'The Little Mermaid' Director Explains The Real Reasons Why Scuttle Was Changed From Seagull to Gannet

justjared.com:

Earlier this week, fans started to notice once again that Scuttle wasn’t a seagull in the upcoming live action version of The Little Mermaid.

While it’s been touched on in previous interviews, there hasn’t been a full explaination for the change until now. Director Rob Marshall opened up in a new interview with IndieWire about turning Scuttle into a Northern Gannet, which is able to dive underwater and stay there for some time. Keep reading to find out more… Rob explained that he wanted to make Ariel’s breaking the surface a much bigger deal than it was in the animated version. “I wanted to make it that Ariel had never ever been to the surface.

Ever,” he says. “That was the goal for me. She’s never broken that rule, [so that helps] raise the stakes for that moment when she finally does it. Rob added that “if she’s up and down, up and down, it’s not a big deal.

The fact that she breaks the rule, her father has shut down the surface of the ocean. No one’s ever allowed to go. The mother, his wife, died at the hands of humans.