An addition to Eric’s story is that he is adopted by Queen Selina, a stern but loving mother. Eric’s birth parents died in a shipwreck, which increases tension between the humans and the mermaids because Queen Selina believes that the evil sea gods are purposely murdering sailors, leading her to try to confine Eric in the castle for your safety. The intense storms are also damaging the financial livelihood of his coastal kingdom.
Eric and Ariel in the new “Little Mermaid” are mirror images of each other. The prince also yearns for freedom and independence, and his passion for maritime exploration is as intense as hers for the human world. In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sweeping ballad “Wild Uncharted Waters,” Prince Eric expresses his love of sailing the open sea and sky. Like Ariel, he is a collector with a room full of oceanic treasures.
In the animated movie, Grimsby is the one who pushes Ariel and Eric to explore the kingdom together. In the live-action version, Eric isn’t so enamored with the mysterious girl who saved him: he takes a genuine interest in Ariel and wants to spend more time with her. The two bond over their mutual sense of adventure and fascination with the world around them, eagerly exploring their world maps and gazing at the stars. These additional scenes allow their relationship to develop in a more natural and profound way. They are the ones who decide to sneak off the castle grounds and have fun together on the island dancing, shopping and laughing at Eric’s big hat.
Jonah Hauer-King plays a kind and ambitious Eric who is not just a love interest, but someone Ariel would really want to be with.
