Re-designing The Little Mermaid (2023) 

The idea of the waves transforming into a dress is brilliant

"Rob Marshall was SIIIIICK for making the palace a clump of rocks" - AGREEED I was so underwhelmed by "Atlantica'

They gave Eric's mom a beautiful gown dress,made 3 different dresses for Vanessa,giving King Triton an armor chest torso thing,made Ariel's sisters so beautiful but couldn't give the three main characters a stunning outift. Wow. So reasonable. At least give us variety for Ariel's summer dress,or just a sea foam glitter dress. Welp,atleast we dont got Eric's bland shirt in his animated counterpart,that would just made it very boring

The freckle scales idea is so cute.

We were robbed fr

I was so upset we didn’t get the sparkle dress. She didn’t even have to re create the scene with her goin twords Eric. She could’ve just came out of the ocean for the audience and turn twords Trition and thank her father for gifting her this opportunity.

Your re-designs were way much better looking than how the live action did

This is what i wanted 😭, Ursula needed to be terrifying. Also Haile needed to have her princess moment which should have been at the end of movie. But the movie was still good just wish they put more effort.

There was so much I enjoyed about 2023 Little Mermaid, but my first sentence when my friend asked me what I thought was "I wanted more fashion!" Your fashion ideas would've been so great! Also I love the freckle/scale idea.

I also wanna do this with Aladdin 2019 if this goes over well... thoughts??

Honestly I HATE and I repeat HATE rob marshall and Colleen Atwood for not even having a little imagination when it came to ariel costumes and the underwater clump of rocks. It's like colleen didn't know what to do with her costumes and slap fabric together and said " HERE YOU GO! You're wearing this". And rob marshall has zero talent I don't care what people say about his work if he couldn't even make something similar for the underwater kingdom like it was shown in this video. If they were not going to do their job correctly and put 110 in percent into her wardrobe and the mermaid kingdom they shouldn't have been a part of this movie in the first place.

I wanted a ballroom scene

I completely agree with you. The design of this film was sad. Ariel's hair color was sad, her bra was sad, her dress was sad, Her underwater castle was sad and her companions were sad. The shade of red in her hair was atrocious and muted and totally blended in with her skin when a nicer shade of red would've made her pop and given her some nice contrast. Her scale bra was boring and should've been seashells with maybe some crystals and pearls or something to give it life. Her tail was pretty though I will say that. She has one land dress which was ugly and that was it. You would think, after casting a woman of girl and all the controversy that come with, that they would have done her justice by giving her some showstopping moments with her dresses. In fact, it was so dirty what they did to her in terms of design that I would almost call that some form of racism. lol. No wedding dress, no pink dress and no sparkly dress. You idea with her sparkly dress and the ocean is a great one. But ya her clothes in this film were VERY disappointing and lacked any sort of creativity. The animals needed some better emotions and Flounder's design was disgusting. And not sure why the eels didn't talk. Didn't make any sense. lol. I will say this film did deliver on voice acting, performances, singing, chemistry and the musical numbers. The story was basically the same but there are changes I liked and changes I didn't. I liked how there was more time devoted to Ariel and Eric and also that Eric got some more fleshing out and a musical number. I did not like Ariel driving the ship to kill Ursula and also I think more backstory was needed on Ariel's mom and with Ursula and Triton. Maybe even in the beginning an intro with that information. Also, a bit more time with the sisters would've been nice and their intro song. I am fine with them leaving out Les Poisson.

I think live action Sebastian looks so cute with his big eyes. I agree they shouldn't have made flounder flat. I guess they did it because he's called flounder, but that can be an ironic name like calling someone tall shorty, as it was in the cartoon.

I absolutely love your ideas it’s a shame you weren’t in charge of making this movie!! But I think that for Flounder, a baby pufferfish would have been a better inspiration for his design because baby pufferfish have these very expressive faces and big googly eyes that make them look so adorable!!

Why can't you be the new head at Disney for these movies? Your ideas are infinitely way more interesting and creative with old properties and stories!

