'The Little Mermaid' movie poster mocked for containing basic scientific errors

The poster promoting the live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" produced by Disney has angered many biologists because of its serious scientific errors.

The live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" produced by Disney has received mixed opinions from audiences when it chose black actress Halle Bailey to play the mermaid Ariel, who is already very familiar with the image of a white girl with red hair in the animated film of the same name released in 1989.

Recently, this film continues to become a controversial topic and has been satirized by many netizens for its incorrect scientific knowledge.

Accordingly, to promote the live-action version of the movie "The Little Mermaid" , which is expected to be released in theaters at the end of May, Disney has just released the official poster of the movie. The poster shows actress Halle Bailey, as the mermaid, sitting right in the middle surrounded by many different sea creatures.

However, many biologists immediately noticed something wrong with this poster.

According to Spark Chao , a PhD in marine biology who is currently working at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Taiwan, the sea creatures appearing in the poster cannot appear together, as they live in different oceans.

Notably, the poster also features freshwater fish, which cannot live in seawater. This is basic scientific knowledge that everyone knows, but it is unclear why the film crew made such a serious mistake.

Official poster of the movie The Little Mermaid.

Spark Chao also realized that Sebastian, the best friend of the mermaid Ariel, was originally a king crab in the cartoon, but was transformed by Disney into a red land crab in the live-action version. It is worth mentioning that land crabs are land crabs, not sea crabs, so Sebastian becoming best friends and swimming with the mermaid Ariel is impossible.

Spark Chao's Facebook post quickly went viral on social media. Many netizens mocked Disney for its unacceptable mistakes in a movie about the ocean.

"It seems like Disney filmmakers forgot to consult biologists when making this movie. Or are these just small details that no one pays attention to?" , a Facebook user commented.

Some people think that the movie "The Little Mermaid" is a fantasy film adapted from a fairy tale, so it should not apply real-life scientific knowledge to the movie. However, many people have refuted this opinion and said that the mistake in the movie poster shows the unacceptable carelessness of the film crew.

Along with the poster, Disney has also just posted the full trailer of the movie "The Little Mermaid" on Youtube. After just a few days, this video has attracted more than 8.5 million views, but along with that is a "Dislike storm" , when up to 90% of the emotions expressed for this video are " Dislike " and only 10% of the "Like" clicks .

The image of a mermaid playing with a puffer fish appears in the movie trailer, however, the detail of the puffer fish swelling its body like a balloon shows that it is scared, instead of enjoying playing with the mermaid. (Photo cut from clip).

The reactions of the audience and netizens show that Disney's changes from the original have made many people feel dissatisfied, especially when the animated film "The Little Mermaid" released in 1989 was very successful and associated with the childhood of many people. Many people have criticized Disney for destroying their childhood with this live-action version of "The Little Mermaid".

The Little Mermaid Movie Trailer.