After the live action remake of The Little Mermaid was criticized for its updated cast, director John Musker called out Disney for prioritizing political messaging over creating beloved characters.

Suggesting the company needs a “course correction,” Musker says he understands the criticism, and adds that “the message should not get in the way of the emotion.”

Keep reading to learn what the animator has to say about Disney’s “woke” live-action films!

In 2022, when a trailer for The Little Mermaid was dropped, videos of young girls reacting to the new princess in Disney’s newest live-action film went viral.

Little black children were amazed in seeing a Disney princess who “looks like” them.

“People have been sending these reactions to me all weekend and I’m in truly in awe. This means the world to me,” writes the 2023 Ariel, Halle Bailey on X (formerly Twitter).

But then there was the hashtag #NotMyAriel that made its rounds on X after Bailey was announced as the red-headed mermaid.

“The problem isn’t about race, it’s about the fact that what’s-her-name looks NOTHING like the Ariel we know and love,” Tweets one disgruntled fun.

Supporting the young woman through the hate, Bailey’s grandparents reminded her: “You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,’” the now 24-year-old told Variety in 2022.

‘Irresponsible storytelling’

After it was released, the film, which also stars Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina and Javier Bardem, received mixed reviews.

Some critics praised the film for its “hard-to-resist wave of nostalgia,” while others defended their poor reviews, saying it has nothing to do with Ariel’s skin tone, but a lack of storytelling.

“The controversy surrounding Disney’s forced inclusion of minorities in classic films is not about racism, but it’s lazy and irresponsible storytelling strategy,” clarifies the Global Times.

The Guardian writes, “The boring spat over the Disney trailer makes idiots of us all – whether Ariel is black or white, it is clearly a film that should rightfully be ignored then forgotten forever.”

‘Weren’t trying to be woke’

Responding to critiques, filmmaker John Musker – the writer and director of animated Disney films like 1989’s The Little Mermaid, 1992’s Aladdin and Moana (2016) – suggested that Disney prioritized political messaging over compelling storylines in its recent films.

The 70-year-old animator, who collaborated in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog – Disney’s first Black princess – said, “We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism. The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message.”

Speaking with Spanish publication El País, he continued, “They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it. You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling. 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.”

When The Little Mermaid became an arena for racial conversation where the messaging eclipsed the magic of the beloved fairy tale, people became lost in the babble.

“The film won’t be properly evaluated on its merits until all the noise has died down,” writes the Guardian.

And the noise was loud enough to change the narrative so that it became about the skin color of the prince and princess, not whether they lived happily ever after.

Reducing risk

In its efforts to represent marginalized groups, many are left wondering if Disney’s political correctness is driven by profits instead of genuine concern for representation.

Musker says, “Companies are always like, ‘How do we reduce our risk? They like this, right? We’ll just do it again and sell it to them in a different form.’ Or they think, ‘Well, we could make it better.’”

Calling out Disney for its poor character development, the Disney legend continues, “I think there was a question even with The Little Mermaid. They didn’t play up the father-daughter story, and that was the heart of the movie, in a way. And the crab, 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.”

Meanwhile, The Guardian offers a suggestion in making The Little Mermaid better.

“Forget about black actresses and white actresses, let’s have a grotesque scaly mutant as the lead. Let her have claws and sharp teeth and no hair.”

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