The Little Mermaid. A childhood staple since its release in 1989. ABC, looking for a way to reignite the wonder of this underwater fantasy, created a live action version of this classic to introduce it in a new way to a new generation.

The Little Mermaid Live was first performed November 5, 2019, and consisted partly of the original movie, and partly of live performances of the songs. Immediately after the show came out, it faced harsh criticism from all sides.

“‘The Little Mermaid Live!’: It’s Better When It’s Wetter” an article from The New York Times reads. “Review: ABC’s baffling ‘Little Mermaid Live!’ sunk straight to the bottom of the ocean” another article, this one by USA Today is titled.

“It was horrible, but yet incredibly entertaining”, says Cory Reali

Personally, I thought it was refreshingly terrible. Some things were just plain terrifying, like our dear guppy Flounder, who ABC made a puppet of that looks … alarming, and some of the other background characters were not particularly aesthetic either.

Other things I think they did an amazing job on, like casting Queen Latifah as Ursula, and Shaggy as Sebastian because they fit into their roles so well and played them out until the end.

And don’t even get me started on the comedic gold that was John Stamos as the Head Chef. Running around singing a song about fish with a horrible French accent is not something that every actor can take in their stride, but John Stamos looked like he had the time of his life.