If you want to get the absolute heck scared out of you, check out the latest trailer for “The Little Mermaid,” which dropped Thursday.
In what appears to be yet another terrifying mishap into uncanny valley, Disney+ has ventured into the remaking of “The Little Mermaid.” While reports have been out about the film for a while, I was definitely not prepared for how uneasy this underwater fairytale looks with real actors portraying the iconic characters.
Uncanny valley is the bizarre psychological tick that occurs when we’re exposed to versions of ourselves bearing near-identical resemblance, but not quite right. Think: “Polar Express.” It’s best described in this epic explainer video I found online by The Why Files. And it’s totally what happens every time I watch the trailer.
Other than one short snippet where we see Ariel (Halle Bailey) lean in to kiss Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) all of the underwater scenes are just that little bit creepy. My hope is that the actual end product comes out looking less like a horror movie and more like the original cartoon we all know and love, but trailers usually show the best visuals of films. (RELATED: ‘Extrapolations’ Is Hollywood’s All-Star Dystopian Climate Dream Where We Hate Our Kids (REVIEW, SPOILERS))
I also want to believe the cast is going to do an incredible job with their roles. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula just sounds too good to be true, so I’ll definitely be checking this one out either way. The original trailer also looks a little less nightmarish in a few close-up clips.
Or perhaps, maybe I’m just weird and get freaked out when I see people living under the ocean. Whatever is going on, it’s making my brain glitch.