Day weekend in 2023.

That was a far cry from some of Disney's more successful live-action remakes. The Lion King, which Musker named in his criticism, made over $1.6 billion. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Alice in Wonderland all made over $1 billion at the box office as well.