The Little Mermaid may have come in for a lot of criticism and it seems that not even the fish can escape the wrath of Disney fans.
As fans gear up for the new The Little Mermaid live-action flick, Disney decided to unveil some new film posters showing off all the main characters.
But it seems Ariel's beloved sidekick Flounder hasn't gone down well with fans, with some going far as to brand him as 'scary'.
In the 1989 film, Flounder is shown as a chubby yellow fish with bright blue fins and a highlighter yellow body.
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Though the 2023 remake borrows elements from the classic Disney movie, the new Little Mermaid trailer and poster shows Ariel’s sidekick drastically slimmed down as they try to escape a shark who pursues them through a shipwreck.
Set to be voiced by Room actor Jacob Tremblay, the reimagined sidekick has caused a storm on social media, with one former fan even labelling it an ‘abomination’ on Twitter.
Referring to the previous racist backlash against lead actor Halle Bailey, the user angrily tweeted: “To the fools worrying about Ariel in this film, THIS abomination is what you need to worry about. @Disney you’ve done #Flounder so dirty!! #LittleMermaid.”
Others agreed, with one fan tweeting: "They did founder so dirty…he looks scary."
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Many fans joked that Flounder looked like he’d had buccal fat removal – a trendy plastic surgery procedure where fat is removed from the face to make someone look more gaunt.
Tagging Tremblay and the film’s official Twitter page, one user wrote: “They made Flounder get buccal fat removal.”
Another compared Flounder to actor Steve Buscemi, as they joked about the star's often wide-eyed expression.
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They quipped: “Not they put Flounder on Ozempic! Why he so skinny??? This fish look like Steve Buscemi.”
Flounder wasn't the only sea creature that came in for criticism, with fans also less than impressed with Sebastian the crab's new look.
One fan wrote: "When we went to the cinema last week, the trailer for the new Little Mermaid came on. [My friend] was whisper yelling to me that the people who care that Ariel is Black are too blinded by racism to see the real travesty, which is how 'they did Sebastian dirty'."
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Another joked: "The live action Little Mermaid is different from the original because, instead of Ariel wanting to leave the ocean to be human, she is desperate to escape the ocean because of these haunting alien creatures (Flounder, Sebastian, the bird). she fears for her life."
While the new version of the character may have opened a can of worms among fans, other changes to The Little Mermaid have been more well-received.
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This includes the addition of two brand news songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man behind the popular Broadway musical Hamilton.
Speaking about the new tracks, original composer Alan Menken told Variety that there will even be a performance by Prince Eric in the updated film.
"One was the Prince Eric song, called ‘Wild Unchartered Waters',” he said. “Then, there was the song for Ariel when she has her legs (doesn’t have a voice), and she’s singing her thoughts about all the firsts she is noticing for the first time.”
You’ll have to decide what you think of the songs and the new Flounder when The Little Mermaid finally swims into cinemas on May 26.
Topics: Disney, Film and TV, Animals, Social Media, Twitter