The recent remake of Disney's The Little Mermaid is amongst the many animated classics that are receiving the live-action treatment. In the case of this film, the results have been successful based on the audience and critics' scores and the opening weekend box office.
While the new film brought back most of the characters that we know and love in live-action form, one key character that was missing is Chef Louis, who was the centerpiece of one of the fan-favorite songs in the original.
A lot of fans have been wondering about why the character was missing in the remake and now we finally have the explanation from the mastermind of the film himself.
Director Rob Marshall Explains Chef Louis' Absence in the Remake
Speaking with SFW Magazine (via The Direct), director Rob Marshall addressed the reason why Chef Louis and the musical number "Les Poissons" was absent in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
He explained that it was mostly due to creative reasons as they realized that Chef Louis' scenes is not suitable enough for a "realistic" translation into live-action.
"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," he said.
As we've seen in many live-action remakes that Disney has done in the last several years, they do cut certain characters, moments, or musical numbers from the original in its translation to live-action so it's not surprising that it happened again here with Chef Louis.
If you also think about it, the scenes with Chef Louis in live-action might have changed the tone of the film for brief moments since they're goofy and in contrast with the realism angle that they were trying to pull off in this new interpretation.
Based on the responses, it looks like Chef Louis' absence did not affect the audience's reception to the film and the most important part of them is that they retained the essential elements of the original which they very much did.
Also Read: Does King Triton Die in The Little Mermaid (2023)? Here's What Happened
The Little Mermaid is showing in theaters everywhere. You can check more details about it here.
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