Melissa McCarthy on Ursula change which brings "more emotional impact"

"There were small changes on paper to the script, but I think they really had big effects on the story," she explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com. "I think making us brother and sister makes it so much more complicated. Maybe [in the original] it's a little more one-dimensional, kind of good versus evil.

"Well, now it's siblings and family, and to have your family shun you and isolate you and banish you has a lot more emotional impact than just simply good and evil... It's like they really made it modern and relevant."

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Meanwhile, Javier Bardem – who plays Triton in the film – revealed that he was very much thinking of the original animated version of the character when it came to portraying the new one.

"It isn't that you go back to it, it's like it stays with you, it's part of your... I grew up watching that movie, so it's part of you," he explained.

"But then you revisit it and you say, 'Okay, this is what they did so beautifully, now, what are they proposing to do new?'

"There are many little things that make the character go a little bit wider or deeper in some way or the other, and that's what you try to bring into it with a lot of humility."

The Little Mermaid is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out the best movies on Disney Plus and best shows on Disney Plus, read more of our Film coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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