People aren't mad that the animals are CGI, the CGI animated animals trying to look live action actually look very off. The problem with these live action remakes of animated Disney movies is that what works well as animation doesn't translate well into a live action film.
Yeah, they not only changed Scuttle’s gender, but also the species of her. In the animated one, it’s a seagull, and in the live action one it’s a gannet. Now a completely different bird.
We'll let the box office be the judge of that also the Barbie movie is not only supposed to be a movie about Barbie but also a comedy satirizing the Barbie franchise, in the trailer it said "If you love Barbie this movie is for you" and "If you hate Barbie this movie is for you".
Amy Schumer was originally cast as Barbie but was replaced by Margot Robbie who is a much better choice for the role; Barbie movie; Little Mermaid remake; The trailers get millions of dislikes on YouTube; A live action remake of an animated film no one asked for; Based on a toy brand but is an original movie; Is a kid's movie but a lot of grown men are unironically looking forward to it too; Disney won't admit the movie is bad so they accuse you of being a racist; Has a diverse cast but no unnecessary race-swapping; Unnecessary race-swapping by casting a black actress as Ariel; Heavily criticized for having dark undertones for a kid's movie as well as off-looking character designs for Flounder and Sebastian; Not only widely appeals to Barbie fans but also is a satire of the Barbie franchise; Unnecessary gender-swapping (Scuttle the Seagull is female); No dark undertones, a very cheerful, colorful setting