The Little Mermaid live action remake star addresses new Flounder character design backlash
The design for Flounder in the live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid has been the subject of much debate online and now the actor Jacob Tremblay, who voices the character, has weighed in.
In the original 1989 animated original, the loveable yellow and blue tropical fish is noticeably bigger than in the new version, and some fans have criticised his new look, saying he’s “too skinny” and “the stuff of nightmares”.
Tremblay, 16, was drawn on the subject while walking the blue carpet at the world premiere in Los Angeles earlier this week.
When asked by Variety whether he thought his character needed to gain some weight, he stood by director Rob Marshall’s vision.
He said: “No. I was actually shown the design when I went in for my audition. Rob [Marshall, director] had shown me. I just had complete faith in Rob.”
“I thought it looked great because that is kind of like the puppet they had on set, 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 added: “They were genius [Rob and creative team] – they kind of made it work so well. “
The Little Mermaid also stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as evil seawitch Ursula and Javier Bardem as King Triton.
Noma Dumezweni also appears as new character Queen Selina, with Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs lending their voices for Scuttle and Sebastian respectively.
