The Little Mermaid has faced various forms of backlash since the beginning. Now, however, a boycott has sparked after social media users were upset by The Little Mermaid over an alleged jab at the Princess of Wales.
The alleged jab was described to Page Six by a reviewer who saw an early screening. The reviewer believes that the scene must’ve been a small jab at Kate Middleton, aka the aforementioned Princess of Wales. Of course, this has yet to be confirmed, but it does seem plausible.
Here’s how the sequence plays out:
“Ariel has sacrificed her voice in order to get to the surface and [meet] Prince Eric. She can’t speak so he tries to guess her name,” they began. “His first guess is Diana. His second guess is Catherine, but after [Ariel gives a disgusted] reaction, he [concludes] ‘OK, definitely not Catherine.’”
As such, fans want to boycott The Little Mermaid for having made such an alleged joke. Posts have started to surface on Twitter from fans that can’t understand why Disney would include such a scene for the new movie. Especially when they don’t believe the Princess of Wales did anything to be allegedly made fun of in such a way. Others simply believe that it doesn’t matter and people should move on.
#BoycottDisney because the dig at the Princes of Wales is just unnecessary.
Why did they think this would help their movie at the box office??? Most Americans do not care about the British monarchy. pic.twitter.com/GsYaiIJyIN
— Princess NaomiSky15 (@NaomiSky_15) May 21, 2023
@Disney having the same ideas as the Harkles. They don’t mind good or bad press by the looks of it & they don’t care who they hurt. SOMEONE knew exactly what they were doing by changing the name #DumbPrinceandStupidWife
— Rosie 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 (@SpecialMe44) May 21, 2023
What has gone wrong at Disney that they’d allow such cheap, unnecessary dialogue to be directed at the Princess of Wales, a woman who has dedicated her life to service and, in particular, undertaking programs to improve the children’s lives. #BoycottDisney
— Janey Mack🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@JaneySmack) May 21, 2023
That’s terrible. What has she ever done to them to be that hateful while making a film for children? And Catherine is such an advocate for children. That’s absolute bullying.#BoycottDisney
— Curiously lost 🧶 (@LostCuriously) May 21, 2023
OMG people! Grow the f**k up! Stop being so sensitive. They just took modern names.
When did ppl forget how to act human??
No wonder there’s so much angst in the world if u nit pick every little thing.
They are just NAMES!!#BoycottDisney— Regina 🐾📚☕🌻 (@Xteragrl) May 21, 2023
Of course, we’ll have to see how the film continues to do in theaters. It’ll certainly be interesting to see after all of the divisiveness and backlash so far.
The upcoming film was directed by Rob Marshall with a screenplay written by David Magee with a story penned by Magee alongside Rob Marshall and John DeLuca.
The film’s cast, in addition to Halle Bailey as Ariel, also includes Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, with Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.
Fans will be able to see Disney’s new live-action adaptation of the iconic story The Little Mermaid when it hits theaters on May 26, 2023. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates regarding The Little Mermaid as we have them.