Disney's The Little Mermaid: 4 key differences between the animated and live-action versions

Third Major Difference in Disney's The Little Mermaid: No Chef Louis

What I found most disappointing was how Disney removed Chef Louis completely from the live-action version of the story. If you don't recall, Chef Louis is the chef who tries to cook Ariel's crab friend Sebastian. There is even a song that he sings called Les Poisson.

Sebastian never fears for his life in the live-action version as he did in Disney's original animated version. The director, Rob Marshall told SFX Magazine that they had to be brave and make tough decisions.

"That’s when you realize we’re not an animated movie. The animated movie stays forever, and people can go and watch that. This needs to work in a realistic way. You have to be brave enough to make the tough choices."

- Rob Marshall, Director

This is crazy to me. The movie might not be animated, but you still have animals talking and singing. You still have mermaids and other creatures that do not exist in reality. Why couldn't you make a scene of a chef, obsessed with catching a crab and cooking that crab? I guarantee you, my three-year-old would have loved that scene since The Little Mermaid is somewhat void from the amount of comedy you see in many other Disney movies.