I think it would be cool to see Ariel in more historically accurate dresses(I know it's fantasy, but the clothing from that time is so pretty).

Honestly, the fact that we get close up losing the blue dress, it was a missed opportunity. I would like to see triton trying to repurpose the rages and maybe struggling and her sisters coming forward to help, or even as you said in the Halie custom one, let's have her sisters create the outfit.

I love the idea of the underwater city !! just that could've given the movie Wow factor from the start, personally I loved Ariel's hair, and actually when I watched the movie, the colors looked way more saturated ! I was surprised, they did her dirty with the trailer, but yeah, it's the little details like the city or Ursula's makeup like you've mentioned that would've made the movie so much better

I wish Colleen Atwood approached the Little Mermaid costumes with half as much energy and passion as she does when making the same costumes over and over for Tim Burton.....

So the cgi team could amp up the blue saturation of live-action cinderella's dress but couldn't bother to amp up the red saturation of live-action ariel's hair? Sounds fishy. Halle bailey literally implied to the tlm crew how to dress her up as ariel (with pictures of her donning red locs and ariel-inspired outfits - the same pictures doll youtubers used to redesign dolls into halle bailey ariel - and what she wore at events promoting the movie), yet they still didn't listen. Emma watson got to have a say in how belle should look, so why couldn't they do the same for halle? Also, i think the real reason they didn't make ursula's makeup more extravagant is because of the anti-lgbtq+ rhetoric going around ridiculing trans people and drag queens (even more so thanks to a certain florida man and his lawsuit against disney) and it is already well-known that ursula was inspired by a drag queen. Also, after watching so many videos about personal/seasonal color theory and consulting, i now better understood why the red halle bailey chose for herself didnt wash her out while the red the live-action tlm movie did. If you see how halle bailey ariel is portrayed in the books (the ones that use drawings, not photos or screenshots from the movie), dolls, disney parks, and upcoming disney junior show, they look completely different to how she looked in the movie (even though it is the same ariel) so they definitely noticed how washed out halle looked in the movie.

In defense of Triton's palace, maybe Rob Marshall didn't want to risk accusations of plagiarism with "Aquaman". He clearly wanted a more natural look, where the palace is more like an ecosystem instead. He could've made Triton's palace look like "Avatar: The Way of Water", where the underwater locations look realistic but still very bright and colorful.

THE SEAFOAM DRESS WAS ALREADY VERY NUANCED The dress is more of a conclusion to Triton's arc than Ariel's, that's why it was so memorable. When Ursula turns Ariel human she laughs at her and leaves her naked. Triton's arc is much more important to the story. Ever since the death of his wife Triton banned anyone from going to the surface. He suppresses his own grief and remains underwater where tears cannot be shed. Triton gifting Ariel clothing is symbolic of his new understanding of the human world and his love for his daughter, so the dress should be sparkling and other-worldly. Triton doing this is a beautiful resolution to many years of suppressed grief and generational trauma. annnnd this where the live action falls flat. Disney is too scared to make Ariel look like a bad role model. Since this scene was removed, Triton left his daughter naked on that rock. She had to swim around nude to look for her old dress. Not to mention, the father-daughter relationship in the live action doesn't feel very intimate. Triton shows absolutely no remorse for destroying her beloved collection. It just feels like he's keeping one of his subjects in line. He's a jerk in the remake. Ariel having a sparkling dress doesn't make her a bad role model nor does it encourage young girls to be materialistic. It encourages parents to love their children unconditionally. The dress Triton created for her was verrrry simple. He's finally accepting Ariel for who she is and it acts as a goodbye gift to her. And honestly isn't that so moving? Teens often feel like they have to lie and keep secrets from their parents so they could truly express themselves and be happy. Some kids are disowned or forced to cut off their parents in order to heal, be themselves, and love who they want. Triton gifting Ariel a dress is like him saying "I'll let you be a part of that world, and it doesn't have to be without me". Ariel no longer has to be lonely underwater or make deals with witches. Most importantly, she doesn't have to hide from her father anymore.

