Live-action remake of the beloved classic with equivalent content to the 1989 original. Core concern unchanged: Ariel's rebellion against her father, disobedience as the path to her dreams, and the deal with a sea witch. Otherwise a clean romantic fairy tale. 62/100 Mixed — same judgment as the original for Christian families.
The Little Mermaid 2023 tells the same story as the 1989 original: Ariel, a mermaid princess, makes a deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human against her father's wishes, falls in love with a human prince, and ultimately gets what she wants through a combination of love and her father relenting. The film is largely faithful to the original with updated effects and a diverse cast.
The core theological concern with The Little Mermaid — original or remake — is its narrative arc: Ariel's disobedience to her father is ultimately rewarded. She gets everything she wanted. The lesson children absorb is that following your heart against your parents' wishes is the path to flourishing. This conflicts with Ephesians 6:1 ("Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right") and the broader biblical pattern that obedience to authority is wisdom, not obstacle.
This is a mild concern, not an Avoid-level one — the story is a fairy tale, not a moral treatise, and generations of Christian children have watched the original without harm. But it is worth a conversation.
Despite speculation, the 2023 live-action remake does not add significant LGBT content. The concerns about this film from Christian families are the same as the 1989 original: Ursula the sea witch (a broadly villainous occult figure), the deal-with-the-devil narrative structure, and the disobedience arc. See The Little Mermaid 2023 overview.
Available on Disney+.
Children's media shapes formation in ways adult media does not — children are not yet equipped with the critical distance to evaluate what they're consuming. The question is not just "is this harmful?" but "what is this teaching?" GodlyScore evaluates children's content with heightened sensitivity to family depiction, LGBT normalization, spiritual content, and whether the overall tone encourages virtue or passivity. Score: 62/100 Mixed.
See our Christian TV Reviews hub for similar content evaluated with the same framework. Common Sense Media provides detailed age-by-age content guidance.