Live Action Little Mermaid Kids Review: What Age is Best?
The 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid is swimming into theaters May 26th. The live action re-imagination has some differences beyond a new Ariel. One of those being a runtime nearly an hour longer than the original. To read my full parent review, and for more details on whether the live action Little Mermaid being is scary for kids, read my other post. But this one is all about what my kids thought.
I brought my three kids with me to a screening. My 12 year old daughter Jayda, who has seen the original The Little Mermaid many times, but not for a few years. My 10-year-old son Ty who disdains princess movies. And my 4-year-old daughter Lee Lee who loves them. We’ve seen all of the live action Disney movies and this is the latest one in the lineup. After we watch a movie at a theater or for family movie night, we like to jot down some of our thoughts in a movie rating log and give them an honest review. Jayda, immediately after the screening said “This is the best Disney remake I’ve ever seen. It surprised me so much. I loved all of the new stuff. I hope Moana is as good as this! Did my other two kiddos give it such high praise?
The following is a spoiler-free Q&A review with my kids sharing what they thought of this movie.
Live Action Little Mermaid Kids Review
What did you think of the movie?
Jayda: It was good.
Ty: It was ok, kind of.
Lee Lee: Good. It was good when she was singing.
So did you like it?
Jayda: Yes. It has some new stuff and it wasn’t like normal remakes.
Lee Lee: I liked it because it’s funny.
Ty: It was ok, I don’t like princess movies.
Did it seem longer than the other one to you?
Jayda: I didn’t think about it. But if I were to think about it I would guess this one is longer.
Ty: I think so.
Lee Lee: It was long. Not boring.
What was the funniest part to you?
Jayda: The carriage ride. And one of the new songs.
Ty: When she bit the thingy.
Lee Lee: The part when Scuttle was singing.
What was your favorite part?
Jayda: Probably whenever she sang that new song when she got on land.
Ty: I liked when the shark was chasing her.
Lee Lee: When Ursula died.
Would you recommend it to your friends?
Jayda: I feel like my friends wouldn’t want to watch it. Because they don’t like princesses. They think they’re too old and cool. But my friends from theater would probably want to watch it so yea.
Ty: No. They wouldn’t like it.
Lee Lee: Yea. Wait, which friend? Mom: Whichever you think. Lee Lee: Elle, and Remy and Indi.
What lesson did you learn? What message was the movie trying to get across?
Jayda: Not really new lessons but, I could tell this movie was trying to make Ariel a better example for girls. She was interested in land too and what’s on the land. And when she did fall in love with the prince you could see that they got along more, and see that they liked each other, not just seeing him on a boat.
Ty: Nothing.
Lee Lee: I learned that she turned into a human.
Who was your favorite character?
Jayda: Ariel. Flounder was my least favorite. In the other he was like *BOOM!!* And in this one he’s like *Squeeze* and skinny.
Ty: I liked the shark. Then the sea snakes.
Lee Lee: The Little Mermaid
Who would you recommend ‘The Little Mermaid’ to?
Jayda: People who want to see Disney stories retold.
Ty: My sisters.
Lee Lee: Remy and Indi and Elle. Elle wouldn’t be scared. I would just protect her.
What Age Do you think ‘The Little Mermaid’ is for?
Jayda: Any age.
Ty: I think they’d have to be at least 7.
Lee Lee: Big kids and little kids. Cause I’m little.
Did you think ‘The Little Mermaid’ was scary?
Jayda: I think some parts might be scary for little kids. Not that it’s necessarily scary. It’s just like ‘Woah!’ They might not like Ursula turning big and evil in the live action.
Ty: No.
Lee Lee: When she was saying ‘no no no’ to the potion it was scary. It was a lot scary when she got gigantic. I couldn’t control myself and I covered my eyes.
Would you want to watch it again?
Jayda: Yea.
Ty: No. Unless you forced me to.
Lee Lee: Yea, today!
How would you rank it compared to the original?
Jayda: I give them both 4 stars. You can’t ask me that.
Ty: I liked this one barely, barely, barely barely more.
Lee Lee: I like the new one more.
How would you rank it compared to other movies we’ve seen recently?
Jayda: I liked this one more than Mario and all the movies we’ve seen lately.
Ty: Mario is much better, so is Creed III, and Shazam 2 is a billion times better.
Lee Lee (Mario vs The Little Mermaid): Both. But probably this one.
How many stars would you give it?
Jayda: 4 stars.
Ty: 2.5 stars.
Lee Lee: 7 stars. Let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 stars. Mom: Only out of 5. Lee Lee: 5.
Is it worth going to the movies to see?
Jayda: Yes!
Ty: If you like princess movies I think they’ll like this.
Lee Lee: Yea!
The best age forThe Little Mermaid largely depends on your child and their attention span. My 4-year-old says she enjoyed the movie and is very excited to see it again. But in my review I explained how the slower part and longer runtime had her getting restless during the movie. I’d probably go with Ty and say it’s best for 7 and up, unless your little ones have the attention span and experience to sit through a longer movie.
Are you going to see the live action Little Mermaid in theaters? Let us know what you think once you do!
Here are some of my affiliate links to some mermaid merch you might appreciate for showtime.
Wondering how our review of The Little Mermaid 2023 might compare to yours? Check out some of our other movie reviews.
- ‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3’ REVIEW
- ‘SHAZAM 2’ REVIEW
- ‘CREED III’ REVIEW
- ‘BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’ REVIEW
- ‘STRANGE WORLD’ REVIEW
- ‘THOR LOVE AND THUNDER’ REVIEW
- ‘JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION’ REVIEW
- ‘DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS’ REVIEW
- ‘SONIC 2’ MOVIE REVIEW
- ‘TURNING RED’ MOVIE REVIEW
- ‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ REVIEW
- ‘ETERNALS’ MOVIE REVIEW
If you like watching movies together as a family you’ll love our Family Movie Night Journal! Created by me and my oldest daughter Jayda. It’s bringing a family tradition of movie watching and rating to families around the world.
Tags: kids review, movie review, movie reviews
I appreciate hearing what each of your kids thought about The Little Mermaid! I am debating taking my 4 yo, but am on the fence…
I really want to see it, being able to enjoy all the Disney Renaissance movies as a kid makes me their target audience. I have been looping the soundtrack since it was released. It would be my daughter’s first movie in the theater, so I literally have no idea how she would react to the scary stuff or the long runtime. On TV she no longer hides during the more intense parts of Nemo or Snowball in Frozen 2. Should I try it or suck it up and wait till it goes to streaming?
I’m so glad their review was helpful for you Dan! Honestly, my 4-year-old really enjoyed it and said she wants to see it again, but when we went a second time I just took my 12-year-old daughter. We saw it in 4DX and we really enjoyed it! Definitely see it in theaters but maybe do it for a date night 🙂 Let us know what you think!
I’m so glad their review was helpful for you Dan! Honestly, my 4-year-old really enjoyed it and said she wants to see it again, but when we went a second time I just took my 12-year-old daughter. We saw it in 4DX and we really enjoyed it! Definitely see it in theaters but maybe do it for a date night 🙂 Let us know what you think!