I need you to be a fashion designer for the possible sequel and Snow White.

What if The Little Mermaid is Universal Pictures adaptation?

Flounder looks AMAZING 🥲

I think the designer was slightly racist. She did better designs on white actresses.

I'm so on board with this. The visual effects is one of the problems with the live action films.

For Ariel's Big Finale dress, I'd make a seafoam green gown, with pearls decorating the bodice, puffy detachable sleeves with starfish on them, and the skirt is floor length, with seashell patterns! Historical and fantastical, all at once!

Are you going to make a video to share your ideas about how the story should have gone? How you would have handled each character, what you would have done to expand on them? Like maybe the backstory you would have given to Ursula (which I was so disappointed we didn’t get)? 👀

I prefer your designs, especially flounder

I want a sequel with the corrections and no Rob Marshall or that costume designer. I still loved the remake and thought Halle did amazing.

The first time I watched it I was so caught up in the magic that was Halle I didn’t pay attention to the fashion. I get that Halles version of Ariel was more grounded and maybe not that interested in all of that but they could have creatively given her more glamour while maintaining the ease and simplicity that fits the character. The blue dress was pretty but once I got a closer look at that headwrap I was so confused. Why not a prettier material tied in a prettier way. Im glad the character had locs at all but I would have preferred actual locs all the way through instead of that weird loc loose hair look. Then on land they could have braid set or rod set them for a wavy look that gave her more volume and the ripple look of a mermaid out of water. The way Halle normally wears her locs in curls and waves and different styles looks more mermaidy and fantastical than it m the film. I didn’t need her to have all the looks she had in the cartoon movie but it was such a missed opportunity for big cinematic moment to not have her come out of the sea in the dress literally made of sea. When she put that waterlogged raggedy blue dress back on…I get that that was a tie in to Eric putting the dress in the water but we had enough of that dress by then… Love love love your Ursula redesign the film Ursula look was so underwhelming. Your Flounder design was awesome as well still a fish but not so blah. The underwater world was giving IMAX underwater documentary. And maybe there’s something to be said about highlighting the wonder of the natural world as it is but I see in your redesigns the potential for it to be both more realistic and fantastical.

😂 dinosaur headband

I could handle most of the movie’s visuals as is. Didn’t need more dresses (would’ve liked them but didn’t need them) I get why Eric has plain simple clothes because he’s not comfortable with the trappings of royalty totally makes sense. I’m fine with all of it… but they should’ve made Atlantica more fantastical that was well and truly my main let down. And hire a drag performer to do the make up and hair for Ursula

I don’t think she cared the hole film on her back but I feel she was done dirty with dresses, hair and lighting

Going back here, I totally agree with making Ariel and her sisters wear shell tops instead of having scale coverings because it just looks like they are naked. I agree with your concept 🫶🏼

You totally fixed some of my pblems with the design! :)

I love the flounder redesign.

I love all of the re designing you did! It is so pretty!

