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Disney Makes Another Big Change to the New ‘Little Mermaid’

animated ariel glares at halle bailey ariel

One of Disney’s most recent prominent live-action Disney princess movie remakes, Beauty and the Beast (2017), was a “tale as old as time” – and it nearly lasted as long as that, too!

Now, Disney is making yet another live-action remake of a famous Disney princess film, and Disney apparently has plans to make this new version of the film even longer than its other live-action adaptations of classic animated movies!

halle bailey little mermaid

Halle Bailey plays the live-action version of Ariel the little mermaid. She is joined in the film by Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina, Daveed Diggs, and Jonah Hauer-King. 

The Little Mermaid is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated — and highly-debated — Disney movies on the roster for 2023 premieres. The actress and singer Halle Bailey (who was cast as Ariel the little mermaid opposite Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the sea witch) has been the eye of the debate storm in many ways.

As more and more information about the new version of the 1989 Disney movie has come to light, Disney audiences have become more and more divided when it comes to the changes to the Little Mermaid plot, the new version of Prince Eric and the Melissa McCarthy version of Ursula, Halle Bailey’s performance, and the new music that Hamilton and Encanto icon Lin-Manuel Miranda has been creating for the live-action film (not to mention the altered versions of the original songs).

little-mermaid-sebastian-flounder

Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian in ‘The Little Mermaid’. Credit: Disney

Now, AMC Theatres has inadvertently tipped off audiences about yet another factor in the Little Mermaid remake that will either further alienate or win over skeptical viewers: The Little Mermaid has been listed at a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes!

Nothing is official until this new Disney movie has actually come to theaters, but even if the long runtime is just a general estimate, then The Little Mermaid is set to be Disney’s longest live-action adaptation of one of its classic animated films. This adds almost an hour to the 83-minute original movie from 1989!

Disney Under Fire for Casting, Again

Halle Bailey singing ‘Part of Your World’ as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’. Credit: Disney

Are you happy to hear that viewers are reportedly going to be seeing over two hours of Halle Bailey as Ariel, or are you upset by the change?

If you have children who enjoy animated Disney movies like the 1989 original, are you worried that their attention spans won’t be held by such a long Disney film?

Let us know on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

About Sharon

Sharon is a writer and animal lover from New England. Sharon's two main focuses in her work are Disney's correlations with pop culture and the significance of Disney princesses (which was the basis for her college thesis). When she's not writing about Disney, Sharon spends her time singing, dancing, and cavorting with woodland creatures!

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