Summary

• The trailer is released for a horror movie adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
• The new movie showcases an archaeologist named Eric Prince being seduced by a sinister mermaid.
• The movie is an adaptation of the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale rather than the 1989 Disney musical.

The trailer has arrived for a horror movie version of The Little Mermaid. The movie, which was directed by Leigh Scott and stars Lydia Helen, Mike Markoff, and Jeff Denton, is the latest project to capitalize on the recent trend of classic children's characters being transformed into horror movie villains. While quite a few of these, including Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and Bambi: The Reckoning, are part of the interconnected franchise The Twisted Childhood Universe, others, like the Grinch-inspired The Mean One and the new Mermaid, come from other studios and producers.

MSR Media International has shared the official trailer for their The Little Mermaid horror movie. The trailer showcases a man named Eric Prince who discovers a strange structure at an island archaeological site that seems to belong to an ancient civilization. At the same time, he is seduced by a wealthy heiress named Aurora Bey, who has just arrived on the island and is revealed to be a sinister, bloodthirsty mermaid. Click the link below to see the trailer on MSR's official site:

Click here to view the Little Mermaid trailer

How Are They Able To Get Away With Making A Little Mermaid Horror Movie?

The Little Mermaid (1989) Is Not In The Public Domain

While this new project is born from the same impulse as public domain-based titles such as the Mickey Mouse horror movie Mickey's Mouse Trap, there is one wrinkle. The most iconic adaptation of The Little Mermaid is the 1989 animated musical released by Disney, which was remade as a live-action movie starring Halle Bailey in 2023. Because of how recently the original property was released, the Disney version is not in the public domain despite the new movie echoing it in certain key ways.

The version of Mickey Mouse portrayed in the animated short Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on January 1.

The reason The Little Mermaid is able to the ranks of the other children's horror movies is that it is technically an adaptation of the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. The 1837 story, which has a more fittingly horrifying ending than the 1989 movie, is itself in the public domain. While the new movie can evoke certain non-copyrighted aspects of the Disney title, like the mermaid's red hair and the altered version of Prince Eric's name, they are limited in how closely they can echo that movie.

For instance, there is no major point in the trailer for The Little Mermaid where it directly copies dialogue or song lyrics from the 1989 movie. While it may be able to do so at certain key points if it can be determined a parody, the movie is generally distanced from everything but the broadest signifiers of the Disney title. It remains to be seen if this approach can connect with audiences, but avoiding copyright is what will allow the movie to get a release in the first place.

Source: MSR Media International