I love all your videos!!! Thank you so much! Your perspective is profound! 😇❤️

fish enthusiast here The reason why they "design" Flounder like that it's because they were using an actual fish species that has the same pattern design as his which is Sergeant Major. Honestly, I don't mind Flounder looking like that since I'm already used to looking at fish with compressed body type which is most of them, and I'm quite happy about it 'cause they can give a representation of actual fish species in the media (trust me the way the general public and media underestimate fish is insane). But I do hear and feel the complaints that y'all made like he is not cute, the coloration looks dull, and he doesn't look "meaty" enough so here are my alternatives while still keeping the actual fish species representation: -Still using Sergeant Major but give him juvenile's body proportion and Indo-Pacific Sergeant Major coloration In the movie, they gave him the body proportion of an adult sergeant major and they tried to make his face more rounder while the actual fish has a pointy point on the mouth area which is why he doesn't look that cute and kinda lost the essence that damsel fish has. So by doing this not only he is gonna look cute, but also has vibrant colors since the Indo-Pacific one has deep blue coloration on the bar pattern and the fins and has saturated yellow splotch (yes they can have different coloration if they live in a different region even though they are the same species). -Juvenile Queen Angelfish Not only does this fish have vibrant colors and similar coloration as Flounder (kinda), this fish has a cute-looking face thanks to their big round eyes and small round bulbous snout with a natural smile carved on their mouth. Also, it will make a lot more sense if they use this fish thanks to the overuse of the queen angelfish as a background animal (they really make this fish has a big population in the carinae sea). -Pufferfish This is the only fish that I can think of if you want to go for a meatier look (I said Pufferfish, not Porcupinefish). The only problem that I have with this fish family is that they are lacking in species that have vibrant colors and those who have vibrant colors tend to have a small body. The only puffer fish that kinda fits flounder is Valentin's Sharpnose Puffer.

I really do like 👍 the redesign of ariel’s fishy best friend flounder it really made him look 👀 the updated version of the old flounder from animated version of the little mermaid 🧜‍♀️ before it got remade

Somehow your absolute passion that came through in the new designs for this movie, made it more interesting than the film itself

WE WERE ROBBED! ROBBED! I love your videos so much they are exactly the catharsis I need. All your ideas hit and emphasis all the more how much potential was just lost! This eats away at me too, I just can't believe how out right TERRIBLE the creative team was.

Where did you find those stunning pictures of the seawater turning into Ariel's dress during the final transformation?! That's what I would have loved to see.

Bro, I wish the movie looked like a city with rocks covering but I hate how they robbed us.

I love your redesign so much! I appreciate the effort you put in. I think Disney should have went this route; especially in terms of architecture and visual ethereality. I love this dress for Halle🤩 8:23 Flounder's redesign is so cute 14:39

I love your thoughts on this I really like this movie

your ideas are really cute, it would bring more life and charm to the movie I loved how you brought life

I guess I'm in the minority, but I loved the sophisticated color and natural vibes. Only thing I would of change was if they punched up the copper and ginger coloring underwater.

In my opinion, they need to choose some other actress for Ursula. For me the Ursula needs to have a deeper voice to be more villain.

I say that in Ursula's changes that u attach as a bit of a version of dark color in it, some times I see a creepy scary Ursula, in which I say sometimes yes in M. Mccurhies character should have been done in more better adaptation of the makeup. Most of all is in Flaunder he seems to look so thin and with more missing color in it, I say it again that indeed what the shot is wrong with Disney, making cartoon characters to live version, truly like what Alvin and the chipmunks franchise live action really they all six look so incredible. But as finally! For what it looks sad of the kingdom of king Triton in compare with Namor to way more on Arthur Cury/ The Aquaman of WB. P.S. are the directors CEO coworker losing something in for the reason they are using the CGI in a bad creativity for making the characters?

I think even the tail was bad, like the colour. It was way too blueish and purpleish. It should´ve been plain green (or at least different shades of green). And for Ursula, I mean she was an outcast, so of course her makeup is messy and uneven

The movie is amazing everyone is perfect Oh besides *Sebastian*

I hate you. I love the pink gown. I want it to be real. Why do that to me?

Oh die Kleider, Unterwasser Bilder und das "Wasserkleid" ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Halle hätten die kräftiger roten Haare sehr gestanden und den Look hübscher gemacht 😊 Ihr Oberteil sieht für mich auch eher wie ein Bikini Top aus. Dein Flounder ist süß❤❤❤

Do a snow white casting thing.. and include my choices Freya tingley as snow white , Julia andrews as the evil queen

Omg so cool!!!❤

Tommy, pleeeeeease talk about the Minecraft movie in 2025 starring Jason manoa. I wrote to everyone in the comments in a RU-vid short called Danno draws about Minecraft 2025 by the name of Benjamin lee (who is me)

Your Ursula redesign fucked with my trypophobia don't ever do that again.

8:08