Jacob Tremblay has addressed the lampooning of his live-action character in The Little Mermaid.
Disney’s latest live-action remake is set to be released later this month, and after the studio dropped a first look at several characters in April, many mocked the design of Flounder.
The one-sheet poster of Flounder the fish, who is voiced by Jacob Tremblay in the film, was sent up for being so flat – and for having essentially no comparison to the animated film’s version of the character.
“The small yellow shade is all the soul left in Flounder after Disney tried to suck the soul out of him,” one person wrote, with another stating: “YOU ARE NOT FLOUNDER WHO ARE YOU.”
“Hey Disney… maybe there was a REASON all the fish were animated…” an additional tweet said, with one person writing: “I feel bad for the animators when they told them to humanise a f***in’ crab AND make him realistic, Disney set them up for failure.”
Tremblay, 16, was asked about the response to Flounder by Variety at the film’s premiere.
He replied: “I actually was shown the design when I went in for my audition. I just had complete faith in Rob [Marshall, director]. I thought it looked great because that's kind of like the puppet that they had on set.
Tremblay continued: “And then of course, when I went and saw the film – I watched it last night – and I think it just all works so well.”
He said that, while he “can imagine” Flounder “looking different”, he believes the design team are “geniuses” for making it work.
Halle Bailey plays Ariel in the film, which is an update of the 1989 animated film.
Those singing along to the film’s famous songs, however, will find they’re getting the words wrong, as co-songwriter Alan Menken has altered the lyrics, with help from Lin-Manuel Miranda, to make them more appropriate for present-day audiences.
The Little Mermaid arrives in cinemas on 26 May.
